DOCSLIB.ORG

Christian Mysticism

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
Christian Mysticism Christian mysticism liturgical dimension refers to the liturgical mystery of the Eucharist, the presence of Christ at the Eucharist.[1][3] The third dimension is the contemplative or experiential knowledge of God.[3] 2 Definition Mystic marriage of Christ and the Church. Life of Francis of Assisi by José Benlliure y Gil Christian mysticism refers to the development of mystical practices and theory within Christianity. It has often been connected to mystical theology, especially in 2.1 Presence the Catholic and Eastern Orthodox traditions. The attributes and means by which Christian mysticism is Bernard McGinn defines Christian mysticism as: studied and practiced are varied and range from ecstatic [T]hat part, or element, of Christian belief visions of the soul’s mystical union with God to simple and practice that concerns the preparation for, prayerful contemplation of Holy Scripture (i.e., Lectio the consciousness of, and the effect of [...] a Divina). direct and transformative presence of God.[4] 1 Etymology 2.2 Presence versus experience McGinn argues that “presence” is more accurate than “Mysticism” is derived from the Greek μυω, meaning “to “union”, since not all mystics spoke of union with God, conceal”,[1] and its derivative μυστικός, mystikos, mean- and since many visions and miracles were not necessar- ing 'an initiate'. In the Hellenistic world, a “mystikos” was ily related to union. He also argues that we should speak an initiate of a mystery religion. “Mystical” referred to of “consciousness” of God’s presence, rather than of “ex- secret religious rituals[1] and use of the word lacked any perience”, since mystical activity is not simply about the direct references to the transcendental.[2] sensation of God as an external object, but more broadly In early Christianity the term “mystikos” referred to about three dimensions, which soon became intertwined, namely the biblical, the liturgical and the spiritual or ...new ways of knowing and loving based contemplative.[3] The biblical dimension refers to “hid- on states of awareness in which God becomes den” or allegorical interpretations of Scriptures.[1][3] The present in our inner acts.[4] 1 2 3 DEVELOPMENT William James popularized the use of the term “religious tic’s part and—especially—on the part of those experience” in his 1902 book The Varieties of Religious whom the mystic has affected.[4] Experience.[5] It has also influenced the understanding of mysticism as a distinctive experience which supplies Other critics point out that the stress on “experience” is knowledge.[1] accompanied by favoring the atomic individual, instead Wayne Proudfoot traces the roots of the notion of “reli- of the shared life on the community. It also fails to dis- gious experience” further back to the German theologian tinguish between episodic experience, and mysticism as Friedrich Schleiermacher (1768–1834), who argued that a process that is embedded in a total religious matrix of religion is based on a feeling of the infinite. The notion liturgy, scripture, worship, virtues, theology, rituals and of “religious experience” was used by Schleiermacher to practices.[7] defend religion against the growing scientific and secular Richard King also points to disjunction between “mystical critique. It was adopted by many scholars of religion, of experience” and social justice:[8] which William James was the most influential.[6] The privatisation of mysticism - that is, 2.3 Personal transformation the increasing tendency to locate the mystical in the psychological realm of personal experi- ences - serves to exclude it from political issues as social justice. Mysticism thus becomes seen as a personal matter of cultivating inner states of tranquility and equanimity, which, rather than seeking to transform the world, serve to accommodate the individual to the status quo through the alleviation of anxiety and stress.[8] Transformation has particular importance in the theology of Origen.[9] 2.4 Social constructionism Mystical experience is not simply a matter between the mystic and God, but is often shaped by cultural issues. For instance, Carolyn Walker Bynum has shown how, in the late Middle Ages, miracles attending the taking of the Eucharist were not simply symbolic of the Passion story, but served as vindication of the mystic’s theolog- ical orthodoxy by proving that the mystic had not fallen prey to heretical ideas, such as the Cathar rejection of the material world as evil, contrary to orthodox teaching that God took on human flesh and remained sinless.[10] Thus, the nature of mystical experience could be tailored to the particular cultural and theological issues of the time. 3 Development Resurrection of Jesus, Matthias Grünewald. The idea of mystical realities has been widely held in McGinn’s emphasis on the transformation that occurs Christianity since the second century AD, referring not through mystical activity relates to this idea of “presence” simply to spiritual practices, but also to the belief that instead of “experience": their rituals and even their scriptures have hidden (“mys- tical”) meanings.