Praying for Freedom: Racism and Ignatian Spirituality in America
(2024)Laurie Cassidy (Ed.)
Centers voices of practitioners of color within the Ignatian tradition. Includes contributions from BIPOC authors.
01
Ignatian Spirituality
Body and Imagination: Healing Trauma through Ignatian Meditation and Bio-Spiritual Focusing
(2024)ArticleBo Karen Lee
Professor of Spiritual Theology at Princeton Theological Seminary. Explores how Ignatian meditation and Bio-Spiritual Focusing support healing through individual, genetic, familial, and collective trauma. Spiritus: A Journal of Christian Spirituality, Vol. 24, No. 2, Fall 2024, pp. 193-213.
The Spirituality of Transformation, Joy, and Justice: The Ignatian Way for Everyone
(2023)Patrick Saint-Jean, SJ
A Jesuit priest, spiritual director, and theologian whose work centers Black spirituality, psychology, trauma, and Ignatian discernment.
Home-Going: The Journey from Racism and Death to Community and Hope
(2023)Patrick Saint-Jean, SJ
A touchstone
Why Do You Trouble This Woman?
(2022)Anne Arabome, SSS
The first book by a woman of color on Ignatian spirituality in a multicultural and intercultural setting. Nigerian-born. PhD in systematic theology. Start here.
The Crucible of Racism: Ignatian Spirituality and the Power of Hope
(2022)Patrick Saint-Jean, SJ
Explores how Ignatian spirituality equips us to see and resist racism from the inside out.
The Spiritual Work of Racial Justice: A Month of Meditations with Ignatius of Loyola
(2021)Patrick Saint-Jean, SJ
Daily meditations weaving the Spiritual Exercises with Black history and the author's Haitian-American experience. Structured and accessible.
The Training of Spiritual Directors in the South African Context
(2016)ArticleFrances Correia, Puleng Matsaneng, Annemarie Paulin-Campbell
Puleng Matsaneng is a South African woman trained in Ignatian spiritual direction. Spiritus, Vol. 16, No. 2A, Fall 2016.
Prayer in the Ignatian Tradition
(2016)Book ChapterHung T. Pham, SJ
In Prayer in the Catholic Tradition, ed. Robert J. Wicks. Vietnamese Jesuit and professor at the Jesuit School of Theology at Santa Clara University.
Anthony de Mello, SJ
Indian Jesuit whose work integrates Ignatian spirituality with Eastern contemplative practice. Widely used in formation programs.
The Way to Love
(1992)Anthony de Mello, SJ
Short meditations on the teachings of Jesus. Accessible and widely used.
Awareness
(1990)Anthony de Mello, SJ
Retreat talks on waking up to God and to ourselves. Direct and challenging.
Sadhana: A Way to God
(1978)Anthony de Mello, SJ
His earliest and most theologically grounded work. Ignatian exercises in Eastern Christian form.
02
Spiritual Direction: Practice & Methodology
A touchstone
Contemplative Witnessing: BIPOC-Centered Spiritual Direction
(2024)Cindy S. Lee
The most directly practical book for directors working with BIPOC directees.
Trauma and Renewal: Toward Spiritual, Communal, and Holistic Transformation
(2024)Various Authors
Includes contributions from BIPOC spiritual directors. Explores trauma through spiritual, communal, and embodied lenses. Orbis Books.
Embodying Prophetic: Decolonizing Spiritual Direction
(2024)ArticleAlthea Banda-Hansmann
Argues that justice-aware accompaniment is essential. Presence: An International Journal of Spiritual Direction and Companionship, SDI, October.
Soul Food: Nourishing Essays on Contemplative Living and Leadership
(2023)Westina Matthews Shatteen, Margaret Benefiel, and Jackson Droney (Eds.)
An anthology spotlighting authors of different ethnicities, faith backgrounds, and gender identities. Features spiritual directors of color including Lerita Coleman Brown, Gay L. Byron, and Anita-Yvonne Bryant.
