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

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.

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.'"

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