Bert Daelemans, SJ, graduated as engineer-architect and theologian (PhD, KU Leuven, 2013). He is the author of Via Crucis: Overwegingen bij de bronzen kruisweg van Werner Klenk in Altenhundem (Averbode: 2103), Spiritus Loci: A Theological Method for Contemporary Church Architecture (Brill: 2015), and Encuentros en el camino: Una propuesta de discernimiento spiritual (PPC: 2015). He is currently professor of pneumatology and sacramental theology at the Universidad Pontificia Comillas in Madrid, Spain.
This is a wonderful book, which invites us on a journey with Jesus
as he faces his most difficult and most glorious moments on his
journey of the Cross. It is a tough and challenging journey-almost
harrowing, yet intimate and beautiful-calling us to explore the
depth of our own being and all of our relationships, not least with
Jesus and with ourselves. This is a text I have and will use often
for meditation and contemplation, and I found the use of images and
music suggestions, along with the Scripture and almost poetic text,
really helpful and evocative-drawing me into the exercises in spite
of my reluctance!
Jim Culliton, SJ Dublin, Ireland
Bert Daelemans, SJ, gently guides us in the contemplation of the
Passion of Jesus through a series of sculptural images. As we,
reverently or even shyly, approach Jesus in this via crucis, we are
led to discover that it is Jesus who walks with us during the
course of our lives. We are captivated by Jesus in these most
genuinely human moments of his divinity-to see, to listen, to feel,
and even to taste the beauty, the truth, and the proximity of God
living and embracing our humanity. By way of a dialogue with this
Jesus, so truly meek and humble, we are encouraged to experience a
moving encounter with him in a journey of discernment so as to grow
in his likeness.
Miyako Namikawa, RSCJ Madrid, Spain
Fr. Daelemans's sensitive interpretation of the Ignatian text,
enhanced by Werner Klenk's beautifully photographed Way of the
Cross in bronze, offers an engaging and deeply personal spiritual
experience. In this relatively compact work, the full range of our
human capacities for prayer-imagination, the senses, memory, and
intuition-are brought into play. We move at our own pace. The
graced moments ripen slowly. This is a book to keep.
Fr. William Pearsall, SJ, University Chaplain, University of
Manchester
More than mere devotional practice, this contemporary, existential,
and artistic Way of the Cross is at once a guide to meditation and
a path to encounter Christ in whom we are and find what we are
searching for: a fullness of joy and life beyond our own darkness
and our daily struggles.
Georges Ruyssen, SJ Pontificio Istituto Orientale Rome
It is rare to find a spiritual writer who combines so many gifts:
theology, aesthetics, and intimate familiarity with Saint
Ignatius's wisdom about prayer. An Ignatian Journey combines art,
Scripture, poetry, and even suggestions for music in a single,
multifaceted meditation. As with Saint Ignatius's great classic,
the Spiritual Exercises, the prayer engages the senses, the
imagination, and the heart. I am sure that any who desire a deeper
and more personal encounter with the Lord will find in this unusual
and beautiful book a continual source of inspiration.
Nicholas Austin, SJ, Heythrop College
This book might be described as a little Gesamtkunstwerk. In Bert
Daelemans's An Ignatian Journey of the Cross the reader will find
an uplifting and interesting approach to contemplating the Way of
the Cross through poetic writing, visual images, and selected
pieces of music in the context of the Ignatian tradition. For those
who seek beauty, hope, and inspiration, the book will be a source
of reflection and sustenance.
Gesa Thiessen, Trinity College, Dublin
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