Our Unforming: De-Westernizing Spiritual Formation
(2022)Cindy S. Lee
Read before or alongside Contemplative Witnessing. Proposes three cultural orientations: linear to cyclical, cerebral to experiential, individual to collective.
Soul Care in African American Practice
(2020)Barbara L. Peacock
Pastoral and grounded. Addresses the specific soul care needs that arise for Black people in direction.
Kaleidoscope: Broadening the Palette in the Art of Spiritual Direction
(2019)Ineda Pearl Adesanya
Focuses on cultural diversity within the practice of spiritual direction itself.
A touchstone
Embodied Spirits: Stories of Spiritual Directors of Color
(2014)Sherry Bryant-Johnson, Therese Taylor-Stinson, Rosalie Norman-McNaney
The first book to address the concerns and issues of people of color in spiritual direction. Practitioner voices. Essential.
03
Black Christian Spirituality
Black Contemplative Preaching: A Hidden History of Prayer, Proclamation, and Prophetic Witness
(2024)E. Trey Clark
Co-founder of the Black Contemplative Society. Examines Thurman, King, and Bishop Barbara Harris as contemplative preachers.
Black Liturgies: Prayers, Poems, and Meditations for Staying Human
(2024)Cole Arthur Riley
Meditations and prayers rooted in Black experience. Tender, precise, and prophetic.
Subversive Habits: The Untold Story of Black Catholic Nuns in the United States
(2023)Shannen Dee Williams
A groundbreaking historical account of Black Catholic sisters in the U.S. Essential for understanding Black Catholic spiritual life and resistance.
This Here Flesh: Spirituality, Liberation, and the Stories That Make Us
(2022)Cole Arthur Riley
Walking the Way of Harriet Tubman: Public Mystic and Freedom Fighter
(2022)Therese Taylor-Stinson
Introduces Harriet Tubman as a model of contemplative life lived under pressure.
Rest as Resistance: A Manifesto
(2022)Tricia Hershey
A bold call to resist capitalism and white supremacy. Tricia Hersey aka the Nap Bishop invites us to reclaim rest, daydreaming, and naps as sacred practices.
Anchored in the Current: Discovering Howard Thurman as Educator, Activist, Guide, and Prophet
(2020)Gregory C. Ellison II
He is a theologian and pastoral counselor whose work explores spirituality, mental health, and Black lived experience.
Racial Justice and the Catholic Church
(2018)Bryan N. Massingale
The History of Black Catholics in the United States
(1990)Cyprian Davis, OSB
Thea Bowman, FSPA
A prophetic and contemplative voice within Black Catholic life. Her witness continues to form how we pray, speak, and live the Gospel in truth.
Thea Bowman: Faithful and Free
(2019)BiographyMaurice J. Nutt, CSsR
Lead Me to the Rock: The Spirituality of Thea Bowman
(2012)BiographyCharlene Smith and John Feister
A touchstone
Shooting Star: Selected Writings and Speeches
(1993)Thea Bowman, FSPA (ed. Celestine Cepress, FSPA)
Sister Thea's most beloved collection — her own writings and speeches gathered posthumously. Essential for hearing her prophetic contemplative voice firsthand.
Families: Black and Catholic, Catholic and Black
(1985)Thea Bowman, FSPA (Ed.)
Edited volume centering Black Catholic family and spiritual life.
Barbara A. Holmes
Holmes writes at the intersection of Black experience, cosmology, and contemplative practice.
Crisis Contemplation: Healing the Wounded Village
(2021)Barbara A. Holmes
Especially relevant for directing people through communal trauma, collective grief, or social crisis.
Race and the Cosmos
(2020)Barbara A. Holmes
A touchstone
Joy Unspeakable: Contemplative Practices of the Black Church
(2004 / 2017)Barbara A. Holmes
The standard text in this space.
Lerita Coleman Brown
A long-practicing spiritual director and the foremost interpreter of Howard Thurman's contemplative legacy for our generation.
