Have you ever faced hardship, suffering, darkness, or uncertainty? The Classic Wisdom Collection offers counsel and peace to help you overcome these trials. This 10-volume collection compiles the wisdom of some of the church’s most esteemed theologians and saints, including Francis de Sales, Thomas à Kempis, and John Henry Newman. Each chapter contains an excerpt from its respective saint or theologian, giving you the aid you need in times of trial. Every volume of the Classic Wisdom Collection provides time-tested spiritual guidance for living a Christian life.
Want more titles from the Classic Wisdom Collection? Check out Intimacy in Prayer: St. Bernard of Clairvaux and Christ in our Midst.
In this special Logos Bible Software edition, Bible verses appear on mouseover, showing your favorite translation, and cross-references instantly bring you to the full version of the cited text, unlocking a whole realm of context and saving you time in your study and devotion.
How do I find peace of mind in my stressed-out life?
It can be hard to hold on to trust in God when we’re stretched and stressed by responsibilities, deadlines, and expectations. Caussade gently yet persistently tells us not to fret over the past, nor worry about the future. We are given only the sacrament of the present moment in which God reveals himself to us. God is secretly at work for our good in the midst of every duty and every event.
Jean Pierre de Caussade (1675–1751) was a French priest and a Jesuit, known for writing The Sacrament of the Present Moment.
Drawing from both his sermons and writings, Life’s Purpose: Wisdom of John Henry Newman lets us reflect with one of the truly great men of the nineteenth century on a problem that continues to perplex humanity today. Each of the volumes of the Classic Wisdom Collection provides time-tested spiritual guidance for living a Christian life.
John Henry Newman (1801–1890) was a priest and Cardinal in the Roman Catholic Church. His father was a banker and his mother’s family was French Huguenot. Newman was raised in a strict Calvinist home and received his primary education at the famous Ealing School. John Henry Newman graduated from Trinity College, Oxford in 1821 and was elected to a fellowship at Oriel College, Oxford in the following year. On June 13, 1824 he was ordained into the Anglican priesthood. From the early 1830’s until 1845, Newman was a leading figure in the Oxford Movement, a group of Anglican priests and scholars from Oxford who sought to restore the rites of the Anglican church to their Apostolic roots in the Early Church. Between 1842 and 1845, during a time of solitude and the completion of Essay on the Development of Christian Doctrine, Newman underwent a process conversion to Roman Catholicism. Newman also published the Oxford Conservative Journal during this time period as a platform for retracting any negative remarks he previously assailed towards the Roman Church.
He was officially received into the Catholic Church on October 9, 1845. The conversion of John Henry Newman to Catholicism was the result of a life’s long struggle to reconcile the historic faith handed down from the Apostles with his own Anglican tradition. Frustrated with the errors inherent in both Protestantism and Roman Catholicism, Newman abandoned his search for the via media (or, middle way) of Anglicanism and converted to the Roman Catholic Church. In 1848, Newman founded the Birmingham Oratory at Maryvale and began ministering to the Catholic population of the city. In 1851, the Bishops of Ireland elected to start a Catholic university in Dublin and they appointed Newman to be the founder and first rector of the institution. Maintaining his ministry at the Birmingham Oratory, Newman established what would become University College, Dublin. His Idea of a University was prepared for founding faculty of the university at Dublin. On May 12, 1879 Pope Leo XIII appointed Newman to the college of Cardinals. Cardinal Newman died on August 11, 1890. Cardinal Newman is currently under consideration by the Vatican for sainthood.
There are no cookie-cutter saints. Jesus calls each person to holiness, yet he calls each of us in a unique way. Where can we find the guidance we need as we walk along our paths to God? Catherine’s legacy gives us a glimpse of the divine dealings with our souls. She is a sure guide along the way of loving service to our neighbors for the sake of Christ.
Catherine of Siena (1347–1380) was a philosopher, theologian, and a Doctor of the Church. Her major works include The Dialogue of Divine Providence and Treatise on Consummate Perfection.
Does suffering have meaning?
Where can we turn for strength and consolation? Drawing from the timeless spiritual classic The Imitation of Christ, this book helps you discover the meaning of suffering in everyday life and how these trials can lead you closer to God. Suffering has value when we bear it with Christ who accompanies us. As we embrace the mystery of suffering in our life, we find peace and blessing.
Thomas à Kempis (1380–1471) is the author of The Imitation of Christ, a classic in Christian literature. As he traveled with his brother to the Netherlands to attend school, he was introduced to the Brethren of the Common Life, followers of Gerard Groote’s Modern Devotion movement. After finishing school, Thomas joined the Mount St. Agnes monastery, where he spent the rest of his life in devotion and prayer. Thomas’ sermons, meditations, and prayers, compiled in The Works of Thomas à Kempis (7 vols), have influenced many Christian writers.
How can I keep my focus on God when novelty and consumerism constantly pull me in different directions? Saint Jane Frances de Chantal’s steadfast pursuit of inner simplicity of life in God offers rest to our psyches and spirits. Her pain, sorrow, and interior struggles gave her deep insight into God’s providence and love. Her gentle counsels illustrate how to live in harmony with God’s will and thus find peace. Jane de Chantal draws us to that one tranquil place from which we can view all events—the love of a trustworthy God.
Jane Frances de Chantal (1572–1641) was a mother, widow, administrator, foundress, teacher, contemplative, and spiritual director. With Francis de Sales, she founded the Congregation of the Visitation in 1610.
Luis Martinez shows the way to develop a deep, loving relationship with God with his hope-filled message of God’s love and concern. Without glossing over the reality of sin and suffering, Martinez reminds us that “the work, pain, and sufferings of this world do not constitute the definitive atmosphere of our souls. Our atmosphere is rest in God.” The Holy Spirit guides us in our struggle to grow in union with Jesus.
Luis Maria Martinez (1881–1956), the former Archbishop of Mexico City and a gifted orator and writer, was admired for his intense dedication to the needs of his people during turbulent years of persecution of the church in Mexico. Today he is perhaps best known as the author of The Sanctifier.
“It is easier to catch flies with a teaspoon of honey than with a barrel full of vinegar.” St. Francis de Sales wrote these wise words—and lived them—in the midst of the changes and difficulties of his own time. His spirit of hope and interior freedom, his confidence in God’s love were the foundations of his activity. They enabled him to meet challenges with unflappable kindness, cheerfulness and humor, steadfast to the end.
During his lifetime, St. Francis de Sales influenced thousands of people. They looked to him for guidance in facing their daily problems. This required a calm trust born of deep faith. Even today his counsel—offered with respect, precision, wisdom and great wit—provides the reader with practical ways to find inner peace and courage. With our hands clasped in God’s, like Francis, we will never walk alone.
St. Francis de Sales does . . . have much to say to those who are trying to live a God-centered life in a crazy world.
—Patrice Fagnant-MacArthur, MA, Elms College
Francis de Sales (1567–1622) devoted much of his life to healing religious divisions and is known to have endured extreme conditions while preaching. He was a bishop of Geneva, Switzerland, and his writings about spiritual direction and spiritual formation have earned him recognition in the Roman Catholic Church as a Doctor of the Church.