VI. Bishop Athanasius Schneider and the Enduring Value of Never Too Late to Love
When a bishop of the Church recommends a spiritual work, the faithful rightly take notice. A bishop bears responsibility for guarding the deposit of faith and guiding souls toward trustworthy nourishment. For this reason, it is significant that Bishop Athanasius Schneider has spoken so clearly in praise of David Torkington’s Never Too Late to Love, describing it as a book “for those who want to pray in a godly manner.”¹ This simple commendation carries real theological weight. It suggests both the soundness of Torkington’s teaching and its harmony with the Church’s living tradition of prayer.
Bishop Schneider’s endorsement reflects his longstanding pastoral concern that Catholics recover authentic interiority. In a culture overwhelmed by noise, distraction, and fragmentation, he consistently urges the faithful to return to silence, reverence, sacramental life, and sustained prayer. A book that strengthens the interior life is not a luxury but a necessity. His approval signals that Torkington’s work contributes meaningfully to this renewal.
Torkington’s approach resonates with the classical mystical tradition. His teaching reflects the insights of Thomas Aquinas, who grounds the spiritual life in charity the virtue that unites the soul to God.² It reflects the doctrine of Teresa of Avila, who emphasizes fidelity, humility, and recollection as the path to deeper prayer.³ It reflects Newman’s pastoral clarity that true religion is a lived communion with God, not merely a set of ideas.⁴ Torkington stands within this lineage. His work does not propose a novel technique but retrieves perennial wisdom and expresses it in contemporary language.
What distinguishes Never Too Late to Love is its insistence that the mystical tradition is not reserved for the few. It is the normal path for every Christian who desires holiness. Torkington reminds readers that God invites ordinary believers into contemplative friendship. This conviction aligns with the Second Vatican Council, which teaches that “all the faithful of Christ of whatever rank or status are called to the fullness of the Christian life and to the perfection of charity.”⁵ The universal call to holiness finds practical expression in a book that demystifies the journey of prayer without diminishing its demands.
Schneider also highlights the book’s accessibility. Spiritual works faithful to tradition can sometimes appear dense or academic, limiting their reach. Torkington avoids this hindrance while preserving theological depth. He writes with clarity and concreteness, drawing readers into the lived reality of prayer: the challenge of silence, the struggle with distraction, the necessity of perseverance, and the hidden yet profound transformations that occur when the soul remains faithful. When Schneider commends the book as a guide “to pray in a godly manner,” he signals that it orients the reader toward a form of prayer shaped by God’s initiative rather than personal preference.
[The Church has long valued writers who bridge doctrine and daily life. Brother Lawrence offered simple practices for living in the presence of God. Newman revealed how doctrine forms the interior life. In the twentieth century, figures like Jacques Philippe and Thomas Dubay presented the mystical tradition in ways accessible to modern believers. Torkington stands within this same trajectory. His work is rooted in tradition, attentive to human experience, and ordered toward authentic transformation.]
Schneider’s recommendation carries pastoral implications. It reminds the faithful that deep prayer is not optional but essential. [It encourages them to invest time and resolve in cultivating the interior life. It offers reassurance that the spiritual guidance provided in Torkington’s work is reliable, orthodox, and fruitful. In an age when many spiritual books lack grounding in the Catholic tradition, a bishop’s approval provides a trustworthy compass.
For those seeking to grow in prayer, Schneider’s commendation serves as invitation and encouragement. Never Too Late to Love does not promise quick results or emotional uplift. It offers something far more substantial: a gradual, faithful entrance into the transforming love of God. It strengthens the foundations of the spiritual life. It guides the reader toward contemplative union. And it does so in a manner consistent with the Church’s greatest teachers.]
A bishop’s endorsement is never ornamental. It recognizes a work that leads souls toward God. Schneider’s words affirm that Torkington’s teaching is such a work. For modern Catholics seeking authentic formation in prayer, this is a gift worth receiving.
Reflection Question
What small, concrete act can I take this week to reclaim silence and begin praying “in a godly manner”?
Citations
¹ Athanasius Schneider, commendation quoted in David Torkington, Never Too Late to Love: The Way of the Mystics(London: The Catholic Truth Society, 2012).
² Thomas Aquinas, Summa Theologiae, II–II, q. 23, a. 3.
³ Teresa of Avila, Interior Castle, trans. Kieran Kavanaugh and Otilio Rodriguez (ICS Publications, 1989), 36–37.
⁴ John Henry Newman, Parochial and Plain Sermons, vol. 3 (Longmans, Green, and Co., 1891), 112.
⁵ Second Vatican Council, Lumen Gentium (1964), 40.
Silence, set a times, how long the itch to remain silent started. Vast majority get itchy at 30 seconds. Use to instantaneous stimuli. Background noise of TV in the 80’s always something. Left the soul hollow.
Silence should be full but noise is so empty, we can’t believe silence be full.