Acedia and the Transformation of Spiritual Malaise: Essays in Honour of Martin McAlinden

Father Martin McAlinden was a Catholic priest from the Diocese of Dromore and Director of PastoralTheology at St Patrick's College Maynooth. Martin was studying for a doctorate at the University ofChester when, in 2016, he sadly died. His research had focussed on the spiritual malaise experiencedby many priests in the Catholic Church in Ireland. In response, he developed a theology rooted in theancient notion of acedia and he used this as a way of talking about the spiritual crises many priestsexperience. The ancient response to acedia, the command to stay in one's cell and pray, providedMartin with a way of speaking about how this spiritual malaise might be transformed. This bookbrings together a major article that has emerged out of Martin's research, together with a seriesof responses from many who accompanied him during his studies. It is offered to Martin's brotherpriests, and to the whole Church, as a gift of love that might, it is hoped, contribute to the spiritualrenewal of the Church.