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Father Stubna's Recommendation:
This classic spiritual book is the deeply moving personal story of one man's spiritual odyssey and the unflagging faith which enabled him to survive the horrendous ordeal that wrenched his body and spirit to near collapse. Captured by the Russian army during World War II and convicted of being a Vatican spy, American Jesuit Father Walter J. Ciszek spent some 23 agonizing years in Soviet prisons and the labor camps of Siberia. He here recalls how it was only through an utter reliance on God's will that he managed to endure. He tells of the courage he found in prayer—a courage that eased the loneliness, the pain, the frustrations, the anguish, the fears, the despair. For, as Ciszek relates, the solace of spiritual contemplation gave him an inner serenity upon which he was able to draw amidst the arrogance of evil that surrounded him. Learning to accept even the inhuman work of toiling in the infamous Siberian salt mines as a labor pleasing to God, he was able to turn adverse forces into a source of positive value and a means of drawing closer to the compassionate and never forsaking Divine Spirit. He Leadeth Me is a book to inspire all Christians to greater faith and trust in God even in their darkest hour. As the author asks, “What can ultimately trouble the soul that accepts every moment of every day as a gift from the hands of God and strives always to do his will?” This book will change your life and give you a new perspective on life and its challenges.

A book from which to learn the realities of living out one's Christian faith and being resolute about the faithfulness of God even in the midst of long time periods of inexplicable and painful difficulties. The solutions to remaining faithful as it applies to human choices and actions is not unlike the essentials for all Christians in their journey through life. ( )

This book, one of two biographical accounts by the late (and some expect soon-to-be-canonized) Fr. Walter Ciszek, SJ, is one of the most inspiring books on suffering for one's faith. Fr. Ciszek spent decades in a Soviet gulag, where he continued to secretly practice his faith and celebrate Mass for the other prisoners. I ended up loving both the book and Fr. Ciszek.

Audience: This book is definitely for those who may feel a need for inspiration / fresh air in their faith lives. It is impossible to read this book and not come away with a certain inner breathlessness at the scope and depth of Fr. Ciszek's faith. ( )

He Leadeth Me is the deeply moving personal story of one man's spiritual odyssey and the unflagging faith which enabled him to survive the horrendous ordeal that wrenched his body and spirit to near collapse. Captured by the Russian army during World War II and convicted of being a Vatican spy, American Jesuit Father Walter J. Ciszek spent some 23 agonizing years in Soviet prisons and the labor camps of Siberia. He here recalls how it was only through an utter reliance on God's will that he managed to endure.