A touchstone
What Makes You Come Alive: A Spiritual Walk with Howard Thurman
(2023)Lerita Coleman Brown
The best entry point into Thurman today. Draws readers into apprenticeship with Thurman across centering, inner authority, and the religion of Jesus.
When the Heart Speaks, Listen: Discovering Inner Wisdom
(2019)Lerita Coleman Brown
Chronicles her heart transplant journey as a contemplative formation experience.
Howard Thurman
Thurman's work is foundational in Black contemplative spirituality. These are the recommended starting places.
For the Inward Journey
(1984)Howard Thurman
A devotional anthology. Rich for retreat use.
Disciplines of the Spirit
(1963)Howard Thurman
His most sustained formation writing.
Meditations of the Heart
(1953 / 1999)Howard Thurman
For daily practice and prayer.
Deep is the Hunger
(1951)Howard Thurman
Short, penetrating meditations.
A touchstone
Jesus and the Disinherited
(1949)Howard Thurman
Thurman's foundational seminal work. It guided Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and shaped the nonviolent philosophy of the Civil Rights Movement.
04
Womanist Theology
This Here Flesh: Spirituality, Liberation, and the Stories That Make Us
(2022)Cole Arthur Riley
God Is a Black Woman
(2022)Christena Cleveland
In My Mother's House: Black Women, Faith and the Stories We Inherit
(2021)Yolanda Pierce
A Women's Lectionary for the Whole Church
(2021)Wilda C. Gafney
A multi-volume reworking of the lectionary that centers women and expands the canon of proclaimed texts. Formative for preaching, prayer, and communal worship.
Theology and Race: Black and Womanist Traditions in the United States
(2018)Andrew Prevot
I Found God in Me: A Womanist Biblical Hermeneutics Reader
(2015)Mitzi J. Smith (Ed.)
Womanist Midrash: A Reintroduction to the Women of the Torah and the Throne
(2017)Wilda C. Gafney
Sisters in the Wilderness: The Challenge of Womanist God-Talk
(2013)Delores S. Williams
Making a Way Out of No Way: A Womanist Theology
(2008)Monica A. Coleman
A touchstone
Black Womanist Ethics
(2006)Katie G. Cannon
The foundational academic text. Cannon coined the term womanist ethics.
05
African Christian Voices
The Way, Ignatius Gift, Grace and Gratitude
Puleng Matsaneng
Challenges In Spiritual Direction — An African Perspective
Fr Melchior Marandu, SJ
What is Not Sacred?
Laurenti Magesa
Post-Conciliar Church In Africa: No Turning Back The Clock
Laurent Magesa
Desmond Tutu
South African Anglican archbishop, anti-apartheid activist, and Nobel Peace Prize laureate. His writing centers on dignity, reconciliation, and the theology of ubuntu.
Desmond Tutu: A Spiritual Biography of South Africa's Confessor
(2021)BiographyMichael Battle
The most comprehensive spiritual biography of Tutu available. Westminster John Knox Press.
The Way - African Spirituality
(2013)Puleng Matsaneng
God Is Not a Christian: And Other Provocations
(2011)Desmond Tutu
Wide-ranging reflections on faith, justice, and the generosity of God. Prophetic and accessible.
Theology Brewed in an African Pot
(2008)Agbonkhianmeghe E. Orobator, SJ
Nigerian Jesuit theologian. Explores Christian theology through African stories, proverbs, and experience. Accessible and formative.
An African Prayer Book
(1995)Desmond Tutu
Prayers drawn from across the African continent. Beautiful for personal prayer and retreat use.
06
Latino, Latina & Mestizo Christian Spirituality
The Way of the Desert Elders: How the Wisdom of Ancient Christians Sustains Us Today
(2022)Lisa Colón DeLay
A Puerto Rican spiritual formation teacher introduces desert elder wisdom through simple practices.