[4] This is why the only test that Christianity The link between mysticism and the vision of the Divine has known for determining the authenticity of was introduced by the early Church Fathers, who used the a mystic and her or his message has been that term as an adjective, as in mystical theology and mystical of personal transformation, both on the mys- contemplation.[2] 3.2 Gospels 3 In subsequent centuries, especially as Christian apolo- getics began to use Greek philosophy to explain Chris- tian ideas, Neoplatonism became an influence on Chris- tian mystical thought and practice via such authors as Augustine of Hippo and Origen. 3.1 Jewish antecedents Jewish spirituality in the period before Jesus was highly corporate and public, based mostly on the worship ser- vices of the synagogues, which included the reading and interpretation of the Hebrew Scriptures and the recita- tion of prayers, and on the major festivals. Thus, private spirituality was strongly influenced by the liturgies and by the scriptures (e.g., the use of the Psalms for prayer), and individual prayers often recalled historical events just as much as they recalled their own immediate needs.[11] Of special importance are the following concepts:[12] • Da'at (knowledge) and Chokhmah (wisdom), which come from years of reading, praying and meditating the scriptures; • Shekhinah, the presence of God in our daily lives, the superiority of that presence to earthly wealth, and the pain and longing that come when God is ab- sent; • the hiddenness of God, which comes from our in- ability to survive the full revelation of God’s glory Transfiguration of Jesus depicting him with Elijah, Moses and 3 and which forces us to seek to know God through apostles by Carracci, 1594 faith and obedience; • “Torah-mysticism”, a view of God’s laws as the cen- the Crucifixion of Jesus and his appearances after his tral expression of God’s will and therefore as worthy Resurrection are two of the most central to Christian the- object not only of obedience but also of loving med- ology; but Jesus’ conception, in which the Holy Spirit itation and Torah study; and overshadows Mary, and his Transfiguration, in which he is briefly revealed in his heavenly glory, also become im- • poverty, an ascetic value, based on the apocalyptic portant images for meditation. Moreover, many of the expectation of God’s impending arrival, that char- Christian texts build on Jewish spiritual foundations, such acterized the Jewish people’s reaction to being op- as chokhmah, shekhinah.[14] pressed by a series of foreign empires. But different writers present different images and ideas. The Synoptic Gospels (in spite of their many differences) In Christian mysticism, Shekhinah became mystery, introduce several important ideas, two of which are re- Da'at became gnosis, and poverty became an important lated to Greco-Judaic notions of knowledge/gnosis by component of monasticism.[13] virtue of being mental acts: purity of heart, in which we will to see in God’s light; and repentance, which involves 3.2 Gospels allowing God to judge and then transform us. Another key idea presented by the Synoptics is the desert, which is used as a metaphor for the place where we meet God The Christian scriptures, insofar as they are the found- [15] ing narrative of the Christian church, provide many key in the poverty of our spirit. stories and concepts that become important for Chris- The Gospel of John focuses on God’s glory in his use of tian mystics in all later generations: practices such as light imagery and in his presentation of the Cross as a the Eucharist, baptism and the Lord’s Prayer all be- moment of exaltation; he also sees the Cross as the exam- come activities that take on importance for both their ple of agape love, a love which is not so much an emo- ritual and symbolic values. Other scriptural narratives tion as a willingness to serve and care for others. But present scenes that become the focus of meditation: in stressing love, John shifts the goal of spiritual growth 4 3 DEVELOPMENT away from knowledge/gnosis, which he presents more in 3.4 Hellenism terms of Stoic ideas about the role of reason as being the underlying principle of the universe and as the spiri- The Alexandrian contribution to Christian mysticism tual principle within all people. Although John does not centers on Origen and Clement of Alexandria. Clement follow up on the Stoic notion that this principle makes was an early Christian humanist who argued that rea- union with the divine possible for humanity, it is an idea son is the most important aspect of human existence and that later Christian writers develop. Later generations that gnosis (not something we can attain by ourselves, will also shift back and forth between whether to follow but the gift of Christ) helps us find the spiritual reali- the Synoptics in stressing knowledge or John in stressing ties that are hidden behind the natural world and within love.[16] the scriptures.
