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Letters to a Niece
In Letters to a Niece, von Hugel offers spiritual guidance in response to the sometimes distressing events of his adult niece's life. Informal and extremely personal, the letters provide a fascinating insight into the character of this spiritual giant. Here is a master at work. Absorb the spirit and counsel in these letters and you will have the rudiments, and more, of spiritual direction.? ? Eugene H. Peterson"
176 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1950
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103 people want to read
About the author
Friedrich von Hügel
36 books11 followersFriedrich von Hügel (born Friedrich Maria Aloys Franz Karl Freiherr von Hügel, usually known as Baron von Hügel; 5 May 1852 – 27 January 1925) was an influential Austrian Roman Catholic layman, religious writer, Modernist theologian and Christian apologist.
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Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews
September 3, 2024
Helpful, friendly, and inspiring. Letters to von Hügel's adult niece, Gwen.
From Dad. It was nice to see some of his annotations in the margins as well.
"Let us rest content. We have not got to invent God, nor to hold him. He holds us. We shall never be able to explain God, though we can apprehend him, more and more through the spiritual life."
p 8
"Drop things, always keep on dropping and dropping. My religion, my illness, suffering, and life have taught me that. Always drop things. Don't chatter to yourself--you can't hear God if you do. We need not try to conceive God: he attends to all that."
p 10
"I want this little scribble to reach you on your starting your packing-fortnight, my very dear Niece.... What is it that I would have you quietly set your mind and heart on, during that in itself lonesome and dreary bit of your road, Child? Why this, Dear! You see, all we do has a double-relatedness. It is a link or links of a chain that stretches back to our birth and on to our death.... this chain [of your life] variously intertwisted with, variously affecting, and affected by, numerous other chains and other lives. It is certainly your duty to do quietly your best, that these links may help on your own chain and those other chains, by packing well, by being a skilful packer.... Yet not even those other acts [prayer, quiet, and holy communion] could unite you as closely to God as can do this packing, if... the little old daughter does this her packing with her heart and intention turned to God her Home, if she offers her packing as her service, that service which is perfect liberty.... What God wants, and what God will love to accept, in those Herst rooms, in those packing days, will be just this little packing performed by the little niece in those little rooms.... At one moment packing; at another silent adoration in church; at another dreariness and unwilling drift; at another, joys of human affection given and received; at another, external acts of religion; at another, death itself.... All [these] become the means and instruments of loving, of transfiguration, of growth for your soul, and of its beatitudes. But it is for God to choose these things, their degrees, combinations, successions; and it is for Gwen, just simply, very humbly, very gently and peacefully, to follow that leading."
p 72 - 73
"Yet I would always expect to find you to grow [spiritually] more by feeding this quiet within you than by direct self-examinings or by self-fightings. These two latter things also to exist in your life, but much less, less centrally than the feeding of the quiet and the loving of God, Christ, and others in it."
p 133 - 134
From Dad. It was nice to see some of his annotations in the margins as well.
"Let us rest content. We have not got to invent God, nor to hold him. He holds us. We shall never be able to explain God, though we can apprehend him, more and more through the spiritual life."
p 8
"Drop things, always keep on dropping and dropping. My religion, my illness, suffering, and life have taught me that. Always drop things. Don't chatter to yourself--you can't hear God if you do. We need not try to conceive God: he attends to all that."
p 10
"I want this little scribble to reach you on your starting your packing-fortnight, my very dear Niece.... What is it that I would have you quietly set your mind and heart on, during that in itself lonesome and dreary bit of your road, Child? Why this, Dear! You see, all we do has a double-relatedness. It is a link or links of a chain that stretches back to our birth and on to our death.... this chain [of your life] variously intertwisted with, variously affecting, and affected by, numerous other chains and other lives. It is certainly your duty to do quietly your best, that these links may help on your own chain and those other chains, by packing well, by being a skilful packer.... Yet not even those other acts [prayer, quiet, and holy communion] could unite you as closely to God as can do this packing, if... the little old daughter does this her packing with her heart and intention turned to God her Home, if she offers her packing as her service, that service which is perfect liberty.... What God wants, and what God will love to accept, in those Herst rooms, in those packing days, will be just this little packing performed by the little niece in those little rooms.... At one moment packing; at another silent adoration in church; at another dreariness and unwilling drift; at another, joys of human affection given and received; at another, external acts of religion; at another, death itself.... All [these] become the means and instruments of loving, of transfiguration, of growth for your soul, and of its beatitudes. But it is for God to choose these things, their degrees, combinations, successions; and it is for Gwen, just simply, very humbly, very gently and peacefully, to follow that leading."
p 72 - 73
"Yet I would always expect to find you to grow [spiritually] more by feeding this quiet within you than by direct self-examinings or by self-fightings. These two latter things also to exist in your life, but much less, less centrally than the feeding of the quiet and the loving of God, Christ, and others in it."
p 133 - 134
March 31, 2024
It’s got 5 stars worth of wisdom. But hidden within 100+ year old personal correspondence. Which can make for tough going at times.
January 18, 2019
Another classic for the modern Catholic, mentioned by Flannery O'Connor as a one night read. The conversational tone and warmth of Catholicism shine through in such an authentic way, that it is refreshing and consoling to read. The introduction by Gwendolen Green is also great! Can be found on "Internet Archives " for free download.
May 31, 2019
São conselhos católicos de um tio muito zeloso.
As indicações literárias que ele faz procuram o catolicismo histórico, traçando uma linha a partir dos gregos, passando por Santo Agostinho até chegar aos anglicanos convertidos.
A raridade é o cuidado espiritual do tio para com a sobrinha, entremeado por conselhos mais práticos, como diminuir as horas de prática de violino para diminuir as enxaquecas.
