The Power of Silence

Against the Dictatorship of Noise

By: Robert Cardinal Sarah, Nicolas Diat, Michael J. Miller - translator

Narrated by: Peter Lawrence

Length: 10 hrs and 4 mins

Publisher's summary

In a time when technology penetrates our lives in so many ways and materialism exerts such a powerful influence over us, Robert Cardinal Sarah presents a bold book about the strength of silence. The modern world generates so much noise, he says, that seeking moments of silence has become both harder and more necessary than ever before.

Silence is the indispensable doorway to the divine, explains the cardinal in this profound conversation with Nicolas Diat. Within the hushed and hallowed walls of the La Grande Chartreuse, the famous Carthusian monastery in the French Alps, Cardinal Sarah addresses the following questions: Can those who do not know silence ever attain truth, beauty, or love? Do not wisdom, artistic vision, and devotion spring from silence, where the voice of God is heard in the depths of the human heart?

After the international success of God or Nothing, Cardinal Sarah seeks to restore to silence its place of honor and importance. "Silence is more important than any other human work," he says, "for it expresses God. The true revolution comes from silence; it leads us toward God and others so as to place ourselves humbly and generously at their service."

©2018 Robert Cardinal Sarah and Nicolas Diat (P)2018 Blackstone Audio, Inc.

Spiritual life

This is the complete spiritual life exactly as HOLY SCRIPTURES dictates! So much holiness this book!

Worth listening to again!

Cardinal Sarah is awesomeness personified! I appreciate that there is a certain irony to listening to a book about the power of silence, but it is well worth it.

The reader’s voice has a calming affect that helps to take in the message and reflect upon it. Cardinal Sarah explores the importance of islanders in may different areas of our lives, each is interesting and worthy of contemplation. It was refreshing to hear about need for moments of silence in the liturgy.

As I said above, this book is worthy of revisiting again and again.

Outstanding for those Seeking God in Contemplation

Outstanding spiritual depth of the practices of saints! Highly recommend for the contemplative soul seeking God in serious holiness of life. Good for seminarians and those discerning or living a religious life and those who wish to aspire to great intimacy with God in this life!! Will certainly listen to this again and again because of it's spiritual richness!! The voice was also very soothing for this book and appropriate for the topic in understanding what was being read to provide proper emphasis on religious technology in an seamless manner. So glad I stumbled upon this!

Needed in every catalogue to respect Sunday Mass.

Needed in every catalogue to respect the Sunday Mass and one's personal faith. Pax Tecum.

Excellent work!

This book provides an excellent introduction to strategies for a more profound lifestyle of prayer through silence and meditation, which ultimately fosters a closer relationship with Jesus and our Heavenly Father. There are many nuggets of wisdom and words of advice that will lead you closer to understanding yourself and our God. I highly recommend this book if you are interested in finding a way to have a deeper appreciation and knowledge of the spirit of God and enhancing personal reflection. I also recommend listening with a pencil and paper to take notes. I encourage you to have an open mind though, a lot of what is written is geared toward those in contemplative monasteries, however, I find the information useful to laypeople as well, especially in the world we live in today. Also, it is heavily laden with Catholic doctrine. If you can rise above that, you will enjoy this story.

Fantastic.

This book is absolutely fantastic. I thoroughly enjoyed it. I learned a great deal from Cardinal Sarah. This book is a great help on my spiritual journey.

A must read

This is a must read for anyone who wishes to have an intimate relationship with God.

Needed now more than ever

The war for your eyes and ears is waged by the most powerful tech and media companies in human history, and we are living with the consequences. Take back your heart and mind and give it God.

Amazing as always

So many good gems in here. Definitely a book to revisit and keep drawing from.

Seeking silence I found stillness

Reading it made me understand why I watch TV shows when I really would instead like to rather be present to my kids and family.

All videos put us in a small trance by using multiple frames per second. That trance parades as stillness but our brain is still on and in that relaxed state I’m more likely to receive instruction/i.e. advertising. I don’t feel more relaxed and still afterwards.

The stillness I seek in TV is a counterfeit of the real stillness which is God. Every one of us has a soul, that divine spark, that recognizes that Stillness. That Stillness and Silence is what my heart truly longs for; it is true, beautiful, and good😊.

Silence is not the lack of noise although sometimes we need it to find Him. Silence is the stillness we seek in the midst of the storms of life. Needless to say it’s a well written book.

I prefer listening to the narration at 0.9x speed. I just process it better that way.