"HE CALLED ME TO, PREPARED ME FOR, THEN PROTECTED ME DURING THOSE YEARS IN SIBERIA… I HAVE EXPERIENCED HIS HAND AT EVERY TURNING": FIRST EDITION OF CISZEK'S WITH GOD IN RUSSIA, 1964

CISZEK, Walter J. and FLAHERTY, Daniel L. With God in Russia. New York: McGraw-Hill, (1964). Octavo, original black and red paper boards, original dust jacket.

First edition of an American Jesuit priest's 23-year captivity in Soviet prisons and labor camps, with a Foreword by Thurston Davis, editor-in-chief at America magazine, and with a map tracing Ciszek's journey as a prisoner.

"The 23-year journey of American-born Fr. Walter Ciszek, S.J., through the Soviet Union is a classic example of the efforts of the Jesuits who responded to Pope Pius XI's call to go to the aid of the Russian Orthodox in the 1930s… Born in Shenandoah, Penn., in 1904, Fr. Ciszek is the only American Jesuit who responded to Pius XI's call to return alive from the Soviet Union. He was imprisoned there for nearly 23 years — five years in the infamous Lubianka prison in Moscow and 10 years in the northernmost gulag archipelago in Siberia. An additional eight years found Fr. Ciszek restricted by the atheist Communists to the cities of Norilsk, Dudinka, Kras?noyarsk, and Abakan" (New Oxford Review). While he began as a priest committed to action, Ciszek credited his time in Lubianka with making him a man of prayer. "He was kept day and night in his cell, except for the periodic interrogation sessions that were his only opportunity for human contact. To keep his wits intact he adopted a daily routine of spiritual exercises, all based on what he could remember from his Jesuit formation. The day began with morning prayers and an examination of conscience. Then came the Mass, all enacted mentally. The noon bells in Red Square signaled the Angelus followed by the Rosary and mediation on the Scriptures. Each day ended with another examination of conscience. So the solitary days, weeks, and years were passed" (Robert Ellsberg, All Saints). Following his time in labor camps and his family's acceptance of his death, Ciszek was eventually traded along with another American for two Soviet agents. He subsequently returned home and devoted himself even more fully to the spiritual life. Since 1990, Ciszek has been considered by the Roman Catholic Church for possible beatification or canonization. His current title is a Servant of God.

Book fine, dust jacket with light wear mainly to corners. A near-fine copy.