Award-winning French author shares the biography and spiritual journey of Cistercian abbot Dom AndrĂ© Louf. Based on a wide variety of interviews, printed sources, and Dom AndrĂ© Loufâs spiritual journal, The Way of the Heart narrates Loufâs spiritual journey from his childhood in Flanders through his becoming a monk in a Cistercian monastery, his ten years of retirement as a hermit in a Benedictine monastery in the south of France, and his death. Throughout his life he periodically struggled with conflicting vocational desiresâsometimes wishing to serve as a pastor, academic, abbot, or to immerse himself in eremitic contemplation. That struggle is the leading thread through this biography, which portrays a man whose immense gifts pulled him in many directions, while always endeavoring to submit himself to Godâs will.
Award-winning French author shares the biography and spiritual journey of Cistercian abbot Dom AndrĂ© Louf. Based on a wide variety of interviews, printed sources, and Dom AndrĂ© Loufâs spiritual journal, The Way of the Heart narrates Loufâs spiritual journey from his childhood in Flanders through his becoming a monk in a Cistercian monastery, his ten years of retirement as a hermit in a Benedictine monastery in the south of France, and his death. Throughout his life he periodically struggled with conflicting vocational desiresâsometimes wishing to serve as a pastor, academic, abbot, or to immerse himself in eremitic contemplation. That struggle is the leading thread through this biography, which portrays a man whose immense gifts pulled him in many directions, while always endeavoring to submit himself to Godâs will.