The Wild Land Within: Cultivating Wholeness through Spiritual Practice
(2021)Lisa Colón DeLay
A touchstone
Virgilio Elizondo: Spiritual Writings
(2010)Virgilio Elizondo
Modern Spiritual Masters Series, Orbis. Best single-volume entry point into his work.
A God of Incredible Surprises: Jesus of Galilee
(2003)Virgilio Elizondo
Devotional and accessible.
Galilean Journey: The Mexican-American Promise
(1983)Virgilio Elizondo
Founder of U.S. Latino theology. Relates the Galilean Jesus to the story of a mestizo people.
Caminemos Con Jesus: Toward a Hispanic/Latino Theology of Accompaniment
(1995)Roberto S. Goizueta
Grounds accompaniment in the lived faith of the Latino community. A foundational text for directors accompanying Hispanic and Latino directees.
07
Mujerista & Latina Theology
Liturgies for Resisting Empire: Seeking Community, Belonging, & Peace in a Dehumanizing World
(2025)Kat Armas
Abuelita Faith: What Women on the Margins Teach Us about Wisdom, Persistence, and Strength
(2021)Kat Armas
Latina Evangélicas: A Theological Survey from the Margins
(2013)Loida I. Martell-Otero, Zaida Maldonado Pérez, and Elizabeth Conde-Frazier
A touchstone
Mujerista Theology: A Theology for the 21st Century
(1996)Ada María Isasi-Díaz
En La Lucha (In the Struggle): A Hispanic Women's Liberation Theology
(1993)Ada María Isasi-Díaz
08
Asian & Asian American Contemplative Voices
Art and Faith: A Theology of Making
(2021)Makoto Fujimura
Japanese-American artist and cultural theologian. Explores how making itself is a sacred act. Brings a non-Western aesthetic into conversation with Christian formation.
Sisters in Mourning: Daughters Reflecting on Care, Loss, and Meaning
(2021)Su Yon Pak and Mychal Springer
Korean American and Jewish voices on grief, caregiving, and accompaniment. Directly useful for directors.
A touchstone
Minor Feelings: An Asian American Reckoning
(2020)Cathy Park Hong
Essential for directors accompanying Asian American people. Formation through cultural naming.
Many Colors: Cultural Intelligence for a Changing Church
(2010)Soong-Chan Rah
Korean American theologian. Addresses how Western-centric Christianity limits spiritual depth and formation.
Jung Eun Sophia Park, SNJM
Korean-born Sister of the Holy Names and Emerita Professor of Christian Spirituality. A practicing spiritual director whose work centers cross-cultural spirituality, borderland identity, and postcolonial feminist theology.
An Asian Woman's Religious Journey with Thomas Merton
(2021)Jung Eun Sophia Park, SNJM
Park reads Merton as an Asian immigrant feminist, weaving Eastern and Western spirituality together. Provocative and formative.
Border-Crossing Spirituality: Transformation in the Borderland
(2019)Jung Eun Sophia Park, SNJM
Explores the spiritual significance of in-between spaces and borderland identity.
Reimagining Spirit: Wind, Breath, and Vibration
(2019)Grace Ji-Sun Kim
Conversations at the Well: Emerging Religious Life in the 21st-Century Global World
(2018)Jung Eun Sophia Park, SNJM (with Teresa Maya)
Roots emerging religious community in the Jesus Movement, intercultural living, and collaboration across difference.
Thich Nhat Hanh
Vietnamese Buddhist monk and peace activist. His work is widely used in Christian spiritual direction training.
A touchstone
Living Buddha, Living Christ
(1995)Thich Nhat Hanh
The most directly useful for Christian spiritual directors. Explores where Buddhist and Christian contemplative practice meet. Begin here.
Peace is Every Step: The Path of Mindfulness in Everyday Life
(1992)Thich Nhat Hanh
Foundational practice text. Brief and accessible.
Thich Nhat Hanh: Essential Writings
(2001)Thich Nhat Hanh
Curated volume in the Modern Spiritual Masters Series (Orbis). Accessible entry point.