Load more

Recommended publications
  • 1 | Mysticism Mysticism: a False Model of the Christian's Communion with God and Sanctification by Pastor Mark R. Perkins H
    Mysticism: A False Model of the Christian's Communion with God and Sanctification By Pastor Mark R. Perkins Human spirituality has suffered more from the assault of mysticism than from any other enemy. Even among Christians, mysticism is overwhelmingly misunderstood, rampantly practiced against every caution, and is a vital conduit for the introduction of a great volume of false doctrine into the world. Today, mysticism is wildly popular among Christians. Movements such as contemplative spirituality, spiritual formation, and in large part the charismatic branch of evangelical Christianity all have significant elements of mysticism. Because of extensive involvement in mysticism, the result to Christianity through the ages has been nothing less than devastating. In generation after generation mysticism has produced heresy and war, and from association with the name of Christ has done significant harm to the reputation of Christians and the church. The purpose of this presentation is to define mysticism, and then to determine whether the biblical description of communion with God, and of sanctification, meets that definition. Other benefits will accrue in the journey. The Definition of Mysticism According to the concise Oxford English Dictionary, a mystic is “a person who seeks by contemplation and self–surrender to attain unity with the Deity or the absolute, and so reach truths beyond human understanding.”1 While anything mystical is something “having a spiritual, symbolic, or allegorical significance that transcends human understanding… relating to ancient religious mysteries or other occult rites.”2 The Oxford Dictionary of the Christian Church adds this illumination, “In modern usage ‘mysticism’ generally refers to claims of immediate knowledge of Ultimate Reality whether or not this is called ‘God’) by direct personal experience;”3 Finally, Francis Schaeffer emphasizes the unintelligibility of mysticism, “Mysticism is nothing more than a faith contrary to rationality, deprived of content and incapable of communication.
    [Show full text]
  • Bishop Robert Barron Recommended Books
    BISHOP ROBERT BARRON’S Recommended Books 5 FAVORITE BOOKS of ALL TIME SUMMA THEOLOGIAE Thomas Aquinas THE DIVINE COMEDY Dante Alighieri THE SEVEN STOREY MOUNTAIN Thomas Merton MOBY DICK Herman Melville MACBETH William Shakespeare FAVORITE Systematic Theology BOOKS CLASSICAL: • Summa Theologiae St. Thomas • On the Trinity (De trinitate) St. Augustine • On First Principles (De principiis) Origen • Against the Heresies (Adversus haereses) Irenaeus • On the Development of Christian Doctrine John Henry Newman MODERN/CONTEMPORARY: • The Spirit of Catholicism Karl Adam • Catholicism Henri de Lubac • Glory of the Lord, Theodrama, Theologic Hans Urs von Balthasar • Hearers of the Word Karl Rahner • Insight Bernard Lonergan • Introduction to Christianity Joseph Ratzinger • God Matters Herbert McCabe FAVORITE Moral Theology BOOKS CLASSICAL: • Secunda pars of the Summa theologiae Thomas Aquinas • City of God St. Augustine • Rule of St. Benedict • Philokalia Maximus the Confessor et alia MODERN/CONTEMPORARY: • The Sources of Christian Ethics Servais Pinckaers • Ethics Dietrich von Hilldebrand • The Four Cardinal Virtues and Faith, Hope, and Love Josef Pieper • The Cost of Discipleship Dietrich Bonhoeffer • Sanctify Them in the Truth: Holiness Exemplified Stanley Hauerwas FAVORITE Biblical Theology BOOKS CLASSICAL: • Sermons Origen • Sermons and Commentary on Genesis and Ennarationes on the Psalms Augustine • Commentary on John, Catena Aurea, Commentary on Job, Commentary on Romans Thomas Aquinas • Commentary on the Song of Songs Bernard of Clairvaux • Parochial and Plain Sermons John Henry Newman MODERN/CONTEMPORARY: • Jesus and the Victory of God and The Resurrection of the Son of God N.T. Wright • The Joy of Being Wrong James Alison • The Theology of the Old Testament Walter Brueggemann • The Theology of Paul the Apostle James D.G.