De uma certa maneira, os conselhos funcionaram - a sobrinha, Gwendoline Maud Parry Greene, tornou-se uma escritora católica (que dizem, aliás, empurrou a conversão de Evelyn Waugh ao catolicismo).
De outro lado, os filhos dela fizeram parte dos Bright Young Things - uns aristocratas boêmios e autodestrutivos, como os que Waugh retrata no Vile Bodies (aliás, dizem que ele tinha uma queda pela filha da Gwendoline, Olivia).
De qualquer modo, as cartas foram editadas pela sobrinha, o que mostra que, no fim das contas, o carinho do tio não foi desperdiçado.
As indicações literárias que ele faz procuram o catolicismo histórico, traçando uma linha a partir dos gregos, passando por Santo Agostinho até chegar aos anglicanos convertidos.
A raridade é o cuidado espiritual do tio para com a sobrinha, entremeado por conselhos mais práticos, como diminuir as horas de prática de violino para diminuir as enxaquecas.
De uma certa maneira, os conselhos funcionaram - a sobrinha, Gwendoline Maud Parry Greene, tornou-se uma escritora católica (que dizem, aliás, empurrou a conversão de Evelyn Waugh ao catolicismo).
De outro lado, os filhos dela fizeram parte dos Bright Young Things - uns aristocratas boêmios e autodestrutivos, como os que Waugh retrata no Vile Bodies (aliás, dizem que ele tinha uma queda pela filha da Gwendoline, Olivia).
De qualquer modo, as cartas foram editadas pela sobrinha, o que mostra que, no fim das contas, o carinho do tio não foi desperdiçado.
July 6, 2015
I really enjoyed this book. I can see re-reading this one in the future and it would be incredible to pretend myself the niece and order packets of the books he suggests and read them over through a few years (definitely missed an education in Greco and Roman classics, Plato, early Christian writers, etc.) Unfortunately, I imagine I would miss out on being able to write my own letters and have them responded to and on the in person conversations he so lovingly looked forward to. One of my favorite things was to watch is salutations change from Uncle Freddie to Uncle-Father.
I read that von Hugel was part of something called the Modernist movement within the Catholic church and was responsible for bringing about real dialogue with science and philosophy than was happening at the time. We saw that tension come up a time or too and most clearly on pages 107-110 and 149-152. I was especially struck (and by the way, Bonhoeffer interacts a tiny bit with Professor Troeltsch in his Cost of Discipleship and Ethics, etc.) by the earlier bit on 107-110. There he was realizing that he had, in expressing his own pain, perhaps led his niece into a quarrel that was wrong for her. Or maybe best expressed in his own words: “I was thinking of my own case, instead of yours--and I was thinking of my own case unmanfully, softly, complainingly.” I have often done so and only in sensitive moments regretted it. This is part of what makes him a great mentor is his sensitivity to how much bigger his life is than simply his own.
I loved his catholicity in the sense that he was very comfortable that God was working far beyond the Roman Catholic church ... he mentioned being greatly helped by Troeltsch whom he describes as a liberal Lutheran and even the way he speaks to Gwen. And I also loved the vain of Christianity that sees all of life as a pilgrimage (his reference to mountain climbing on 12 and 72) and therefore seeing all trials and suffering of any kind as part of the journey and always embracing them as from the hand of God. I think this is a good tension to another view that I tend to hold ... that it is sin or evil that is at work and I am allowed to hate and/or complain about it and fight against it. This can be wearing on my soul and even can land me in the spot of judge, when I should be humble creature.
I read that von Hugel was part of something called the Modernist movement within the Catholic church and was responsible for bringing about real dialogue with science and philosophy than was happening at the time. We saw that tension come up a time or too and most clearly on pages 107-110 and 149-152. I was especially struck (and by the way, Bonhoeffer interacts a tiny bit with Professor Troeltsch in his Cost of Discipleship and Ethics, etc.) by the earlier bit on 107-110. There he was realizing that he had, in expressing his own pain, perhaps led his niece into a quarrel that was wrong for her. Or maybe best expressed in his own words: “I was thinking of my own case, instead of yours--and I was thinking of my own case unmanfully, softly, complainingly.” I have often done so and only in sensitive moments regretted it. This is part of what makes him a great mentor is his sensitivity to how much bigger his life is than simply his own.
I loved his catholicity in the sense that he was very comfortable that God was working far beyond the Roman Catholic church ... he mentioned being greatly helped by Troeltsch whom he describes as a liberal Lutheran and even the way he speaks to Gwen. And I also loved the vain of Christianity that sees all of life as a pilgrimage (his reference to mountain climbing on 12 and 72) and therefore seeing all trials and suffering of any kind as part of the journey and always embracing them as from the hand of God. I think this is a good tension to another view that I tend to hold ... that it is sin or evil that is at work and I am allowed to hate and/or complain about it and fight against it. This can be wearing on my soul and even can land me in the spot of judge, when I should be humble creature.
February 6, 2012
This a collection of letters from Friedrich von Hugel to his niece (hence the clever title) offering spiritual advice and mentoring her intellectual and spiritual development. The books that this man sends his niece are not by any stretch lightweight. He has her reading the classics (Greek, Latin and English), histories, often commending a first and second reading. But admidst the intellectual rigor is real soul care. Von Hugel's spiritual advice is simultaneously demanding in gentle. Von Hugel wants his neice to grow in truth and grace, but he doesn't want to overload herself but find a healthy spiritual rhythm. His affection for his niece is evident and the letters go from being signed 'uncle' to being signed 'father-uncle' and 'uncle-father.' He walks with her through grief and hardship and is attentive through out to her spiritual, personal and intellectual development.
Want to read
December 20, 2017The niece is Gwen Plunket-Greene, whose family so influenced Evelyn Waugh in the mid-1920s.
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews