"Grant us such grace that we may work Your will And speak Your words, and walk before Your face Profound and calm like waters deep and still, Grant us such grace." --Christina Rossetti In a book overflowing with grace, Lucinda Vardey--who collaborated with Mother Teresa to create her international bestseller A Simple Path--gathers an incandescent, unprecedented selection of nearly a thousand prayers and thoughts about them, set down through the ages by women of many faiths. St. Teresa of Ávila, Simone Weil, Emily Dickinson, Annie Dillard, Julian of Norwich, Sun Bu-er, Marianne Williamson, Marion Woodman, and hundreds of others are among the saints, spiritual teachers, poets, healers, and anonymous spiritual women whose passionate words generate a dazzling arc of love between women and their most profound beliefs. In prayers of praise and thanksgiving; calls for mercy and courage in the face of death; lives of surrender and holy love; in celebrations of the soul's unfolding, readers will find their burdens lightened, their paths illuminated, and their hearts inspired. This collection is unparalleled in its illustration of the unity of women's faith. Within these pages, there is spiritual sustenance to last a lifetime. Reading like a divine book of poetry, The Flowering of the Soul is an unprecedented selection of prayers from women of all denominations, ages, and cultures and a lasting tribute to feminine spiritual wisdom. Lucinda Vardey collected nearly a thousand prayers from renowned writers as well as anonymous sages, including Mother Teresa, Simone Weil, Annie Dillard, Elizabeth Barrett Browning, Marge Piercy, and Hildegarde of Bingen. Women will find it validating to see the common feminine values that define worship in the Eastern and Western traditions, including a passion for relationship, nature, and community. Contemporary feminists may be alarmed by the occasional prayerful vows of self-sacrifice and obedience. However, Vardey does address the historical and religious contexts for these ancient devotionals, which makes it easier to appreciate the sentiments of love and surrender behind some of these politically volatile words. --Gail Hudson us such grace that we may work Your will And speak Your words, and walk before Your face Profound and calm like waters deep and still, Grant us such grace." --Christina Rossetti In a book overflowing with grace, Lucinda Vardey--who collaborated with Mother Teresa to create her international bestseller A Simple Path--gathers an incandescent, unprecedented selection of nearly a thousand prayers and thoughts about them, set down through the ages by women of many faiths. St. Teresa of Ávila, Simone Weil, Emily Dickinson, Annie Dillard, Julian of Norwich, Sun Bu-er, Marianne Williamson, Marion Woodman, and hundreds of others are among the saints, spiritual teachers, poets, healers, and anonymous spiritual women whose passionate words generate a dazzling arc of love between women and their most profound beliefs. In prayers of praise and thanksgiving; calls for mercy and courage in the face of death; lives of surrender and holy love; in Lucinda Vardey is a Catholic whose spiritual interest is in bridging the teachings of the East and the West. Born in England, she divides her time between Toronto, Canada, where she lives with her husband, writer John Dalla Costa, and Tuscany, Italy, where she runs summer retreats. She is the author of Belonging: A Book for the Questioning Catholic Today, editor of God in All Worlds: An Anthology of Contemporary Spiritual Writing, and edited the bestseller A Simple Path with Mother Teresa of Calcutta. In addition to her writing, she also teaches yoga, prayer, meditation, and sacred ritual.