    [Show full text]
  • Introduction to Evelyn Underhill, “Church Congress Syllabus No. 3: the Christian Doctrine of Sin and Salvation, Part III: Worship”
    ATR/100.3 Introduction to Evelyn Underhill, “Church Congress Syllabus No. 3: The Christian Doctrine of Sin and Salvation, Part III: Worship” Kathleen Henderson Staudt* This short piece by Evelyn Underhill (1875–1941) appeared in a publication from the US Church Congress movement in the 1930s. It presents a remarkably concise summary of her major thought from this period.1 By this time, she was a well-known voice among Angli- cans. Indeed, Archbishop Michael Ramsey wrote that “in the twenties and thirties there were few, if indeed, any, in the Church of England who did more to help people to grasp the priority of prayer in the Christian life and the place of the contemplative element within it.”2 Underhill’s major work, Mysticism, continuously in print since its first publication in 1911, reflects at once Underhill’s broad scholarship on the mystics of the church, her engagement with such contemporaries as William James and Henri Bergson, and, perhaps most important, her curiosity and insight into the ways that the mystics’ experiences might inform the spiritual lives of ordinary people.3 The title of a later book, Practical Mysticism: A Little Book for Normal People (1914) summarizes what became most distinctive in Underhill’s voice: her ability to fuse the mystical tradition with the homely and the * Kathleen Henderson Staudt works as a teacher, poet, and spiritual director at Virginia Theological Seminary and Wesley Theological Seminary. Her poetry, essays, and reviews have appeared in Weavings, Christianity and Literature, Sewanee Theo- logical Review, Ruminate, and Spiritus. She is an officer of the Evelyn Underhill As- sociation, and facilitates the annual day of quiet held in honor of Underhill in Wash- ington, DC each June.
    [Show full text]
  • Theology Is Everywhere 2.3: the Path of Mysticism Cosmology
    Theology is Everywhere 2.3: The Path of Mysticism Cosmology & Worldview The Paradox of the Mystical Life Mysticism defined Figurative Language Poetry & Mysticism Other Paradoxes: the Particular and the Universal Christian Mysticism - Imitation of Christ Mystical Interpretation: allegory. St. Teresa of Avila (1515–1582): Nada te turbe…sola Dios basta! Via Negativa (Apophatic Theology) & Via Positiva (Cataphatic Theology) Mystical Union: Ecstacy (Standing outside oneself) The Mystic Path: The Science of Removing Mental Limitations 1. The Awakening: 2. Purgation 3. Illumination 4. The Dark Night of the Soul: Embracing times of shadow 5. Union With the Divine: Ultimate Reality Be lover and Beloved Hesychasm: Divine Silence Embraced by Uncreated Light Walking the Labyrinth So what’s a mystic? Mysticism & Intimacy with God: Jesus and his Friend “I am my beloved’s and he is mine.” ~ Song of Solomon 2:16 Evelyn Underhill quote: “Mysticism offers us the history, as old as civilization, of a race of adventurers who have carried to its term the process of a deliberate and active return to the divine fount of things. They have surrendered themselves to the life-movement of the universe, hence have lived an intenser life than other beings can even know…. Therefore they witness to all that our latent spiritual consciousness, which shows itself in the ‘hunger for the absolute,’ can be made to mean to us if we develop it, and have in this respect an unique importance for the race.”~ Mysticism Ethics and Mysticism: Howard Thurman "Don't ask yourself what the world needs. Ask yourself what makes you come alive and then go do that.
    [Show full text]
  • Maria Valtorta Foundation Newsletter
    MariaV altorta Viale Carducci, 71 - 55049 VIAREGGIO (Lucca) Newsletter www.fondazionemariavaltorta.it Edited by Fondazione Maria Valtorta – AUGUST 1, 2018 – Newsletter N° 51 PROBLEMS OF THE PRESENT TIME Father Migliorini, Maria Valtorta and Dora Barsottelli – part 1 Ordine Very little we know about Dora Barsottelli, but the little we know touches in a dei Servi di Maria dramatic way either Maria Valtorta and Father Migliorini. The fracture between Maria Valtorta and Father Migliorini, the definitive and irrevocable moving of him to Rome, the spiritual solitude of her; the rise and disappearance of Dora Barsottelli, are the happenings of our history. In that year 1946, finally freed from war, but full of perils and poverty, there takes place a real, truly human tragedy, that will hardly strike Maria Valtorta and her inner circle. Father Romualdo M. Migliorini, Order of Servants of Maria, in 1942 First of all I obviously feel indispensable to summarize all facts given by Maria became the spiritual director of Valtorta’s writings. A note from the administration of The Notebooks 1945-1950, the mystic Maria Valtorta until his removal and transfer from Viareg- tells who Dora Barsottelli was: gio to Rome, in 1946. Died July 10, «This refers to Dora Barsottelli, from Camaiore, Tuscany, who said she was favored 1953. by manifestations concerning whose origins yet, Maria Valtorta arbored apprehen- sion and doubt, as we shall see in the course of the present volume and as can be noted in other writings separate from the Notebooks. They both knew about each other because of Father Migliorini, spiritual director of Maria Valtorta was also Barsottelli’s care taker’s case».
