Customer Reviews

The Way of the Cross

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This is a reprinting of an older version that was originally published in the 1950's. This author enjoyed great popularity for her spiritual writings in the 40's and 50's. I came across this one last year but only got around to reading it this year. It has an a meditation between 4 and 8 pages per station. It also has woodcut prints by the author at the beginning of each chapter. Also each chapter ends with a prayer composed to tie the meditation to our own lives. The meditations in this edition go much deeper than some of the others. The reflections lead to deep introspection.

This extraordinary book makes a superb complement to Mel Gibson's The Passion of the Christ.

Houselander was one of England's most popular spiritual writers in the mid-20th century. She was also one of the best, and this is arguably her finest work.

The book is based on the ancient devotional practice of praying The Stations of the Cross. The Stations are 14 incidents in Christ's Passion; for example, Christ is judged; Christ meets his mother while carrying His cross; Christ is stripped; Christ is nailed to the cross; Christ dies.

For each incident, Houselander provides a few pages of profound reflection and a short prayer. Her poignant writing is utterly devoid of sentimentality or flowery ornament. She plunges straight into each moment, showing us how we can walk the painful Way of the Cross with Jesus, and how He in fact walks with us at every moment of suffering in our lives.

Read this book to experience The Passion, to draw nearer to Him, and to recognize how He is still being spit upon, still being put into agony in every man, woman, and child who suffers.

I love this book. It is the traditional stations that Caryll writes with depth of heart and spirit with insight only given and received in the power of our Helper, Holy Spirit. Highly recommended for the faithful follower of Christ.

I first read Caryll Houselander as a teenager, when the original 1954 edition from Sheed and Ward was available. It is a moving book and one I never forgot. Houselander experienced World War II in London, with the blackouts and bombs falling.

I was happy to buy the new book, but then disconcerted. The book is beautifully done, in easy-to-read type on nice paper. However, the publisher decided to make the language inclusive, which leads to certain distortions, especially in the Scriptures cited. Houselander's text used Ronald Knox's well-respected translation of the New Testament. The publisher has changed the reprint to a recent inclusive translation, but done so inconsistently so that the change is made only to sentence-long scriptural quotations cited by chapter and verse. Phrases from these quotations are not changed to the new translation!

I prefer the original Scriptural translation and the consistency of these quotations throughout the original text, so I purchased the original which is still available used at a reasonable price.

There is not a writing by Caryll Houselander that I have not appreciated. One of the best!

This is a beautiful and inspiring reflection of Christ's passion. The prayers at the end of each chapter go right to the heart. It is an easy read and makes a wonderful gift for anyone going through a tough time.

It takes someone special to say something new about Lent, but Houselander not only does it, she makes you think about it in new and inspiring ways. What a gift she and her compassionate insights are to us in our spiritual struggles!