Celtic spirituality is the "forgotten faith" of the West. It is essentially joyful and holistic and holds together the two human faculties of reason and intuition, taking joy in the beauty of the created world. The Celtic saints were intuitives whose feet were very firmly planted on the ground. It is their equilibrium as human beings that gives much of their appeal, and in this, as in the holiness their lives display, they are Christlike. This book by Anglican cleric Anthony Duncan examines the lives of the Celtic saints in the context of their time, along with the sacred places in the landscape that have become associated with them.

2013 Reprint of 1937 Edition. Exact facsimile of the original edition, not reproduced with Optical Recognition Software. Evelyn Underhill was an English Anglo-Catholic writer and pacifist known for her numerous works on religion and spiritual practice, in particular Christian mysticism. This book contains in an expanded form the four addresses on the Spiritual Life which were given by Underhill in 1936. The are published in response to numerous requests from listeners and in the hope that they will be found suitable for Lenten reading. The spiritual life is here considered, not as an intense form of piety peculiar to saints, but as the living heart of all religion, and therefore of vital concern to ordinary men and women. Its essence is held to consist in a growing communion with God, a growing cooperation with Him, inspiring and transforming every kind of action from the most routine to the most heroic. Essays are: What is the Spiritual Life The Spiritual Life as Communion with God The Spiritual Life as Co-operation with God Some Questions and Difficulties.

The meditative prayer practices known as Hesychasm and the Jesus Prayer have played an important role in the history of Eastern Orthodox Christianity. This book explores how these prayer practices have spread from a primarily monastic setting within Orthodox Christianity, into general Orthodox Christian usage, and finally into wider contemporary Western culture. As a result of this gradual geographic shift from a local to a global setting, caused mainly by immigration and dissemination of related texts, there has been a parallel shift of interpretation causing disagreement. By analyzing ongoing conversations on the practices, this book shows how such disagreements are due to differences in the way groups understand the ideas of authority and tradition. These fundamental ideas lie beneath much of the current discussion on particular aspects of the practices and also contribute to the wider academic debate over the globalization and appropriation of religious traditions.

2012 Reprint of Original 1937 Edition. Exact facsimile of the original edition, not reproduced with Optical Recognition Software. This is one of the most distinctly Franciscan of Bonaventure's texts. It was conceived in the wilderness of Mount Alverna where St. Francis received the stigmata. This text is meant to guide a generation of Franciscan clerics through the medium of a new scientific culture, while reminding them that Franciscan life is aimed at true devotion. In this masterpiece, Bonaventure recasts Augustinian illumination along distinctly Franciscan lines.

An examination of the similarities and differences between Christianity and Islam, especially in the areas of ontology, philosophy and metaphysics. The integration of the heritages of Plato and Aristotle in the Church and in Islam is explored deftly and densely. This book invites adherents of Christianity and Islam to understand more deeply their own respective traditions and on this basis to understand and respect 'the other'. Several chapters are devoted to a comparison between both Sunnite Sufi and Shi'ite Gnostic esoteric traditions, especially in the area of Qur'anic exegesis. This book will be equally challenging and rewarding for the serious reader.

2012 Reprint of Original 1953 Edition. Exact facsimile of the original edition, not reproduced with Optical Recognition Software. (c)New introduction and foreword Martino Publishing. This work is the first English translation of her 13th century classic-the mystical writings of Mechthild of Magdeburg. The only complete codex of this work is in the library of Einsiedeln in Switzerland, where the translator spent three years translating the codex from a South German translation of 1344. The book is a collection of visions, revelations, thoughts and letters written in alternating prose and poetry. The variety of its contents includes practical advice on daily conduct, as well as the most sublime descriptions of high mystical experience. Her works were early translated into Latin, and were almost certainly known to Dante, whose vision of heaven, hell and purgatory went on to have a great influence in Western Literature. Her influence is traceable in the Paradiso and by some scholars she is thought to have been the Matilda in the earthly paradise. Her works remains to this day a classic text of Christian mysticis

The first fully-realized biography of Julian--theologian, anchorite, and visionary of the Middle Ages.

