abandonment to divine providence by jean pierre de caussade

De Caussade himself was forced to withdraw for two years, 1731-1733, as spiritual director of a convent of nuns due to a charge of Quietism, but he was eventually acquitted of the charge. Whoever the author was, he or she (maybe even a certain 'lady from Lorraine' ) believed that the present moment is a sacrament from God and that self-abandonment to it and its needs is a holy state – a belief which, in the theological climate of France at the time, may have been considered close to Quietist heresy. However, according to research on The Treatise on Abandonment to Divine Providence, discussed in a paper by Dominique Salin SJ, emeritus professor at the Faculty of Theology at the Centre Sèvres, published in The Way, 46/2 (Apr 2007), pp. 21–36, 'it now seems almost impossible that the author was in fact the Jesuit Jean-Pierre de Caussade' as 'othing in de Caussade's biography would suggest that this man was the author of a famous treatise' and the style of letters of spiritual direction that can genuinely be attributed to de Caussade 'is far removed from the lyricism' marking it.Īccording to Dominique Tronc, a French author and editor of numerous works on Madame Guyon and her spiritual environment, Abandonment to Divine Providence was ″in fact adapted from Madame Guyon″ and is based on ″a manuscript by Madame Guyon which was later used by the Jesuit Jean-Pierre de Caussade for a final editing under the title L'abandon à la Providence divine″. looking back to St John of the Cross and St Francis de Sales and forward to St Teresa of the Infant Jesus.' There were no less than twenty five editions of the work published between 1861 (the Ramière edition) and 1959. Knowles places the writings in a line of development of Christian mysticism, as a work of great importance: 'we may approach Père de Caussade. John Joyce, S.J., with an introduction by Dom David Knowles (Regius Professor of Modern History in the University of Cambridge), appeared in 1959 with the title Self-Abandonment to Divine Providence. The standard English translation is that of Alga Thorold (1866-1936) published in 1933. Some material ascribed to him was first published in 1861 by Henri Ramière under the title ' L’Abandon à la providence divine'.

During this time and after he left Nancy, he wrote letters of instruction to the nuns. He was spiritual director to the Nuns of the Visitation in Nancy, France, from 1733 to 1740. Jean Pierre de Caussade was born in Cahors, now in Lot, France.

He is especially known for the work ascribed to him known as Abandonment to Divine Providence, and also his work with the Nuns of the Visitation in Nancy, France. Jean Pierre de Caussade (7 March 1675 – 8 December 1751) was a French Jesuit priest and writer.

Abandonment to divine providence by jean pierre de caussade