Retrieve The Fulfillment Of All Desire Edited By Ralph Martin File

book is a comprehensive guide to the spiritual life taking a person from the beginning all the way to sainthood.
It draws heavily from the writings of some of the great spiritual doctors of the Church, including Saints Augustine, Bernard, Teresa of Avila, John of the Cross, Thérèse of Lisieux, and Francis de Sales.
This thick book is loaded with quotes, with at least one appearing on just about every page, but it ties them together with explanations that help modern readers make sense

of writings that can sometimes be baffling outside of the right context.
I strongly recommend this book to anyone who is serious about the spiritual life, The book is quite readable and does not require a lot of theological background, but I did find that it required a lot of effort to get through.
I think the effort, however, was not so much intellectual as much as an effort of the will.
The spiritual life is not easy, and our sin tainted natures resist it, However, I found the book well worth the effort, and I'm glad I persevered and finished it.
I can't think of many books that have had as practical and immediate an impact on my spiritual life as this one.
The size of the book is intimidating, but I found the structure and format very readable,

Martin condenses and summarizes those greatand sometimes insurmountable spiritual works, like The Interior Castle and The Dark Night of the Soul.
He shows how, while living very different lives, the saints' journeys shared many common elements and common discoveries.




I learned so much about the journey, the stages, and these Doctors of the Church.
I gained much from the reading, but I'm sure I will gain more by rereading when I am a little farther along in my journey.


Recommended. Drawing upon the teaching of seven Spiritual Doctors of the Church, Ralph Martin presents an indepth study of the journey to God.
This book provides encouragement and direction for the pilgrim who desires to know, love, and serve our Lord.
I read this book upon a recommendation in a podcast, It has some useful/interesting perspectives on some really specific areas of our spiritual lives that I hadn't read much about before, e.
g. some unusual ways of how God speaks to us, how to welcome suffering AKA "the dark night of the soul", and provided a good resource for me to go back to when I suffer physical pain in the future.
The book is almostpages, and because they're using excerpts from the saints' writings about their union with Christ, at times it felt a bit unrelatable.
Unrelataable in a good way like I want to understand more of what they mean and go back to this book in a few decades.
I bet I would get a lot more out of it late in life,

Still found lots of good quotes to keep from this one : If you have the desire to lead a good life, a holy life, an extraordinary life.
this book MUST be on your shelf right next to the Sacred Scriptures of the Bible, It just doesn't get any better thandoctors of the church spoon feeding you the medicine of immortality!!! Perhaps this needs a second read but it seemed a bit scattered and I'm not sure any new or profound truths were revealed to me.
Very Scripture heavy and filled with excerpts and quotes from saints, so, great materially, But a bit disjointed without a clear conclusion made, Read this book slower than most as it is such an excellent book full of quotes well written "how to live a more spiritual life" a book that I will read over amp over or just review some to the quotes.
Ralph Martin took many years to put together the riches of wisdom from theseDoctors of the Church and I can tell.
His citing of primary sources from these saints' writings opens up so many aspects of the spiritual life that we all need to know about.
God is calling us all to this spiritual marriage and the saints show us how to get there and the beauty of it.
Thanks be to God for this book and it's inspiration for greater holiness in my life! Definitely want to read this based on Wanda's excellent review.
This is one of those books which draws you into the primary materials, It is about the great mystics especially folks like Teresa Avila and John of the Cross and about five others.
I think it is very valuable for those who wish to decide what direction to go in their reading about contemplative prayer.
I was struck by how many five star ratings there were on Amazon for it, This book had been on my wishlist for awhile as I had constantly heard references to it.
The audiobook version is very good and I felt like I was on a mini retreat as this provides an almostCathecism of the Spiritual Life via the lens of some of the Doctors of the Church.
No doubt this will be a goto book for future Lents, Madres! Si eres católico practicante TIENES que leer este libro, mucho que digerir A esto estamos llamados, este libro aumenta el deseo a vivir en plenitud y de cara a Dios.


Qué rica es la Iglesia y Martin lo deja claro, INCREÍBLE que utiliza todos los textos dedoctores de la Iglesia Un libro que se vuelve a leer, hasta para rezar! This is an excellent book! It is similar in some respects to Fire Within by Fr.
Dubay, yet different enough to warrant reading it even if you have read Fire Within, The book is full of quotes by Saints Augustine, Bernard, Francis de Sales, Catherine of Siena, Teresa of Avila, John of the Cross, and Therese the Little Flower.
The book describes the spiritual journey, as discovered by thesaints, through the call to holiness, the purgative way, the illuminative way and the unitive way.
I always find it exhilarating to read about this journey, although the discussion of the "dark night" always scares me more than a little! This is a book that I will return to often for a refresher course.


In my own Scripture reading, I had always been somewhat puzzled by Jesus' teaching that He would be in us and we would be in Him.
I could readily understand how He was in us, especially in light of the Eucharist, but I have never been certain what it means for us to be in Him.
In Fulfillment of All Desire, p,, Martin writes:

"At another time Bernard uses the strong imagery of 'eating' the Lord and 'being eaten' by Him to convey a mutuality of complete indwelling that, while redolent with Eucharistic imagery, extends to an abiding state of relationship.
"

Martin then quotes Saint Bernard:

"I myself am his food, . . I am chewed as I am reproved by him I am swallowed as I am taught I am digested as I am changed I am assimilated as I am transformed I am made one as I am conformed.
Do not wonder at this, Jn.:, for he feeds upon us and is fed by us that we may be the more closely bound to him.
Otherwise we are not perfectly united with him, For if I eat and am not eaten, then he is in me but I am not yet in him Jn.
: But he eats me that he may have me in himself, and he in turn is eaten by me that he may be in me, and the bond between us will be strong and the union complete, for I shall be in him and he likewise will be in me.
. . feeding somehow upon God, and being fed by God, "

There is much food for thought here, No pun intended, lol. What I am left with is a feeling that Jesus LOVES us so much, and so wants us to be close to Him, to be in Him.
Jesus sincerely desires us more than we can probably ever know while on this earth, and this ongoing revelation stokes the fires within me, making me yearn to strive even harder to somehow be worthy of someday being close to Him.


Now if I could just learn to behave, .