We’re happy to be publishing When the Lion Roars by Monsignor Stephen J. Rossetti, now well-known across America as an exorcist (with the St. Michael Center in Washington, D.C., where he is teamed with other priests we know and greatly respect).

The book is both deep and readable — a rare combination. We think it’s a potential classic.

It focuses on the mystical life of Catholics, and is full of profound, powerful spiritual guidance for everyone.

“Mystics learn to attune their wills to the divine will,” writes the priest, who has the blessing of his bishop and his cardinal.

“They learn to listen to God’s will resonating in their hearts. As the Scriptures tell us: “The wind blows where it wills, and you can hear the sound it makes, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes; so it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit” (Jn 3:8).

“Mystics learn by experience, a kind of connaturality, the ‘sound’ of God. We attune our spiritual ears, not primarily to our own needs, but first to God’s will. We trust that following the divine will is the best for all, including ourselves. If ascetical practices and long hours of prayer do any good at all, they help us to learn the sweet taste of God.

“Being expelled from the ‘Garden,’ we have lost this familiarity with God and thus have been estranged from him. It is a long trek back to learn the taste of God and the sound of his voice. However, we have a sure guide. This sure guide is God’s will. We humans have only a little and faint desire to come home to God. Fortunately, God has an ever-burning and intense desire to bring us home to him. God’s will is a beacon in the spiritual night that constantly shines and leads us home. Day in and day out, mystics strain to find the light of this beacon. Day in and day out, mystics strain to follow its light. They know that any other light will lead them to a spiritual shipwreck.

“The beacon of God’s will is our only sure hope. As we become more accustomed to finding this beacon and steady ourselves in following this light, we find our confidence in God rising and our Christian optimism growing. As we move closer and closer to the safe harbor of God, our desire to return home grows stronger. The little penances we performed in the past seem so small and fade from our consciousness, and we learn for ourselves the truth of Jesus’ words, ‘For my yoke is easy, and my burden light’ (Mt 11:30).”

[resources: When the Lion Roars and Spirit Daily pilgrimage, Italy!]