    [Show full text]
  • Gendered Interpretations of the Spanish Laity's
    Spiritual Motherhood: Gendered Interpretations of the Spanish Laity’s Religious Authority (1580–1730) By © 2018 Adam Allen Newhard Submitted to the graduate degree program in The Department of History and the Graduate Faculty of the University of Kansas in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy. __________________. Chair: Luis Corteguera __________________. Marta Vicente __________________. Rob Schwaller __________________. Chris Forth __________________. Santa Arias Date Defended: 30 April 2018 Acceptance Page The dissertation committee for Adam Allen Newhard certifies this is the approved version of the following dissertation: Spiritual Motherhood: Gendered Interpretations of the Spanish Laity’s Religious Authority (1580–1730) _______________. Chair: Luis Corteguera Date Defended: 30 April 2018 “Spiritual Motherhood: Gendered Interpretations of the Spanish Laity’s Religious Authority (1580–1730)”: ii Abstract This research project delves into the question of the role of women in cities and towns across Spain and its empire in the early modern period. It focuses on women who gained prominence as visionaries and thus became targets of inquisitorial scrutiny, because Inquisition documents are the traditional source base for historians to reach these otherwise (typically) voiceless individuals and communities. The field has traditionally argued that the power, number, and presence of these visionary women slowly declined throughout the early modern period owing to the pressures of the Counter-Reformation. Catholic reformers at the Council of Trent (1545–1563) specifically identified female lay and religious visionaries—who had grown rampant after Catherine of Siena became a famous visionary and religious leader in the fourteenth century— as threats to the Catholic canon.
    [Show full text]
  • Metaphysics Today and Tomorrow*
    1 Metaphysics Today and Tomorrow* Raphaël Millière École normale supérieure, Paris – October 2011 Translated by Mark Ohm with the assistance of Leah Orth, Jon Cogburn, and Emily Beck Cogburn “By metaphysics, I do not mean those abstract considerations of certain imaginary properties, the principal use of which is to furnish the wherewithal for endless dispute to those who want to dispute. By this science I mean the general truths which can serve as principles for the particular sciences.” Malebranche Dialogues on Metaphysics and Religion 1. The interminable agony of metaphysics Throughout the twentieth century, numerous philosophers sounded the death knell of metaphysics. Ludwig Wittgenstein, Rudolf Carnap, Martin Heidegger, Gilbert Ryle, J. L. Austin, Jacques Derrida, Jürgen Habermas, Richard Rorty, and, henceforth, Hilary Putnam: a great many tutelary figures have extolled the rejection, the exceeding, the elimination, or the deconstruction of first philosophy. All these necrological chronicles do not have the same radiance, the same seriousness, nor the same motivations, but they all agree to dismiss the discipline, which in the past was considered “the queen of the sciences”, with a violence at times comparable to the prestige it commanded at the time of its impunity. Even today, certain philosophers hastily spread the tragic news with contempt for philosophical inquiry, as if its grave solemnity bestowed upon it some obviousness. Thus, Franco Volpi writes: ‘Grand metaphysics is dead!’ is the slogan which applies to the majority of contemporary philosophers, whether continentals or of analytic profession. They all treat metaphysics as a dead dog.1 In this way, the “path of modern thought” would declare itself vociferously “anti- metaphysical and finally post-metaphysical”.
