Press Release for "The Complete Madame Guyon"

I very much appreciate my friends at Paraclete Press who published this volume. Here is the press release for "The Complete Madame Guyon."



FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Contact: Sr. Madeleine Cleverly
Tel. (508) 255-4685
srmadeleine@paracletepress.com


Guyon did not so much talk to God – she sung in the midst of her pain


The newest Paraclete Giant offers the necessary space for a true presentation of Madame Guyon in all of her complexity. THE COMPLETE MADAME GUYON (Paraclete Press / Dec. ‘11 / Trade paperback, 316 pp. / $24.99) offers a thorough introduction to Guyon’s theology and spiritual writing as well as fresh translations of her popular A Short and Easy Method of Prayer, as well as biblical commentaries, poems, and memoirs. Nancy James explains the events of Guyon’s life as an aristocratic wife and mother of five, and later as a widow traveling around Europe as a celebrity author and accused heretic, who ended up incarcerated in the Bastille upon orders of Louis XIV. Cleared of all charges at the end of her life, in all of her writing Madame Guyon testified to the goodness and holiness of God.


Peter Gorday, author of the first biography in English of Guyon’s friend and colleague, Francois Fenelon, praises this new collection, writing: “By means of graceful, often elegant translations of primary texts – especially of the poetry – Nancy James makes the writings of the great mystic and savant of the inner life freshly and attractively available to twenty-first century readers. She introduces us to Guyon by means of a crisply written biography that captures well the dramatic adventure of Guyon’s seventeenth-century odyssey that took her to Louis XIV, the court of Versailles, and spiritual friendship with the great Fenelon, and an incisive interpretive essay in which she construes Guyon’s spirituality in terms of the transformative, sanctifying work of the Holy Spirit. Scholarly notes, a large bibliography, and a recommended reading list make this edition of Guyon’s work useful for anyone wishing to go deeper.”


“Nancy C. James’s illuminating translation captures the intensity and depth of Madame Jeanne Guyon’s spiritual writings. While there are many translations of Guyon’s writings, this one stands out for its elegance and readability,” says Sharon D. Voros, Professor of French, United States Naval Academy.


And the Dean of Virginia Theological Seminary, Ian Markham, remarks, “In this remarkable book, sound scholarship meets devotion. James has done an outstanding service to the Church and the academy in providing this excellent introduction to the great French mystic. Not only is Madame Guyon a deep and profound theologian, but she invites the Christian into an ever deeper relationship with God. She stands alongside the greats in the mystical tradition: Mother Julian of Norwich, Meister Eckhart, and Thomas a Kempis. Anyone interested in prayer, poetry, and a remarkable life should read this book.”


Nancy C. James received her MDiv from Virginia Theological Seminary and her PhD in Religious Studies from the University of Virginia. An ordained Episcopal priest, she serves as
chaplain at the Washington National Cathedral and a Priest Associate at St. John’s, Lafayette Square, as well as other churches in the Washington D.C. area.

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