He Leadeth Me

I highly recommend this book for anyone! It is written by a Catholic jesuit priest based on his venture into the Russian prison camps during WW2 and his struggle and fight for life over the twenty years he spent there. Extremely deep and meaningful. A mixture of a saintly human experience with great insights on both the human soul and body.

Every Christian should read this autobiography. It will help you understand what you might expect and how you should react in future persecutions, which might come from the populace (as Hollywood and the media stirs public hatred against Christians, especially Catholics), expansionist totalitarian regimes (now that they have found easy access to so many of our military secrets), or militant religious fundamentalists (as they are in Africa and Malaysia). Fr. Ciszek is being investigated for possible canonization. He would be a saint along the lines of St. Peter, rather than along the lines of St. Therese of Lisieux. He volunteered for service in Stalinist Russia. He had always wanted to do the will of God, until he was severely challenged by repeated interrogations in prison in Stalinist Russia. His realization of his weakness was the turning point in his life, much as St. Peter's was after he denied Christ. What we learn from this book is that we should accept and rely on God's will, with our eye on the ultimate goal (union with God), even in our seemingly insignificant daily activities. Now that you know what you would learn, you may decide that you need not read the book. Don't be deceived. You will not learn the lesson from reading that one sentence but rather by reading Fr. Ciszek's own account of his failings, his humility, and his reaction to adverse conditions in prison and out. His experiences, and his insight into his behavior, will burn the lesson into your brain. We all experience the same challenges and frustrations, albeit to a lesser intensity. For example, we are all sometimes placed with people who are obnoxious and overbearing, but not to the intensity of Communist prison guards. You can see how Father turns such circumstances into an opportunity to accede to God's will.Father will teach you much about life. He will convince you that people can become so imbued with sin that they feel that society owes them something, thereby justifying their actions against society. He will also show that all work, even forced labor, is ennobling; that suffering is good; and that elaborate surroundings are not necessary for a devout Mass. He will show you that keeping people busy is effective in keeping them from a spiritual life - a lesson we might apply to ourselves or to our media-swamped teenagers. He also shows that the atheistic Communists were able to devise an effective moral code by brainwashing everyone, from childhood onward, to believe that living for others is what is good. Their moral code was not far from the mark, being the second great commandment. If they had included the first, reason rather than brainwashing could have been used.With this book, you will humbly see your human weakness in the awesome sight of God.

Fr. Walter Ciszek's story of 23 years in Siberian prisons seems at first as if it will be a dismal tale.Rather, Fr. Ciszek embraces his time in prison as God's will. His utter reliance on prayer and on God are truly inspiring. Each chapter is not only moving, but provides the reader with a different lesson in faith. This book is powerful reading. You will not be disappointed.

Our parish priest referred to "He Leadeth Me" in his homily recently and I thought the book might be interesting. Little did I know that I would find Father Ciszek's message to be one of the most inspiring I have ever read. Throughout his terrible ordeal he never lost his faith in God. No matter what the Russian authorities attempted to do to him, Fr. Ciszek knew that by turning his life over to God and doing God's will he had nothing to fear. Fr. Ciszek found God where most of us would find only despair. I strongly recommend this book to everyone. I know you will be inspired by the message of God's love.

This book is powerful, I just finished reading it. Fr. Ciszek exposes depths of his soul for the sake of his readers. He went through extremely hard times but came away with the meaning of life. What he wants to pass on to us is practical knowledge for living. Every event that we are presented with in our lives should be considered an opportunity to make the best of it. To keep the faith that God is watching out for us and sometimes has a tough mission for us to do. Many times "tough" is mundane and monotonous. Many times he had doubts. But in the end he saw how many people he could help as a priest in atheistic Russia. Now with his efforts in print, he will inspire for generations to come. I didnt want to finish the book, I read it very slowly and put it down for a while when I was near the end. This man lived the life of a saint, which is the life that we are all meant to live.

The first I heard of Walter Cizek was walking through a Jesuit cemetery in Wernersville, PA, where I happened to come across his grave. A priest I was with told me that this Jesuit was up for sainthood in the Catholic Church. Why? I asked. He then refered me to this book. "He Leadeth Me" is one of the most moving stories I have ever read; a beautiful balanced tale of adventure, drama, tragedy, and theology. Walter Cizek was an American Jesuit missionary in Russia before WWII, and was imprisoned by the Soviet government under the accusation of being a Vatican spy. He spent five years in solitary confinement in the notorios Lubianka prison in Moscow before being sentenced to another fifteen years hard labor in Siberia. Throughout this harrowing tale of hardship, however, are dramatic and inspiring insights into the human experience and its relationship with God in times of trial. There are wonderful paralells between Cisek's experience and that of Christ, as well as many helpful guides to finding Jesus in our own lives during our own personal difficulties. "He Leadeth Me" can inspire any person, Christian or not, towards the grace that can be found in our lives in the face of unspeakable misery.