    [Show full text]
  • The Gnosiology As Experience of the Resurrected Christ in the Liturgical Texts of the Pentecostarion
    The Gnosiology as experience of the Resurrected Christ in the liturgical texts of the Pentecostarion CONTENT INTRODUCTION 4 The motif for choosing the theme 4 The stage of the theme`s research 5 The used method 5 The purpose of the research 5 Terminological clarifications 6 CHAPTER I. THE PENTECOSTARION – THE HYMNOGRAPHICAL IMAGE OF 11 THE STATE OF RESURRECTION IN JESUS CHRIST 1.1. The Pentecostarion – the Church`s Book of Cult 11 1.2. The Pentecostarion – the Relation Dogma – Cult – Knowledge 24 1.2.1. The Cult, Favorable Environment for Spreading the Faith and for Knowing the Dogma 27 1.2.2. The Church`s Cult, Guardian of the Dogma Against Heresy 30 1.2.3. The Dogma, the Cult and the Spiritual Knowledge 33 1.3. The Pentecostarion – the Doxological Dimension of the Knowledge 36 CHAPTER II. THE ANTHROPOLOGICAL FUNDAMENTALS OF THE ORTHODOX 51 GNOSIOLOGY MIRRORED IN PENTECOSTARION 2.1. Revelation and Knowledge 51 2.2. Image and Likeness of the Power of the Man of Knowing God 63 2.2.1. The Falling into Sin and the Image Corrupted through Passions 67 2.2.2. The Renewal of the Engulfed by Passion Image 68 2.3. Person - Communion - Knowledge 75 CHAPTER III THE CHRISTOLOGICAL FUNDAMENTALS OF THE ORTHODOX 84 GNOSIOLOGY MIRRORED IN PENTECOSTARION 1 3.1. The Man`s Healing into Christ – Premise of the Knowledge 84 3.1.1. The Embodiment of the Son of God 84 3.1.1.1. Jesus Christ True God and True Man 90 3.1.1.2. The Deification of the Human Nature into Christ 91 3.1.1.3.
    [Show full text]
  • St. Bonaventure Catholic Community Comunidad Católica De San Buenaventura
    St. Bonaventure Catholic Community Comunidad Católica de San Buenaventura 5562 Clayton Road, Concord, CA 94521 • PHONE (925) 672-5800 • FAX (925) 672-4606 • www.stbonaventure.net Blessing of departing Director of Faith Formation For Children, Rosann Hallick. Photo Credit: David Blankenhorn Fifteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time Decimoquinto Domingo del Tiempo Ordinario July 15, 2018 MASSES IN ENGLISH/EN INGLES MARRIAGE/MATRIMONIO Mission Saturday Vigil/Sábado: 5:00 PM Call the office to arrange with a Priest or Deacon. This Sunday/Domingo 7:30 AM, 9:00 AM, 11:00 AM, 5:00 PM requires six months preparation. As disciples at St. Bonaventure, we are committed to know Christ better and Llame a la oficina para solicitar información y concer- make Him better known. To this end we MISA EN ESPAÑOL IN SPANISH tar una cita con el Sacerdote. Este proceso requiere / are committed to… Domingo: 12:45 PM mínimo seis meses de preparación. Keep connected to our parish DAILY MASS/MISA DIARIA (CHAPEL/CAPILLA) RECONCILIATION/RECONCILIACÍON community, PM Monday/Lunes thru Friday/Viernes : 6:30 AM & 9:00 AM In English: Saturdays 3:30 (in the church) or by appointment. Nurture the development of our faith Llame a la oficina para hacer una cita con el Sacer- and knowledge of Christ, BAPTISM/BAUTIZOS dote. In English: Call the office to begin the process. This Offer to share the Holy Spirit’s gifts of requires two months preparation time, talent and treasure, En Español: Llame a la oficina para solicitar infor- Worship through prayer, Mass and the mación y concertar una cita con el Sacerdote.
