Deep Conversion/Deep Prayer
Digital Verbum Edition
Overview
Fr. Thomas Dubay is one of the most popular and respected retreat masters and spiritual directors in the USA. He is the author of the perennially best-selling book on prayer and contemplation, Fire Within. In Deep Conversion/Deep Prayer, he responds to Pope John Paul II’s and Pope Benedict XVI’s calls for priests to help believers and all those interested in spirituality to develop a deeper prayer life and union with God.
As in his other popular writings, Dubay’s style is profound and meditative, yet clear and readable. He gives an overview of the spiritual life and journey for anyone seeking to grow in the love of God and neighbor. An expert on the teachings and writings of the two great mystical doctors of prayer and the spiritual life, Teresa of Avila and John of the Cross, Dubay gives solid, practical advice for a deepening moral and spiritual conversion and a radical growth in holiness.
With Logos Bible Software, this volume is completely searchable, with Scripture passages appearing on mouseover and linking to your favorite Bible translation in your library. This makes this text more powerful and easier to access than ever before for scholarly work or personal Bible study. With Logos Bible Software’s advanced search features, you can perform powerful searches by topic or Scripture reference—finding, for example, every mention of “conversion” or “sacrament.”
- Overview of the spiritual life and journey
- Practical advice for a deepening moral and spiritual conversion
- Getting a Feeling
- The Radical Conversion
- Degrees of Depth
- Call to the Heights
- A Remarkable Resistance
- Relevance and Motivation
- Conversion and Genuine Love
- Conflicts and Conversion
- A Surefire Program
- The Sacramental Dimension
Top Highlights
“‘There are more people converted from mortal sin to grace, than there are religious converted from good to better.’” (Page 12)
“An accurate synonym for conversion, as we are using the word here, would be transformation. Put simply, conversion is a basic and marked improvement on the willing level of the human person. Even more pointedly, it is a fundamental change in our willed activities from bad to good, from good to better, and from better to best.” (Page 13)
“Bernard was saying that there are more men who give up serious alienation from God, mortal sin, than there are people who give up small wrongs, willed venial sins. And there are even fewer who grow into heroic virtue and live as saints live.” (Page 12)
“Egocentrism is probably the main root of human conflicts. Hence, Jesus is saying ‘love truth, the way things objectively are; do not cling to your preferences when they clash with reality.’” (Page 23)
“‘There cannot be a common life without a regula [rule]. The alternative to rule is not freedom but the unconstitutional (and often unconscious) tyranny of the most selfish member’ (God in the Dock, p. 286).” (Page 26)
There are millions of mediocre “good Christians” who need to hear the message of this book, which is the message of all the saints, about “the universal call to holiness.” Father Dubay is one of the truest, wisest, and most trustworthy guides I know on this road.
—Peter Kreeft, professor of philosophy, Boston College
Want holiness but feel bogged down? Want to like spiritual reading but find it sometimes too heavy in style? Want inspiration but if it’s too general it is gone with the wind? If any of these are your problems, get hold of Deep Conversion/Deep Prayer by Fr. Thomas Dubay. I don’t know how any writer as deep can be so light at the same time, but that is this priest’s character as well, and this new book is no exception.
—Rhonda Chervin, professor of philosophy, Holy Apostles College and Seminary
- Title: Deep Conversion/Deep Prayer
- Author: Thomas Dubay
- Publisher: Ignatius Press
- Publication Date: 2006
- Pages: 125
Thomas Dubay is a retreat master and spiritual director for religious communities around the country, as well as a highly regarded speaker at conferences and retreats for lay people in North America. He has hosted five different 13-part television series on spirituality and prayer, and is the best-selling author of such acclaimed spiritual works as Fire Within, Prayer Primer, and Happy Are You Poor.
Reviews
6 ratings
Steve Currie
2/12/2015
Diane Emigh
9/26/2014
James Chin
4/3/2014
Ken Runyon
10/31/2013
Antonius
10/29/2013
The basic premise of the book presents an incredibly important idea for all of us: make our spiritual life better, keep improving. Fr. Dubay asks the question: how many billions of dollars is spent yearly on dieting and exercising books and videos, cosmetic surgery, hair and skin care products? Society wants to look better, feel better, smell better. How about improving the state of one’s soul? The book is very easy to read, it is 122 pages. Each of the 10 chapters moves the reader forward, and presents very sound advice and arguments (backed by Bible references) that will influence the reader to want to commit to deep conversion. The chapters lead up to the last one titled “The Sacramental Dimension”. While the reader is reminded gently throughout the book of the role of deep prayer to help with deep conversion, the main sources of grace necessary to enable a deep conversion are the sacraments. Chapter 10 covers the two main sacraments of Holy Eucharist and Reconciliation, however most of this last chapter is spent on why Reconciliation is so important and how to make a good confession. In summary: This is a great book not because the author is teaching his personal opinions, or repeating the latest popular 10 step program, but because the basis for this found in the Bible, specifically the Gospels. After I finished reading this book I went back and skimmed the pages looking for all the Bible references and it seamed like almost every page had a chapter and verse reference on it. I recommend this book for anyone wishing to improve their spiritual life, including married couples, for Fr. Dubay addresses conversion (and its benefits) within the Sacrament of Marriage in multiple chapters.Mike Leggett
9/15/2013
