Joyce Rupp, a member of the Servite (Servants of Mary) community, has spent a lifetime providing spiritual guidance as a retreat director, conference speaker, and prolific author of over a dozen books which have sold more than a million copies. Nevertheless, Boundless Compassion seems to stand out as the pinnacle of her work, perhaps because, as she notes, the call to compassion has been with her since her early days as a young member of her community. Here, Rupp begins with basic instruction in compassion which she focuses first on the self. Working in increasingly larger circles over several weeks, Rupp extends compassion until it includes to every living thing. She concludes the six-week process with advice on sustaining compassion over the long term in the face of suffering. While Rupp roots Boundless Compassion in the Christian tradition, Rupp cites scientific, medical, theological, spiritual, sociological, and psychological sources to explain and support her direction. For use by either the individual or the group, Rupp’s Boundless Compassion provides the keys to a transformation that, if followed with sincere dedication, has the potential to change the world.

Prayers of Boundless Compassion is a companion volume to Rupp’s Boundless Compassion. Here she offers forty original prayers, blessing, and meditations. Rupp designed these prayers to correlate with each of the themes in her six-week course. However, this pocket-sized book can also stand alone and provide abundant material for spiritual contemplation and action. In either case, this small book cannot but help to solidly ground the reader seeking to live a compassionate life.

(I reviewed these book at the request of the publisher, who provided free review copies.)