Science of the Saints

Robert E. Alvis is professor of church history and academic dean at Saint Meinrad Seminary and School of Theology. His publications include Religion and the Rise of Nationalism: A Profile of an East-Central European City (Syracuse University Press, 2005) and White Eagle, Black Madonna: One Thousand Years of the Polish Catholic Tradition (Fordham University Press, 2016).

"Robert Alvis and his colleagues at Saint Meinrad Seminary and School of Theology have given us a treasure trove of scholarly reflection on the two thousand-year old art of spiritual direction. Spanning the history of Christian guidance from the Desert Fathers and Mothers to contemporary expressions in literature and film, this groundbreaking book traces spiritual direction from its roots to its flourishing. Informed and inspired by this first-rate historical analysis, our own ministries as spiritual directors become blessed by the saints who preceded us."Susan S. Phillips, executive director of the Graduate Theological Union's New College Berkeley and author of Candlelight: Illuminating the Art of Spiritual Direction