Matt and I just finished this powerful book last night and I happily recommend it to anyone looking to both have a new introduction to the St. Therese’s spirituality and to reminded of just how much, how much God loves them and wants to help them become saints.
Seriously – it is a fantastic book.
We did each reading just before going to bed by ourselves (without our children). It was a great bedtime prayer routine as the Fr. Gaitley’s writing is clear, understandable and often a bit humorous.
If you are familiar with Fr. Gaitley’s other book, 33 Days to Morning Glory, I found this book much more approachable. It was easy to remember his points the next day and both Matt and I found ourselves renewed and refreshed in our faith and, as a nice bonus, our marriage!
While we did the Morning Glory as a family, we found that to be a bit heavier for the younger kids to grasp. However, by the end of the first week of Merciful Love, Matt and I realized we could easily have done this book with our kids (ages 21 – 9, at home). However, we kept doing it as a couple project and it led to some really amazing conversations.
While we could do the Consecration right away, we wanted to pick a ‘powerful feast’ in which to remember what we have done so we will be doing the consecration together on the Feast of Christ the King.
We would love to think that some of you might be doing it as well.
If you have read the book already and loved it as much as I did, please let everyone know!
I LOVED this book! Some other moms and I did this as a study circle earlier this year. I found it so profound that I wanted to do it a second time before making the consecration. I would highly recommend it to anyone. It took about 15 minutes each morning to do the reading and reflecting and Father did a fantastic job of building on the previous reading. The daily readings, as you said, Rachel, are easy to comprehend, and easy and enjoyable, but also deeply profound. Thanks for recommending it and I second your endorsement!