Speaking to the Heart: A Father's Guide to Growth in Virtue

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Summary: An Inspiring Call to Family Leadership
Review: "Speaking to the Heart is a great encouragement to men who want to be better husbands and fathers. It is both a practical job description of fatherhood-showing how fathers build strength in their children-and an inspiring call to family leadership. Any father who takes this book to heart and puts its wisdom into action will be known to his children as a great man."

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Summary: An on-the-job training manual for fathers.
Review: 'Speaking to the Heart' is a most practical guide to the biggest work any man can take on: raising his children. But it is more than a practical book, it is very solid, for it outlines the virtues each man must acquire if he is to be a good father, if he is to develop the character he needs for the job. It is based on the three supernatural virtues of faith hope and charity, the four cardinal virtues of prudence (balancing the virtues), justice, fortitude/ courage and temperance (appropriate use of the means). Some other virtues special to fatherhood get extra attention: patience, integrity, cheerfulness, perseverance, friendship, and (few would think of this one): poverty or detachment. Each chapter is short enough to be read through in two or three minutes, but yields enough for hours of reflection and meditation, and leads to very practical resolutions to be put into practice that very day. Because there are twenty chapters, it can be worked through in four weeks, on the five work days. I plan to read a chapter each day on the way to work, and repeat this every few months. It is a very practical way to keep this most imporrtant part of my life in focus and on a steady incline of growth.

Patrick F. Fagan William H. G. FitzGerald Fellow in Family and Culture Studies The Heritage Foundation Washington DC

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Summary: Want to be a better father? husband? provider? Christian?
Review: In "Speaking to the Heart: A Father's Guide to Growth in Virtue," Stephen Gabriel sets out a clear, disciplined program for spiritual growth. In 20 chapters, he covers 20 character traits that will help men make their homes happier, their lives more productive and their faith stronger.

Each chapter begins with a meditative essay on a virtue--faith, integrity, justice, order and so on--then proceeds to "Considerations for Growth" in that virtue. The latter portion is chock-full of practical applications for everyday life, presented as a probing examination of conscience.

There's a crisis of fatherhood in our culture today. It's a spiritual problem that challenges even the best homes. The only cure is within each dad. But this book goes a long way in developing the inner strength of individual dads. It's a great buy for yourself, your men's group or the men you know.