A groundbreaking and sometimes controversial biography that offers full tribute to the mystic Julian of Norwich. In May 1373, a thirty year-old woman living in East Anglia suffered an illness. She received visions--what she later called "sixteen showings"--revealing to her secrets of the love of God. When she fully recovered, Julian recorded and richly explored those revelations, creating what became the first English-language book written by a woman.

Drawing on Julian's own writings, Frykholm's biography paints a vivid picture of the 14th century and this remarkable woman's place in it. Through plague, church corruption, economic devastation, and great personal loss, she presciently addressed her culture's greatest fears and anxieties. Ultimately, Julian's life is shrouded in mystery, and yet she has become a significant figure in contemporary spirituality today.
"Frykholm...has audaciously done something many people would have said was not possible: written Julian's] biography. Frykholm has combined a careful reading of Julian's writings (at times scrupulous, at times midrashic, but at all times attentive) with a deep immersion in the scholarship of 14th-century England to offer an informed and absorbing...account of Julian's life."
-Lauren F. Winner, "Books & Culture"
" Frykhom's] narrative, which she calls 'an act of empathetic imagination, ' crackles with life."
-"The Denver Post"
"A sympathetic and realistic portrayal of a saint who, as it turns out, is both holy (that is, set apart) and as complicated as you and me....It reads with the energy of a novel and the insight of a spiritual classic."
-Jonathan Wilson-Hartgrove, "Christianity Today"

Laughing at the Devil is an invitation to see the world with a medieval visionary now known as Julian of Norwich, believed to be the first woman to have written a book in English. (We do not know her given name, because she became known by the name of a church that became her home.) Julian "saw our Lord scorn [the Devil's] wickedness" and noted that "he wants us to do the same." In this impassioned, analytic, and irreverent book, Amy Laura Hall emphasizes Julian's call to scorn the Devil. Julian of Norwich envisioned courage during a time of fear. Laughing at the Devil describes how a courageous woman transformed a setting of dread into hope, solidarity, and resistance.

Description: The current popularity of contemplative prayer is not accidental. A twenty-first-century understanding of the human condition has made us suspicious of words and the understanding we craft out of words. Theology generally offers us words that purport to give us a more precise and certain understanding of God, but the mystic has always known that our relationship to God transcends words and the kind of understanding that words produce. The theology of the mystic has always been about understanding our communion with the mystery that is God in order to fall evermore deeply in love with the Divine. That is the ultimate purpose of contemplative prayer, and the purpose of this book is to offer a philosophy and theology of contemplative prayer in the twenty-first century. Endorsements: ""Again, James Danaher shows us that the use of the mind and the search for God are not in competition, but in fact enrich and feed one another at very deep levels. How much we need this kind of integration in our culture--where so much religious talk seems divisive and compromised. Contemplative Prayer is not just about divine prayer but about the very quality of human faith and love."" -Richard Rohr, OFM author of Everything Belongs and The Naked Now ""There is often a wide gulf in academia between the mind and the spirit. Many Christian academics start in the spirit but lose something of their spirituality in the development of their mind. Jim Danaher successfully bridges that gulf in this book on contemplative prayer. Jim's insights into this marvelous discipline nourish both the mind and the spirit, bringing them together in Holy Communion with the Trinity."" -Ron Walborn Dean, Alliance Theological Seminary About the Contributor(s): James P. Danaher is Professor of Philosophy and Head of the Philosophy Department at Nyack College, Nyack, New York. He is the author of Jesus after Modernity: A Twenty-First-Century Critique of Our Modern Concept of Truth and the Truth of the Gospel (2011), Eyes That See, Ears ThatHear: Perceiving Jesus in a Postmodern Context (2006), Postmodern Christianity and the Reconstruction of the Christian Mind (2001), and over sixty articles that have appeared in a variety of philosophy and theology journals.

