Pray without ceasing. The spiritual path of invocation in religions.

This anthology on the way of invocative prayer presents for the first time about twenty fundamental texts from the great religions of the world, as well as as many essays and testimonies written by some of the most eminent scholars and legitimate spiritual authorities, and often invoked, reconsecrates "the altar of the temple", or the believer's heart. The invocation of this Name then operates in a direct way the resuscitation of the Holy Spirit or of the divine Breath latent in us. The great religions are unanimous on this point. Thus, when the temporal and finite human heart is rhythmically permeated by a divine Name - which by its very nature partakes of the infinite and the eternal - it ceases all resistance and unfailingly remembers its theomorphic essence.

Patrick Laude is an example of the few scholars who understand the practical value and spiritual significance of their subject. His anthology of the Way of Invocation bridges centuries and cultures, but will inspire as much as it encourages the spiritual seeker of today, regardless of faith.

-Laurence Freeman OSB-

John Main Center for Meditation and Inter-Religious Dialogue, Georgetown University, Washington DC

Patrick Laude was born in 1958 in the Pyrenees. He studied philosophy at the Sorbonne. A former student of the Ecole Normale Supérieure, in 1982 he began a university career in the United States. He now teaches French literature and religious studies at the Georgetown School of International Relations in Qatar and at Qatar University. He is the author of numerous articles and books dealing with the relationship between mysticism, symbolism and literature, as well as eminent spiritual figures such as Jeanne Guyon, Simone Weil, Louis Massignon and Frithjof Schuon.