Books : Thirty Days: On Retreat with the Exercises of St. Ignatius
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by: Paul Mariani
Binding: Hardcover
Dewey Decimal Number: 248.3
EAN: 9780670894550
ISBN: 0670894559
Label: Viking Adult
Manufacturer: Viking Adult
Number Of Items: 1
Number Of Pages: 272
Publication Date: March 04, 2002
Publisher: Viking Adult
Release Date: February 28, 2002
Sales Rank: 1189753
Studio: Viking Adult
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Editorial Review:
Amazon.com:
Go be quiet and pray for 30 days and you might come to know yourself--and your God, too. That's what Paul Mariani found out when he went on retreat with the Exercises of St. Ignatius, as he explains in Thirty Days. Mariani, a poet and literary critic, spent the month of January one year at a retreat center on the rocky Atlantic coast near Gloucester, Massachusetts. During that time he confronted his past experiences as a father, husband, teacher, and Christian and arrived at some surprising conclusions about his place in God's world. Thirty Days--a work of probing self-examination, including much reflection on the lives of St. Ignatius and Jesus--is the journal that he kept during that period. Readers of this fine, honest, intelligent book will be quietly assured by something Mariani himself learned from Ignatius's Exercises. 'How consoling to know that, no matter how small we may think we are against the backdrop of eternity, we do count in the cosmic scheme of things.' --Michael Joseph Gross
Product Description:
Paul Mariani, finding himself at a crossroads in his life, leaves home one January for the month-long silent retreat of the Jesuit tradition, based on the five-century-old Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius. He is there to examine his past-as husband, father, teacher, and pilgrim -in order to discover his place in God's plan. As day gives way to day, through a guided program of study, prayer and meditation, broken by long walks along the ice-capped shores of the North Atlantic, he takes us on a visceral and transcendental journey.
Rich in history, humor, and epiphany, Mariani's journal combines a brief life of St. Ignatius with meditations on Jesus' life and His radical gift of love. Mariani also looks unflinchingly at his own transgressions and glories in a sense of renewal that sends him back into the world-and to his family-with a heightened sense of selflessness. Its beauty and power reminiscent of the works of Kathleen Norris and Thomas Merton, Thirty Days is the story of one man's emptying himself until he, and we, have touched our authentic selves in silence with God.
Customer Reviews
Average Rating: 
Rating:  - Good and Bad
I like pauls writing style, its smooth and easy reading. I enjoyed it. However it does show what can happen when a person becomes overly obsessed with religion and doing the right thing 100% of the time. If the writer does something wrong by another person he seems to feel the need to immediately pray for an hour to rid himself of the guilt and then keep himself awake all night worrying over whether he has prayed enough for god to forgive him. I think the message god gave me after reading the book ... Read More
Rating:  - A profound work
Paul Mariani's personal journey is powerful and compelling. While he shares with us his discoveries and reflections on evils committed in his life, he also is unabashed in his joyous sharing of God's revelations to him.
Some of this reads like an unabridged prayer journal, and some has clearly been reworked after the fact. Regardless, Mr. Mariani has a gift for words, and he tells a great story. It has a beginning, a middle, and an end.
My only caveat is that this is Mr. Mariani's ... Read More
Rating: - On Retreat with a Poet and Scholar
Paul Mariani, a writer and English professor at Boston College, completed a thirty day retreat based on the Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius of Loyola. His journal reflections from this retreat are the basis of the book's content. For those who are familiar with the spirituality of St. Ignatius, as well as those who have completed the thirty day retreat or variations of this retreat, the book will be of great value.
The book has many strong points. The first has to be Mariani's openness to ... Read More
Rating: - Inspiring and profound
I add this to my "favorites" bookshelf - until I read this, I believed Henri Nouwen's GENESEE DIARY would always remain my favorite, a book I reread every few years, as I think it captures the humaness of our spiritual search and growth, with all the inherent pitfalls and break-throughs. This book has inspired me even to the point that I too am now considering making the 30 day retreat - that is if I ever can resolve to do the necessary work such an adventure requires. I recommend it highly - ... Read More
Rating: - Superb writing and deep spiritual searching
I was very much impressed with this book on two levels. The writing is superb. Mr. Mariani has a wonderful, colorful, textured style of writing that adds beauty to what was already a wonderful topic. Boston College should be honored to have him on board. The spiritual content of the book based on the exercises of St. Ignatius is deeply powerful and only for the serious seeker of faith and service to God. The combination of the writing and the spiritual search make this book hard to put down once the ... Read More
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