In Mystic Christianity-Religion, Philosophy and Science are known to be one and the same thing. There is no conflict between Science and Religion, Philosophy and Religion, or Philosophy and Science. They are all but names for the One Truth. There be but one Truth-there cannot be more than one. And so call it by the name of Religion... the name of Science... the name of Philosophy... it matters not-for the same thing is meant. There is naught but Truth. Nothing else really exists. All that is not Truth is Illusion-Maya-Nothing. And Mystic Christianity is based upon the Rock of Truth-fearing not the winds nor the storms that try out the stability of all structures of thought. Like its founder, it has always existed... always will exist... from the Beginningless Beginning... to the Endless Ending.

"For years these lessons have been given to spiritual students, hundreds of whom are living demonstrations of their efficacy in healing. "Not only have the sick been healed by the practice of these teachings, but characters have been redeemed from vice and weakness, and prosperity has come to those who had never dreamed that there is a law of mind that gives fortune and freedom from debt. Therefore these teachings are not theoretical or chimerical, but proven Truth, that Truth which is more valuable than any earthly treasure that could be named, and for which no exchange would even be considered by the one who has learned and realized It." Annie Rix Militz was an early organizer of the New Thought Movement. She is best known as the founder of Home of Truth and with her sister Harriet Hale Rix, founder of the West Coast Metaphysical Bureau, a group whose aim was to study philosophies and religions.

2011 Reprint of 1963 edition. Full facsimile of the original edition, not reproduced with Optical Recognition Software. Selected and with an introduction and notes by A.W. Tozer. The purpose of this book is to bring together in one convenient volume some of the best devotional verse the English language affords, and thus to make available to present day Christians a rich spiritual heritage which the greater number of them for various reasons do not now enjoy. Includes works by Isaac Watts, Oliver Wendell Holmes, F.W. Faber, Milman, Shirley, Wesley, Rossetti, Gerhardt, Pollock, Tate, Brady, Tersteegen, Ware, Nicolai, Bonar and others. Tozer served 44 years of ministry, associated with the Christian and Missionary Alliance, a Protestant evangelical denomination; 33 of those years were served as a pastor in a number of churches. He is the author of dozens of books, two of which, The Pursuit of God and The Knowledge of the Holy, are considered classics. His books impress on the reader the possibility and necessity for a deeper relationship with God.

2011 Reprint of 1956 Edition Translated by Michael Day at The Newman Press. Full facsimile of the original edition, not reproduced with Optical Recognition Software. "Introduction to the Devout Life" is the most popular Catholic "self-help" book of all time. First published in the early 17th century, it has proven its value as a daily spiritual guide and helpful reference for living an authentic Christian life. Written specifically for laymen, it began as letters from Saint Francis to a married woman who was seeking holiness amidst the distractions of her life of wealth and status. It contains treasures of wisdom for every reader, from eager beginner to lifelong Christian. Devout life does not require withdrawal from the world. This was the central insight of Saint Francis de Sales, a 16th-century priest whose "Introduction to the Devout Life" has not gone out of print in almost four centuries. Francis served the church at a dangerous time in a dangerous place: during the Reformation, in Calvinist areas of France, when celebrating mass was punishable by death. He was a popular minister and a prolific letter writer whose correspondence was cherished for its clear and direct instruction in the ways of piety. The book collects passages from many of those letters, organized as one message addressed to the allegorical character Philothea (which means "lover of God"). The book includes long sections about prayer, temptation, and how to maintain and renew devotion to God. But it is most distinguished by its discussion of how to live a holy life in the secular world. Each chapter (such as "How to Combine Due Care for a Good Reputation with Humility") is frank, uncannily modern, and precise. --Michael Joseph Gross

2011 Reprint of 1949 Third Edition. Full facsimile of the original edition, not reproduced with Optical Recognition Software. JOEL S. GOLDSMITH (1892-1964), was an important teacher of practical mysticism, and devoted most of his life to the discovery and teaching of spiritual principles which he founded and called "The Infinite Way." Goldsmith self-published his most famous work, "The Infinite Way" in 1947 based on letters to patients and students. In this collection of important essays Goldsmith describes the spiritual truth as he gleaned it though over thirty years of study of the major religions and philosophies of all the ages. He assures his readers that inner peace will come as one turns to the spiritual consciousness of life, and an outer calm will follow one's human affairs as a result.

