Synopses & Reviews
Paul Mariani, finding himself at a crossroads in his life, leaves home one January for the month-long silent retreat of the Jesuit tradition, based on the five-century-old Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius. He is there to examine his past-as husband, father, teacher, and pilgrim -in order to discover his place in God's plan. As day gives way to day, through a guided program of study, prayer and meditation, broken by long walks along the ice-capped shores of the North Atlantic, he takes us on a visceral and transcendental journey.
Rich in history, humor, and epiphany, Mariani's journal combines a brief life of St. Ignatius with meditations on Jesus' life and His radical gift of love. Mariani also looks unflinchingly at his own transgressions and glories in a sense of renewal that sends him back into the world-and to his family-with a heightened sense of selflessness. Its beauty and power reminiscent of the works of Kathleen Norris and Thomas Merton, Thirty Days is the story of one man's emptying himself until he, and we, have touched our authentic selves in silence with God.
Synopsis
Finding himself at a crossroads in his life, Mariani leaves home for the month-long silent retreat of the Jesuit tradition. Rich in history, humor, and epiphany, Mariani's journal combines a brief life of St. Ignatius with meditations on JesusU life and His radical gift of love.
About the Author
Paul Mariani, an award-winning poet, biographer of William Carlos Williams and Robert Lowell, and critic, holds a Chair in English at Boston College. A former professor of English at the University of Massachusetts, he has lectured widely across the country.
Table of Contents
Contents Prologue, 1
the first week
The Loss of God's First Kingdom
27
the second week
Thy Kingdom Come
105
the third week
Suffering and Death
181
the fourth week
He Is Risen. Alleluia!
221
Epilogue, 269
Afterword, 281
Acknowledgements, 283