The Art of Purifying the Heart (Sapientia)

Thomas Spidlik is a wonderful author who skillfully summarizes and transmits traditional teachings on finding purity of heart using a contemporary voice. This is a brief book, easy to read, but challenging and engaging in content. It is part of the Sapientia Series by Convivium Press and if you enjoy this book you may enjoy others in the all-too-small series.

As a former spiritual director of mine, many years ago, I find his writing and spiritual direction as refreshing as ever. I have given copies to many of my friends and highly recommend this book to any who are interested in developing their spiritual life.

The author was a Jesuit and a Cardinal in the Catholic Church, as well as an expert in the spirituality of Eastern Christianity. In this book, he proposes a variety of practices to protect the heart against the effect of evil thoughts and to enable one to pray in the heart. The author uses a series of questions in each chapter to advance his argument, responding with a paragraph-long essay (in most cases) in the style of a spiritual catechism useful for all Christians. As I read this book, I thought that Protestants will be surprised by the supporting role that scripture plays in the author's proposals, while Catholic and Orthodox Christians may be surprised at the vigor with which "the psychophysical method of the Hesychasts" is incorporated. This book could cause consternation in both camps, which leads me to conclude that it may be useful, edifying reading for all.The only thing that prevented me from giving this book five stars was the distracting number of typographical errors throughout an otherwise beautifully published volume. I hope that the second edition is given closer scrutiny before publication. I highly recommend this work for any Christians looking for orthodox spiritual practices to deepen their faith and grow in obedience to the Way.

A concise and thoughtful guide to learning the nature of the human heart, and the methods and character of purifying it. I would recommend it to anyone seeking true human freedom and peace.

When requesting another book to review, I was also offered The Art of Purifying the Heart by Tomáš Špidlík. I admit that I was ignorant to who Špidlík was, but the book was endorsed by Fr. John Meyendorff, and that was enough for me to give it a chance. For those wondering like I was, Špidlík was a Jesuit priest who was made a Cardinal at the age of 83 by Pope John Paul II. Due to the age at which he was made a Cardinal, he never had voting rights, but he was Cardinal Deacon of Sant'Agata dei Goti Church in Rome. Cardinal Raymond Burke is now the Cardinal Deacon of that church.The Art of Purifying the Heart is a brief (108 page) book that begins with an explanation of what evil is, It then moves on to the topics of temptation and sin. Next, we learn about vigilance and resisting temptation, discerning spirits, and the eight evil thoughts. Lastly, one learns about hesychasm and prayer of the heart. This last few chapters are probably unfamiliar to Western Christians/Roman Catholics, but to Eastern Christians, they will recognize these terms immediately.The book is very carefully laid out and builds in a manner to help you grow in both prayer and your spiritual life. The book is simple and practical in its approach, but it presents Roman Catholics with a chance with a form of spirituality they might otherwise would not have been exposed to. As beautiful as the words in this book were, I encountered a bit of distractions due to some typos and the way some words were set apart. For example, instead of putting a word in bold, it would be surrounded by << >>. For that reason, I had to take away a star and only give this book 4 out of 5 stars. Try to get past these distractions though, and you will be richly rewarded.

I bought it in English and Spanish. It is an excellent author, and great book.