    [Show full text]
  • Mysticism and Greek Monasticism
    Mysticism and Greek Monasticism By JOHANNES RINNE There is reason to assert that Christian mysticism is as old as Christianity itself. In the Pauline epistles, e.g., there are obvious signs of this fact. The later Christian mysticism has, in a high degree, been inspired by these ele- ments and likewise by various corresponding thoughts in the Johannine writings, which traditionally are interpreted from this angle and which have played a central role especially for the Orthodox Church.' In the light of the above-mentioned circumstances, it seems fully natural that there exists, from the very beginning, a clear connection also between mysticism and Christian monasticism. It has been pointed out by certain authors that the role of mystical visions is of essential and decisive significance also as regards the development from the stage of the hermits of the deserts to that form of life which, in the proper sense of the word, is characterised as monastic. There is, generally speaking, no possibility to understand correctly the intentions and the thoughts of the great pioneers of monasticism, unless one takes into account the mystically visionary factors. To this end it is neces- sary, furthermore, to penetrate in an inner, spiritual way, into the holy sym- bolism of the monastic tradition and into the sacred legends of its history.2 In other words, it is necessary to keep constantly in mind the visionary factor and to remember that the pioneers of monastic life, as a rule, are men of which it may be said that they have their conversation in heaven: on the mystical level of vision they converse with the angels as the representatives of the heavenly world and as those organs, by means of which the principles of monastic life are transmitted and given to the men of mystical visions.' The things mentioned above are not merely history.
    [Show full text]
  • A Response to Grypma & Commentary on Mysticism
    69059 JCNSummer06 05/03/2006 12:26 PM Page 27 A Response to Grypma & Commentary on Mysticism BY BARBARA MONTGOMERY DOSSEY “MYSTICISM ...IS NOT AN OPINION: IT IS NOT A PHILOSOPHY. It has nothing in common with the pursuit of occult knowledge.On the one hand,it is not merely the power of contemplating Eter- nity: on the other, it is not to be identified with any kind of religious queerness. It is the name of that organic process which involves the perfect consummation of the Love of God: the achieve- ment here and now of the immortal heritage of man.Or,if you like it better—for this means exactly the same thing—it is the art of establishing his conscious relation with the Absolute.”1 E VELYN U NDERHILL,MYSTICISM, 1911 extend my thanks to Dr. founder3 of modern secular nursing. nitions and criteria according to which Grypma2 and the Journal of However, there are many issues on Nightingale qualifies as a full-fledged, Christian Nursing for atten- which Dr. Grypma and I disagree in nineteenth-century “practical mystic.” tion to Florence Nightin- our analysis of Nightingale.We seem to What does Dr. Grypma consider a gale (1820-1910), the be far apart on the essential meanings mystic to be? I am left wondering.This philosophical and practical of terms such as “mystic,”“mysticism” does not prevent her, however, from and “spirituality”—yet it is difficult to suggesting that the classification of ■ Barbara Montgomery know for certain because Dr. Grypma Nightingale as a mystic is a “New Age” Dossey, PhD, FAAN, RN, is nowhere defines explicitly what she and “postmodern” move.
    [Show full text]
  • O Sacred Heart of Jesus! by Emil Blaser OP
    June/July 2018 - Issue 47 magazine O Sacred Heart of Jesus! By Emil Blaser OP think it would be right to say that devotions form a very Franciscans the devotion was champi- intimate part of the prayer life of Catholics rather than oned by St Bonaventure (d 1274) and I non-Catholics. We have many devotions like the rosary, like others. In the early 1600s the devotion devotions in honour of Saints like Martin de Porres, Francis of was especially propagated by the Jesuits Assisi, Dominic and hundreds of others. We honour our church- and the image of the Sacred Heart was es under the patronage of a saint. In fact I am always amazed at displayed everywhere, even on the title pages of their books. how people refer to their parish by their patron saint. It was St Margaret Mary Alacoque (1647-1690) who received ap- The month of June is dedicated to the Sacred Heart of Jesus. The paritions of Jesus Christ, revealing the form of the devotion, its chief biggest sodality in the church in South Africa is called the Sacred Heart sodality and quite literally has thousands of members. They month, spending an hour in adoration before the Blessed Sacrament are all very enthusiastic ‘’Sacred Heart members’’. andfeatures celebrating being receiving the feast holyof the Communion Sacred Heart. on Pope the first Innocent Friday VI of insti the- I remember as a boy we had an old monsignor in our parish who tuted mass in honour of the Sacred Heart in 1353. In 1693 the Holy boasted that in every parish he worked he installed a huge statue of See imparted indulgences to the Confraternities of the Sacred Heart the Sacred Heart with an ever burning light in front of it.
    [Show full text]