Disernment Booklist Ideas?

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andy92

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I’m trying to compile a list of books for men discerning vocations.
(I would add women but as I am not a woman I don’t know how to discern the convent or marriage from their stance)​

Major ones I’ve used:

To Save 1000 Souls -Fr Bret Brannen
Priests of the Third Millennium - Bishop Dolan (now Cardinal)

Minor ones I’ve found cool/helpful
101 Inspirational Stories of the Priesthood - Sister Patricia Proctor, OSC
A Man for God and for Others - Fr. Fidelis Igwenwanne
Lives of the Saints (for every day of the year) - Fr. Alban Butler

Any suggestions?
 
The Priest is Not His Own by Fulton Sheen

Be a Man by Fr. Larry Richards

Those two books along with “To Save 1,000 Souls” really impacted my discernment. Good stuff all around.
 
For people discerning a contemplative vocation, especially to an order that uses the Rule of St. Benedict, I would recommend Strangers to the City: Reflections on the Beliefs and Values of the Rule of St. Benedict by Michael Casey.
 
Not directly about discernment, but I think Crossing the Threshold of Hope by Bl. John Paul II would be good.
 
To be clear the book I recommended is not about discerning vocations either, just a book that I think would be a good read for someone discerning a contemplative vocation.
 
andy92 said:
Major ones I’ve used:

To Save 1000 Souls -Fr Bret Brannen
Priests of the Third Millennium - Bishop Dolan (now Cardinal)
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I definitely recommend these 2 books.

The first one is more useful for discernment pre-Seminary.

The second one (by Cardinal Dolan) is more useful as helpful spiritual reading once in the Seminary because it largely deals with priest-specific issues. I guess it could be useful for someone who is wondering about what the priestly life is like, but it’s real use is the fact that it has lots of practical advice for future-priests. I believe it’s mostly pulled from Cardinal Dolan’s “Rectors Conferences” while he was rector at NAC.
 
The Screwtape Letters is good reading for any Christian but a man discerning the priesthood should keep the message of this book in mind: the devil is always trying to pull you away from God’s path, and we must be ready for it.
 
What about books for discerning marrige, A sister in Christ of mine read How to Find Your Soulmate Without Losing Your Soul said it was great!

Awesome list so far!
 
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