Seeking Surrender
How My Friendship With a Trappist Monk Taught Me to Trust and Embrace Life
by Colette Lafia
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Pub Date Apr 17 2015 | Archive Date Jul 12 2015
Ave Maria Press | Sorin Books
Description
An unlikely friendship between Colette Lafia and a silent monk at the Abbey of Gethsemani, where Thomas Merton lived, comes to life through seven years of shared letters. Lafia's palpable openness and warm storytelling lead readers through the same compassionate process that led the author to accept herself, find peace with life, and strive for an ever-deepening relationship with God.
Advance Praise
“Colette Lafia challenges our notion of surrender, inviting us to see it as a path of opening to the fullness of life. Her spiritual companion, a Trappist monk from the Abbey of Gethsemani, encourages and guides her toward deeper trust along her journey in a series of letters shared over years. A beautiful and honest book.”
Richard Rohr, O.F.M.
Center for Action and Contemplation
“Surrender to the will of God is discovered as foundational in this intriguing spiritual journey based on a seven-year correspondence between Colette Lafia and a simple Trappist brother who was overcome with his love for God. Seeking Surrender is a rewarding read for those searching for an answer in the midst of darkness only to discover he is always with us.”
Damien Thompson, O.C.S.O.
Former Abbot
Abbey of Gethsemani
“Weaving a memoir of her path through resistance to life on its own terms with the letters of her spiritual companion and teacher, the late Brother René of Gethsemani, Colette Lafia invites her reader to practice the spiritual discipline of surrender, the soul’s dark path toward a doorway into light, a coming home to accepting—and even in the end loving—life’s hard times that bring graces nonetheless.”
Jonathan Montaldo
Coeditor of the Bridges to Contemplative Living with Thomas Merton series
“In this consoling book, Colette Lafia shares with us how a Trappist monk named Brother René helped her to find inner peace by learning to surrender to God, who guides and sustains our lives in mysterious ways we do not understand. Colette shares with us a series of letters in which Brother René marks out the path of sweet surrender that we can follow as we learn to surrender to God’s presence in our lives.”
James Finley
Former Trappist Monk
Author of Merton's Palace of Nowhere
“In her quiet, gentle, and deliberate way, Colette Lafia guides us inexorably toward a juncture most of us try our best to avoid: the place where suffering and surrender meet. If you are in pain, yet long to find God in the midst of it, this is your book.”
Paula Huston
Author of A Land Without Sin
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Available Editions
| EDITION | Other Format |
| ISBN | 9781933495880 |
| PRICE | $14.95 (USD) |
Featured Reviews
Gail M, Reviewer
The author of this short book, Colette Lafia, had a number of trying life experiences (death of a sibling and inability to have children, among others), and she started a spiritual journey to try and make peace with herself. She first visited a Trappist monastery in Kentucky, where she made friends with one of the monks, and much of the book is their written correspondence over several years.
Although the content is written from a Christian and specifically Catholic point of view, the first thing I noticed was its resemblance to Buddhist practice. A few rituals when needed, very little dogma, but much emphasis on acceptance (the 'surrender' of the title), presence, compassion, searching, and meditative prayer.
Very simple, unadorned, and moving. Recommended.
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