"In Pilgrimage of a Soul, Phileena Heuertz does something quite countercultural: she goes on pilgrimage to the tomb of St. James in Spain and then on sabbatical in Durham, North Carolina. However, this is a travelogue like no other. Her journey becomes ours as she accompanies us through important landmarks of the spiritual journey: awakening, darkness, transformation, union and points in-between. In doing so, she provides a wise and helpful guidebook for the spiritual life. I've heard it said that the best writing is so individual that it has a universal appeal. And Phileena's book has just that!"Albert Haase, O.F.M., author of Coming Home to Your True Self and Living the Lord's Prayer
"Part memoir, part guidebook for the contemplative activist, Pilgrimage of a Soul reads like a good conversation with an old friend. Heuertz's honesty about her own struggles created a space for me to see how wisdom from a host of spiritual guides speaks to my life. It's a gift to all of us, but especially to a guy like me who needs the graciousness of prophetic women like Phileena. I finished the book and felt refreshed, eager to enjoy a walk around my neighborhood."Jonathan Wilson-Hartgrove, author of New Monasticism and God's Economy
"The astounding book you hold in your hands has the potential to change you in unimaginably deep ways. Read it slowly, paying as much attention to the things that arise within you as you do to the words on the page. Received with hospitality, these arisings will lead you forward as you make your own pilgrimage of the soul. I can think of no better companion on that journey than Phileena Heuertz."David G. Benner, founding director of Cascadia Living Wisdom School, author of The Giftof Being Yourself
"Pilgrimage of a Soul is a delightful book that engaged me every step of the way. I was engrossed with Phileena's journey as she entwined her personal story with the account of a pilgrimage in Spain and theological insights she gained along the way. I heartily recommend it to all who are searching for a deeper commitment to God and to the contemplative way of life."Christine Sine, author, contemplative, activist and executive director of Mustard Seed Associates
"For some reason we imagined that just the 'thinking life' would elicit and feed the Christian spirit. The soul is fed much more by the 'symbolic life' too, where action and contemplation meet, where the inner and the outer learn to operate as one, where words become flesh, where God is no longer just an idea but the heartbeat of life itself. This marvelous book gives you many avenues by which to live such a full and enfleshed life. Phileena tells you to stop 'thinking about it' and to try it! That is when it works."Fr. Richard Rohr, O.F.M., Center for Action and Contemplation, Albuquerque, New Mexico
"Weakness, inferiority, absence and death are turned upside down in these pages, as Phileena Heuertz engages the reader's holy imagination with Christ's good gifts of strength, mutuality, presence and life. Prepare to be transformed."Margot Starbuck, author of The Girl in the Orange Dress and Unsqueezed
"A courageous and groundbreaking effort to build a bridge between those two communities of Christians, still largely unknown to each other, where the heart of Christ burns so brightly: the evangelical and the contemplative."The Rev. Cynthia Bourgeault, Ph.D., Episcopal priest, author and retreat leader
"In my journey for justice, I've discovered that contemplative practices are the practices that best help me to face the world with love instead of fear, vulnerability instead of shame, and openness instead of defensiveness. Pilgrimage of a Soul is an excellent and accessible introduction to the Christian contemplative tradition and its intimate connection to social justice action."Christena Cleveland, author of Disunity in Christ
