The Fulfillment of All Desire: A Guidebook for the Journey to God Based on the Wisdom of the Saints.

The Fulfillment of All Desire A Guidebook for the Journey to God Based on the Wisdom of the Saints WRITTEN By Ralph Martin PUBLISHED BY Emmaus Road Publishing, Steubenville, OH, 2006, ISBN: 1931018367, Softcover, pp. 496, $18.82 USD 

For several decades Ralph Martin has been involved in leadership positions with Cursillo, parish and university ministry, Catholic Spirituality courses, and graduate theology programs in the new evangelization. In particular he has taught courses in the teaching of the seven Doctors of the Latin Church who are famous for what they have written concerning spirituality: St. Bernard of Clairvaux, St. Catherine of Siena, St. Teresa of Avila, St. John of the Cross, St. Francis de Sales, and St. Theresa of the Child Jesus. And he hosts a weekly TV program: "The Choices We Face."

This book has much to recommend it. What struck me chiefly was the ease with which the book can be read. Most of us know something of the three stages of the spiritual life: the purgative, the illuminative, and the unitive ways. Here we find an account of each of these, with its subdivisions. For example, for the purgative way one reads about a conversion, the transformation of our thinking, the struggle against sin, the importance of prayer, the methods of prayer, and temptations and trials. And we are sure to see that each of these speaks to our own experience.

Besides the fact that the whole book is very readable, one finds many short quotations from the Church Doctors which indicate that what they said was based on the same kind of experiences as we ourselves have had. We meet the struggle of St. Augustine as he fights temptations of the flesh and as he strives to abandon what he had treasured before he found the pearl of great price.

I can say that this book contains the whole of the teaching of the Church relating to one's spiritual life. A person could read about five pages a day and eventually deal with every aspect of his or her spirituality. And the great advantage of studying the theology of the spiritual life is that it is both a practical and theoretical science; it calls the reader silently to holiness of life as much as it informs him or her concerning what holiness is.

The book is of special value to priests or others who direct souls. The index of the book' contents would be of great help for such persons dealing with specific problems. I would also be a good book to recommen to students or to young practitioners of the spiritual life.

A number of well-known professors who lecture on the spiritual life have written endorsements of the book. One of them says he wants to read it just for his own good. Another one writes: "Anyone, priest, religious, or member of the laity, looking for a complete blueprint of the spiritual journey will find it in this book." Another one: "This is a book to keep at your place of prayer for years to come." Another: "I am deeply moved by this book. There is a beauty which draws the reader into intimate friendship with the saints." I can only agree with these judgments. I think that this book will become the regular text-book for both undergraduates and graduate students for years to come. And also for individual readers who wish such a book for their own perusal.

The reviewer, Father Leonard Kennedy, C.S.B., is a member of the Congregation of St. Basil. He was Professor of Philosophy for many years but more recently has devoted his time to writing about theology.