Father Chet wrote and published six books during his lifetime. The Open Door’s mission is to share Father’s work through the Spiritual Direction Institute, his newsletter messages, and to assure his books continue to be available for anyone who is seeking deeper spirituality. To that end, we are taking on the work to revise and update his publications.
New copies are available from our independent bookseller partner, Stone Soup Books, in Waynesboro, Va. (the owner, by the way, knew Father Chet and attended retreat with him!). By purchasing on their secure website, all but a small percentage of proceeds comes back to Open Door to be reinvested in Father’s work. Visit Stone Soup Books and search on “Chester Michael.”
Based on Carl Jung’s theory of psychological type, and the Myers–Briggs Type Indicator, this book explores the relationship between human temperament and prayer. The idea for developing a preference-guided approach to prayer to deepen spiritual development arose from a 1982 survey, called the Prayer Project, that included more than 400 participants from the United States, Canada, and Australia. Father Chet, and Marie Norrisey, published their findings in 1991. For 30 years, their guidance on coming to prayer in an approach that aligns with individual temperaments has been the basis for numerous workshops and retreats and in spiritual direction of individuals. It has helped thousands, including those who may describe praying as difficult, dry, or rote. As a result, the board of the Open Door offers a revised edition of the original work. The audience remains the same as it was when the book was published in 1991: anyone who seeks to deepen their spirituality, self-awareness, and relationship with God.
- 30th Anniversary Edition (published 2021)
- ISBN 1633934896
- Find on Stone Soup Books
- eBook is on Amazon
Originally published in 2004, Introduction to Spiritual Direction builds on Father Chet’s insights and the content he created for his two-year ecumenical course. This updated edition focuses on the tools for becoming a spiritual director offering guidance, practical applications, and wisdom for walking with others on their journeys.
- Published 2004; revised 2024
- ISBN 978-1-7379089-2-0
- Find on Stone Soup Books
- eBook is on Amazon
We recommend finding used copies of the following books. In addition to Stone Soup Books, you may also try searching on Biblio. While these titles are available on a popular online website, the company that published them is no longer in business and thus has ceased to pay Open Door royalties due; in fact, we have no idea who is profiting. While we do not gain monetarily from a sale of a used book, it is a more ethical choice which we endorse.
CURRENTLY BEING UPDATED – LOOK FOR A NEWLY REVISED VERSION DECEMBER 2025!
The key to a successful, happy life is the fullest possible development of one’s unlimited potential for love, which Jungian psychology explores. Vast psychic energy for love remains as yet untapped and unreleased. Maturity, sanctity, and wholeness result when energies for love are released and directed with the right priorities toward development of one’s true and inner self, other human beings, and God.
- Published 2012
- ISBN 074146974X
This book combines spirituality and Jungian psychology to provide a better understanding of what it means to cooperate with grace. This is essential to start fresh each moment knowing “the former things have passed away” leading, finally, to permanent union with God on The Last Day. By willingly cooperating with grace and the gifts of the Holy Spirit, we harness the energies of love for God, maximizing human potential for good. By converting evil into good, man increasingly experiences the fruits of the Holy Spirit, lives the Beatitudes, progresses in the natural virtues, grows in wholeness and maturity, and learns to discern God’s will.
- Published 1965 and 2011
- ISBN 0741462729
Any valid worldview must attempt to discern God’s plan for the human race as well as God’s plan for each of us. Msgr. Michael contrasts three different Christian worldviews which he calls the Ptolemaic, Copernican and Einsteinian. In simple terms, these may be described as the Pre-Vatican II worldview, the Post-Vatican II worldview, and the new worldview that appears to be evolving. To gain understanding is to move toward the worldview of Jesus.
- Published 2002
- ISBN 0940136066
The so-called new image of Jesus is actually a re-discovery of the original image of Jesus which Peter, James, John and the first Christians had of him. In part one, this book elaborates on a new image of Jesus that is considerably more human and more realistic than the images to which we have grown accustomed. In part two, Msgr. Michael shares with the reader “a picture of the life of Jesus on earth the way I would imagine it to have been.” The book concludes with a “love letter” from Jesus.
- Published 2001 and 2015
- ISBN 1495801292