The Revelations of Divine Love is a book of Christian mystical devotions written by Julian of Norwich. It is believed to be the first published book in the English language to be written by a woman. At the age of thirty, 13 May 1373, Julian was struck with a serious illness. As she prayed and prepared for death, she received a series of sixteen visions on the Passion of Christ and the Virgin Mary. Saved from the brink of death, Julian of Norwich dedicated her life to solitary prayer and the contemplation of the visions she had received. She wrote a short account of her visions probably soon after the event. About twenty or thirty years after her illness, near the end of the fourteenth century, she wrote down her visions and her understanding of them. This is the Grace Warrack translation that brought this great work the recognition it desrved.

'The Interior Castle' is a classic of Christian mysticism, written with some reluctance by its author, St Teresa of Avila. The saint spent most of her life as a Carmelite nun, and was noted for her piety and the frequency of her visions. In 1577 she was instructed by her superiors to produce a work on prayer for her sisters in the order. The result was a book of great spiritual significance, in which she wrote of her vision of the human being as a crystal globe, containing seven mansions. It is through these that the soul must make a progressive pilgrimage, to final union with God in the seventh mansion. St Teresa describes the prayers and meditations for this spiritual journey in great detail, and also warns of the obstructions and barriers that the Devil erects to prevent passage into the various mansions. Full of encouragement and advice for the modern aspirant, 'The Interior Castle' is as relevant today as when it was first written over four hundred years ago.

Jan van Ruusbroec (1293-1381), the most influential medieval Dutch author, is generally acknowledged to be one of the key figures in the tradition of Christian mysticism. This book concentrates on the medieval dimensions of Ruusbroec's authorship. Warnar offers a comprehensive analysis of Ruusbroec's oeuvre within the social, religious and literary frameworks of the fourteenth century Low Countries. Ruusbroec emerges as an author who was fully engaged in contemporary discussions on the contemplative life and mystical theology, as a charismatic guide who attracted a growing number of disciples first from the Low Countries but soon from all over Western Europe, and as the architect of a vernacular oeuvre of international interest from the Middle Ages to modern times.

Part oracle, part meditation book, and part Aladdin's cave of Middle Eastern myth and sacred story, Desert Wisdom offers a fresh way to hear the ancient visionary voices of the Middle East that generated three (or more) of the world's great religions.
Renowned Sufi scholar and teacher Neil Douglas-Klotz, author of The Sufi Book of Life and Prayers of the Cosmos, has revisioned his acclaimed 1995 classic for the 21st century. Praised by scientists, poets and mystics alike for its ecological approach to "hearing" the native wisdom of the Middle East on its own terms, Desert Wisdom takes us on a journey from ancient Egypt throughout the Middle East to Sufi poets like Rumi and Hafiz. In between, we spend time hearing Genesis the way a storyteller might have told it and sit at the feet of the Aramaic-speaking prophet, Yeshua of Nazareth. Through it all, Desert Wisdom presents us with ancient wisdom about life's biggest questions like:

"Why am I here? Who am I? And how do I love?"

In-depth exploration of the life and thought of Louis Massignon (1883-1962), a very influential French Islamic scholar and Christian mystic. This is a translation of an original French by an expert on Massignon's life and works, revised and augmented.

Originally published in 1975, Experience of the Inner Worlds is a classic magical textbook of the Western Mystery Tradition. Covering a wide range of topics within a Christian-oriented Qabalistic framework, Gareth Knight explains the difference between magic and mysticism, natural and revealed religion, monism and theism. He also covers the practicalities, examining methods of inner plane communication, contact with the Masters, the 'consciousness' approach of Carl Jung, the vision of Dante and the archetypal power of the Hebrew alphabet - all within the context of the Qabalistic Tree of Life. The book also contains powerful visualisation exercises and examples of communication with angelic and elemental contacts. While this book can be used as a course of self-instruction, it is also an important modern reference book of magical theory and practice, and has been used for decades by students of Western Qabalah and magic.