09
Indigenous Christian Voices
Becoming Rooted: One Hundred Days of Reconnecting with Sacred Earth
(2021)Randy Woodley
Daily devotional. Good for directees seeking contemplative practice connected to creation.
Native: Identity, Belonging, and Rediscovering God
(2020)Kaitlin B. Curtice (Potawatomi)
Draws on personal journey and Potawatomi stories to challenge and inform Christian faith.
A touchstone
Braiding Sweetgrass: Indigenous Wisdom, Scientific Knowledge, and the Teachings of Plants
(2015)Robin Wall Kimmerer (Potawatomi)
Widely used in contemplative formation circles. Bridges Indigenous and scientific ways of knowing the sacred.
Glory Happening: Finding the Divine in Everyday Places
(2017)Kaitlin B. Curtice (Potawatomi)
Fifty essays and prayers on finding the sacred in everyday life. Quiet, precise, contemplative.
Shalom and the Community of Creation: An Indigenous Vision
(2012)Randy Woodley (Keetoowah Cherokee)
Connects the Native American Harmony Way to biblical shalom. Theologically rigorous.
10✦ Newly Added
Contemplative Practice Across Traditions
This section gathers texts that draw from multiple spiritual streams and contemplative lineages. These works support prayer, presence, and embodied awareness across traditions.
This section is just beginning to gather.
If a title has shaped your contemplative practice and belongs here, we welcome your contribution.
11
Liberation Theology & Racial Justice
Liberation theology is the theological root beneath much of this list. James Cone and Gustavo Gutiérrez are the foundation. The titles that follow bring that foundation into the interior work of formation and practice.
The New Testament in Color: A Multiethnic Bible Commentary
(2024)edited by Esau McCaulley, Janette H. Ok, Osvaldo Padilla, and Amy Peeler
Centers the voices of minoritized scholars and offers fresh, contextually grounded interpretations of the New Testament.
Liturgies for All Bodies: New Words for a New World
(2023)Kimmothy Cole
A patchwork of sacred voices from the margins: poor, queer, disabled, neurodivergent, and BIPOC writers bringing their whole bodies to ancient texts.
Emotional Justice: A Roadmap for Racial Healing
(2022)Esther A. Armah
Ghanaian-American journalist and playwright. Argues that racial healing requires emotional reckoning. Berrett-Koehler Publishers.
Shoutin' in the Fire: An American Epistle
(2021)Dante Stewart
A touchstone
A Black Theology of Liberation
(2020 / 1970)James H. Cone
The seminal text of Black liberation theology. Cone names God's solidarity with the oppressed as the center of Christian witness. Begin here.
The Inner Work of Racial Justice
(2019)Rhonda Magee
Mindful of Race: Transforming Racism from the Inside Out
(2018)Ruth King
Buddhist teacher. Practical and interior. Bridges contemplative practice and racial healing.
I'm Still Here: Black Dignity in a World Made for Whiteness
(2018)Austin Channing Brown
My Grandmother's Hands: Racialized Trauma and the Pathway to Mending Our Hearts and Bodies
(2017)Resmaa Menakem
Ain't Gonna Let Nobody Turn Me Around: Stories of Contemplation and Justice
(2017)Therese Taylor-Stinson
Stand Your Ground: Black Bodies and the Justice of God
(2015)Kelly Brown Douglas
Thinking Prayer: Theology and Spirituality amid the Crises of Modernity
(2015)Andrea Prevot
Oscar Romero: Reflections on His Life and Writings
(2000)Marie Dennis, Renny Golden, and Scott Wright
Modern Spiritual Masters Series, Orbis. Salvadoran archbishop and martyr. A foundational liberation voice whose life and death embodied the preferential option for the poor.
A touchstone
A Theology of Liberation
(1971)Gustavo Gutiérrez
The founding text of liberation theology. Peruvian Catholic priest and theologian. Establishes the preferential option for the poor as a theological and spiritual commitment.