Your Summer Spiritual Reading List
By Caitlin Bootsma
Consultant to the VIRTUS® Programs
This time of year, most of us are looking for a bit of an escape. Whether that be a vacation to the beach, a trip to the pool, or just a few stolen minutes relaxing on the porch, summer is a time to recharge. What better way to relax and get away from it all than a good book?
Summer reading can be more than just an insubstantial beach book, however. While few of us want to carry tomes of theology to the beach, that does not mean we cannot grow in knowledge and love of our faith through what we choose to read. And, of course, our spiritual growth will not only benefit us, but also all of the young people in our care. Children are always observing us and will naturally learn from the wisdom we have gained.
The following is a list of 20 books you may want to check out of the library or load onto your Kindle during these summer months. Whether you are looking to enhance your spiritual life, enjoy some riveting fiction, or learn more about the lives of the saints, there is surely something to add to your summer reading list!
Looking for a spiritual recharge?
- I Believe in Love, by Fr. Jean C. J. d Elbée: a Personal Retreat based on the teachings of St. Therese of Liseux
- Searching for and Maintaining Peace, by Fr. Jacques Philippe,
- The Practice of the Presence of God, by Br. Lawrence
- Poustinia: Encountering God in Silence, Solitude and Prayer, by Catherine Dougherty
- He Leadeth Me, by Fr. Walter Ciszek
Want to be inspired by biographies of men and women of faith?
- The Family That Overtook Christ, by M. Raymond: a biography of the family of St. Bernard of Clairvaux
- Something Other than God, by Jennifer Fulwiler: an story of a modern intellectual conversion
- My Sisters the Saints: A Spiritual Memoir, by Colleen Campbell: a personal narrative intertwined with reflections on Teresa of Avila, Therese of Lisieux, Faustina of Poland, Edith Stein of Germany, Mother Teresa of Calcutta, and Mary of Nazareth
- A Right to be Merry, by Mother Mary Frances, PCC: reflections and anecdotes on life in the cloister
- A Song for Nagasaki, by Paul Glynn: a biography of Takashi Nagai, a survivor of the atomic bomb and a convert from the Shinto religion to Catholicism
- Kisses from Katie, by Katie Davis: the story of a young woman so changed by the needs of the Ugandan people that she chose to adopt 13 Ugandan children
- Rome Sweet Home, by Scott and Kimberly Hahn: well known apologists tell their conversion story
Interested in escaping into some riveting faith-based fiction?
- Fr. Elijah: An Apocalypse, by Michael O'Brien
- Till We Have Faces: by C.S. Lewis: a retelling of the myth of Cupid and Psyche
- Brideshead Revisted, by Evelyn Waugh
Seeking books to help you in your ministry with the Church?
- The New Evangelization and You, by Greg Willits
- Jesus: A Pilgrimage, by Fr. Jim Martin
- Rediscovering Catholicism, by Matthew Kelly
- Geek Priest: Confessions of a New Media Pioneer, by Fr. Roderick Vonhögen
- Rebuilt: Awakening the Faithful, Reaching the Lost, and Making Church Matter, by Michael White and Tom Corcoran
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