Francisco De Osuna: Third Spiritual Alphabet (Classics of Western Spirituality) (Classics of Western Spirituality (Paperback))

Francisco de Osuna (c. 1492-c. 1540) was born in the Seville region of Spain on the eve of that country's golden age of mysticism that saw the sublime achievements of Teresa of Avila and John of the Cross. Osuna entered the Order of Friars Minor of the Regular Observance when Cardinal Jimenez de Cisneros was spearheading a reform movement that encouraged believers to nourish a simple, Christ-centered, inner spirituality.

In the midst of the controversy over the nature of true interior prayer that raged during the 1520's between the advocates of recollection (recogimiento) and those who practiced abandon (dejamiento), Osuna wrote a series of maxims as a practical guide for recollection. These he arranged into a series of "Spiritual Alphabets," the third of which appears in this volume. Long recognized for its influence on the famous Spanish Carmelites of the sixteenth century, The Third Spiritual Alphabet is itself a masterpiece of mystical literature that will richly repay those who seek its treasures.

• The Collected Works of St. John of the Cross (includes The Ascent of Mount Carmel, The Dark Night, The Spiritual Canticle, The Living Flame of Love, Letters, and The Minor Works)
• Treatise on Prayer and Meditation
• Catholic Mysticism and the Beautiful Life of Grace (The Science of Sainthood)
• Christus Vincit: Christ's Triumph Over the Darkness of the Age
• Interior Castle (Dover Thrift Editions)
• Consecration to St. Joseph: The Wonders of Our Spiritual Father
• From the Depths of Our Hearts: Priesthood, Celibacy and the Crisis of the Catholic Church
• The Collected Works of St. Teresa of Avila, Vol. 1 (featuring The Book of Her Life, Spiritual Testimonies and the Soliloquies)
• The Way of Perfection: Study Edition [includes Full Text of St. Teresa of Avila's Work, Translated by Kieran Kavanaugh, OCD]
• Francis of Assisi, Early Documents: Vol. 3, The Prophet