The Genesee Diary

During his seven-month stay in a Trappist monastery, Henri Nouwen had a unique opportunity to explore crucial issues of the spiritual life and discover "a quiet stream underneath the fluctuating affirmations and rejections of my little world." Nouwen participated fully in the daily life of the Abbey of the Genesee in upstate New York -- in work and in prayer. From the early weeks in the abbey -- dominated by conflicting desires and concerns -- to the final days of Advent, when he finds a new sense of calm expectation, Nouwen never loses his critical honesty. Insightful, compassionate, often humorous, always realistic, The Genesee Diary is both an inspiration and a challenge to those who are in search of themselves. "The Genesee Diary beautifully lifts the heart and mind to God." --Christianity Today "This is an extraordinary account of a man seeking inner peace and total commitment to God... a fine portrait of cloistered life, a beautifully written account of one man's soul-searching." --Publisher's Weekly

"Essays and talks on the theme of community by Henri Nouwen, the popular writer and spiritual teacher"--

Report from a Trappist Monastery. 'Just as a whole world of beauty can be discovered in one flower, so the great grace of God can be tasted in one small moment.' This touching observation is central to the probing spiritual journal of Henri Nouwen recorded buring this seven-mopnth stay in a Trappist monastery.

Henri Nouwen’s never-before-published story of his surprising friendship with a traveling trapeze troupe. During the last five years of his life, best-selling spiritual author Henri J. M. Nouwen became close to The Flying Rodleighs, a trapeze troupe in a traveling circus. Like Nouwen’s own life, a trapeze act is full of artistry, exhilarating successes, crushing failures and continual forgiveness. He wrote about his experience in a genre new to him: creative non-fiction. In Flying, Falling, Catching, Nouwen's colleague and friend Carolyn Whitney-Brown presents his unpublished trapeze writings framed by the true story of his rescue through a hotel window by paramedics during his first heart attack. Readers will meet Nouwen as a spiritual risk taker who was transformed through his engagement with these trapeze artists, as well as his participation in the Civil Rights movement, his life in community with people with intellectual disabilities, his personal growth through friendships during the 1990s AIDS pandemic, and other unexpected encounters. What will we do with our lives, and with whom will we do it? In this story of flying and catching, Nouwen invites us all to let go and fly, even when we are afraid of falling.

This is a special gift edition of three of Henri Nouwen's internationally acclaimed and world-renowned spiritual journals. The Genesee Diary was written during a seven-month stay at the Trappist Abbey of Genesee in upstate New York, where Nouwen met the challenge "to face my restless self." In Gracias Nouwen reported on a six-month sojourn in Bolivia and Peru, where he came in touch with God's "option for the poor" and the conviction that "somewhere, somehow, I too had to make that option." The Road to Daybreak which chronicles a year spent at the L'Arche community for the mentally handicapped in Trosly, France, and records Nouwen's "spiritual struggle to say 'yes' to Jesus' invitation to 'Come follow me.'"

A reissue of one of Henri Nouwen’s most powerful and most personal books: prayers that “reveal a fearful heart, a cry for mercy, rays of hope, the power of the Spirit, the needs of the world, and finally gratitude.” In his continuing search for a deeper understanding of the spiritual life, Henri Nouwen traveled twice to the Trappist monastery in the Genesee Valley of upstate New York. His first visit inspired The Genesee Diary, a moving account of his daily experiences and of contemporary monastic life. When he returned five years later, the familiar, comfortable daily rhythms of the contemplative life led him to concentrate his attention on meditation. He disciplined himself to write a prayer each day, an endeavor that became this extraordinary book. In these daily prayers, Father Nouwen confronts his own inner chaos as he tries to create a space in his heart where God can dwell. Powerful, searching, and painfully honest, Nouwen’s prayers, confessions, and petitions point to the final goal of all spiritual life: to live unceasingly in the presence of God. Like The Wounded Healer and The Return of the Prodigal Son, A Cry for Mercy is filled with freshness and insight. It speaks directly to the contemporary Christian’s need for a meaningful spirituality, a disciplined inner life, and a real sense of the divine presence in everyday life.

This journal was written during the last year of Henri Nouwen's life, ending shortly before his death in 1996. In it, he describes his struggles with other people, his difficulty discerning what God intends for him, the direction his ministry is to take, and, woven throughout the book, are the continual, endless and beautiful themes of God's reconciling love, the Eucharist, forgiveness, friendship and love.Three weeks after writing his final words of this book, Nouwen died following a heart attack.

When Henri Nouwen left the world of academe and headed for the village of Trosly in France, he sought a place that would lead him "closer to the heart of God." Arriving at L'Arche community in Trosly, he felt as if he had finally "come home." Indeed, it was destined to change his life forever. The Road to Daybreak is Henri Nouwen's intimate diary that records his poignant year at L'Arche, which began in the summer of 1985, a precious time of inner renewal and self-discovery. With simplicity and honesty, he describes how the experience changed his attitudes and enriched his spiritual life. Here Nouwen recounts the struggles and self-doubts he faced along this rocky road to a new vocation as he introduces us to the people of L'Arche and many others whose impact on him was deep and life-lasting. Such was the impact of this experience that he chose to say yes to the call to go to L'Arche Daybreak Community in Toronto and make it his permanent home and ministry. Rich in insights and sparkling with touching and inspiring anecdotes, The Road to Daybreak invites the reader to join this renowed spiritual writer on his journey to a deeper understanding of God and the human family.