Here is the clearest possible exposition of the life and teachings of the diminutive Carmelite Friar whose influence has been so very profound. This book argues that St John of the Cross as a multifaceted, 'myriad minded man' is an Outstanding Christian Thinker. Within this book we shall encounter many facets of his genius for living the spiritual life: John as mystic, artist, theologian, psychologist and initiator of dialogue with other faiths, concluding that John can best be understood for Christians today as a 'practical theologian' par excellence who offers clear and practical help to contemporary Christians in their journey to encounter with the Living Lord. John is the inheritor of the medieval tradition and he is our contemporary. Like John's leap onto the city walls of Toledo, high above the perilous cliffs of the Tajo, so, the saint says, the Christian life must be a similar leap of faith 'in darkness and unknown' as we take a deep breath, place our trust in God and let go into the full clear air alone at last and in terrifying wonder of God's loving embrace. Series Editor: Brian Davies OP, Professor of Philosophy at Fordham University, New York. This series offers a range of authoritative studies on people and movements who have made an outstanding contribution to Christian thought and understanding. The series ranges across the full spectrum of Christian thought, to include Catholic and Protestant thinkers, to cover East and West, historical and contemporary figures.

Called in a special way to listen to God's whispers, the mystics amplify not only what it means to be baptized into the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ 'and to having the Trinity living in them 'but also what is deepest in the human spirit. Mystics experience themselves as an infinite question to which only God is the answer; as an immense longing that only Love can quench; as a nothing in the face of the No-Thing. They are God's fools, troubadours 'the great artists and poets of the interior life whose learned ignorance" articulates the art of loving God, neighbor, self, the Church, and the world.

In "Soundings in the Christian Mystical Tradition" Harvey Egan draws on fifty years of reading and teaching the mystics to sketch the varieties and passion of the mystical life across more than two millennia. Through their stories and words Egan reveals that al were conscious of the paradox of human identity 'supremely and unsurpassably manifested in the God-Man 'that the genuinely human is disclosed only through surrender to God and that the search for God cannot bypass the genuinely human.

"Harvey D. Egan, SJ, is the author of numerous works on Christian mysticism and the thought of Karl Rahner. He is currently professor of systematic and mystical theology at Boston College.""

2010 Reprint of 1963 edition. Selected and with an introduction and notes by A.W. Tozer. The purpose of this book is to bring together in one convenient volume some of the best devotional verse the English language affords, and thus to make available to present day Christians a rich spiritual heritage which the greater number of them for various reasons do not now enjoy. Includes works by Isaac Watts, Oliver Wendell Holmes, F.W. Faber, Milman, Shirley, Wesley, Rossetti, Gerhardt, Pollock, Tate, Brady, Tersteegen, Ware, Nicolai, Bonar and others. Tozer served 44 years of ministry, associated with the Christian and Missionary Alliance, a Protestant evangelical denomination; 33 of those years were served as a pastor in a number of churches. He is the author of dozens of books, two of which, The Pursuit of God and The Knowledge of the Holy, are considered classics. His books impress on the reader the possibility and necessity for a deeper relationship with God.

"Eternal greatness! You made yourself low and small to make mankind great." While in an ecstatic trance, St. Catherine of Siena dictated The Dialogue. In this intense and searching work, she offers up petitions to God, filling her conversation with instruction on discernment, true and false spiritual emotion, obedience and truth, and revealing her famous image of Christ as the Bridge. Catherine's brilliant insights into the nature of the spiritual life have motivated Christians for centuries to unite a life of prayer with a life of action. "This have I told you, my sweetest daughter, that you might know the perfection of this union-producing state, when the eye of the intellect is ravished by the fire of my charity, in which it receives supernatural light. With this light the souls in the state of union love me, because love follows the intellect, and the more it knows the more it can love." (from the book)