The Work
Abandonment to Divine Providence (L'Abandon a la Providence divine) was published in 1861 from letters and talks attributed to Jean-Pierre de Caussade (1675-1751), a French Jesuit who served as spiritual director to the Visitandine nuns at Nancy. The attribution of the manuscript to de Caussade was established by Henri Ramiere, S.J., who edited and published it from the Nancy archives; some scholars have questioned the attribution, but de Caussade remains the named author by convention. The work consists of two parts: a theological treatise on surrender to divine providence, and letters of spiritual direction. It runs to approximately 200 pages. The standard English translation is by Kitty Muggeridge (HarperCollins, 1989); an earlier translation by E.J. Strickland (Burns Oates, 1921) is also widely used.
Biblical Engagement
Romans 8:28 ("And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose") is the foundational text for de Caussade's theology of abandonment. His argument is that if "all things work together for good," then the specific circumstances of each moment of one's life -- including the apparently trivial, the painful, and the humiliating -- are the medium through which God's will is encountered. The phrase "all things" is taken with radical literalness: not only the grand providential events but the petty irritations, the unwanted interruptions, the frustrating limitations of daily life are all sacramentally charged.
Matthew 6:34 ("Take therefore no thought for the morrow: for the morrow shall take thought for the things of itself. Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof") is read by de Caussade as the dominical foundation for his concept of "the sacrament of the present moment." Jesus's command not to be anxious about tomorrow is not merely a practical counsel but a theological statement: the present moment is the only location of God's will, the only place where divine grace is actually available. Anxiety about the future is not only psychologically damaging but spiritually disorienting -- it removes the soul from the only place where God is encountered.
Luke 22:42 ("Nevertheless not my will, but thine, be done") is the christological model for abandonment. Christ's prayer in Gethsemane -- accepting the Father's will even when it leads to the cross -- is the model of the surrender de Caussade commends. This is not passive resignation but active trust: the soul does not merely endure what happens but actively embraces each moment as the expression of God's will.
Philippians 4:11 ("I have learned, in whatsoever state I am, therewith to be content") is Paul's model of contentment achieved through practice -- "I have learned" (emathon: I have been trained) rather than naturally possessed. De Caussade's program of abandonment is similarly a discipline that must be practiced, not a disposition that arrives without effort.
Author and Context
Jean-Pierre de Caussade (1675-1751) was born in Cahors, France, and entered the Society of Jesus in 1693. He was a preacher and teacher of considerable skill but spent most of his ministry in relatively obscure pastoral and spiritual direction work. His most important ministry was his service as spiritual director to the Visitandine sisters at Nancy, for whom the letters collected in Abandonment to Divine Providence were written. He had no expectation that these letters would be published; they were written for specific individuals in specific circumstances of spiritual need.
De Caussade worked within the tradition of French Catholic spirituality shaped by Francis de Sales (Introduction to the Devout Life, 1609) and his disciple Jean-Jacques Olier. He was writing in the aftermath of the Quietist controversy -- the condemnation of Molinos, Madame Guyon, and Fenelon by the Catholic Church in the late seventeenth century. Quietism, roughly defined as the doctrine that the soul should be entirely passive before God, had been condemned as spiritually dangerous (it led, critics argued, to moral passivity and disregard of the sacraments). De Caussade walks carefully around this controversy, insisting on active surrender rather than passive emptiness, and grounding his teaching firmly in the sacramental life of the church and in Scripture.
Critical Reception
The book was recognized from its 1861 publication as a devotional classic in the tradition of Francis de Sales and Brother Lawrence. Its influence on twentieth-century spiritual direction -- particularly in Catholic and Anglican circles -- has been substantial. Henri Nouwen cited it as one of his most important spiritual sources. Thomas Merton engaged with it in his journals and letters. Ruth Burrows, the Carmelite writer, and Basil Pennington, the Cistercian, have both acknowledged its formative influence.
Protestant readers have found it somewhat alien in its Catholic framework (its references to the sacraments, the church, and the role of the spiritual director) but have extracted its core teaching -- the sanctification of the present moment -- and applied it across denominational boundaries.
Theological Significance
De Caussade's primary contribution is the concept of "the sacrament of the present moment" -- the idea that each passing moment, received with faith and abandon, is a vehicle of God's grace as surely as the formal sacraments of the church. This democratization of the sacramental principle -- making every moment potentially an encounter with divine grace -- is analogous to Brother Lawrence's teaching about the sanctification of ordinary work. Together these two writers represent a tradition of "ordinary mysticism" that insists the contemplative life is available to those who live in the ordinary circumstances of daily life.
Legacy
Abandonment to Divine Providence has been continuously in print since 1861 and has been translated into many languages. Its concept of "the sacrament of the present moment" has entered the permanent vocabulary of Christian spirituality. Its influence on spiritual direction practice in the Catholic, Anglican, and Protestant traditions has been profound.
Reading Alongside Scripture
Readers should study Romans 8:28-39 (all things working together for good), Matthew 6:25-34 (freedom from anxiety about the future), Luke 22:39-46 (Gethsemane -- the model prayer of surrender), Philippians 4:4-13 (contentment in all circumstances), James 4:13-15 (the provisional nature of human plans), and 1 Thessalonians 5:18 (giving thanks in all circumstances).
Further Reading
- Wendy Wright and Joseph Power, eds., Francis de Sales, Jane de Chantal: Letters of Spiritual Direction (1988) -- the essential background in the French Catholic spiritual direction tradition. - Thomas Merton, Contemplative Prayer (1969) -- a twentieth-century monastic complement to de Caussade's teaching. - Gerald May, Care of Mind, Care of Spirit (1982) -- a modern clinical and theological treatment of spiritual direction that draws on the same tradition.