Books about Christian/Catholic Mysticism

  • Thread starter Thread starter Matt90
  • Start date Start date
Status
Not open for further replies.
M

Matt90

Guest
Hello all!

I am interested in your recommendations on some good, thorough books about a history of Christian (though preferably with a Catholic focus) mysticism

I have come across these:

The Big Book of Christian Mysticism: The Essential Guide to Contemplative Spirituality

Growing into God: A Beginner’s Guide to Christian Mysticism

The Essential Writings of Christian Mysticism

Can anybody comment on any of these? The first two seem to be a broad history on the topic while the third is an anthology of “essential” writings. I appreciate that all of them address Christian mysticism, so there will no doubt be a discussion of non-Catholic mystics etc.

Hopefully this is in the right place, thank you in advance! 😃

Regards
Matt
 
Anything by Teresa of Avila is a masterpiece of Christian mysticism. Start with Interior Castle.
 
po18guy said:
Anything by Teresa of Avila is a masterpiece of Christian mysticism.
Click to expand...
Thank you very much for your suggestion 🙂

She is definitely on the list, though I was hoping for more of an overview/broad introduction to the topic, rather than writings of specific mystics :D. Though I definitely intend to delve into the works of specific mystics eventually!

Regards
Matt
 
Try works by St John of the Cross and an easier one is “The ways of mental prayer” by Vital Lehody. Though come to think if it you asked mystical stuff, but I think the ways of mental prayer is more so a guide on contemplative prayer- which I believe can lead to mysticism.
God bless
 
Christine85 said:
Try works by St John of the Cross and an easier one is “The ways of mental prayer” by Vital Lehody. Though come to think if it you asked mystical stuff, but I think the ways of mental prayer is more so a guide on contemplative prayer- which I believe can lead to mysticism.
God bless
Click to expand...
Thank you for your recommendation! That actually seems extremely interesting, thanks 😃

Regards,
Matt
 
Matt90 said:
I was hoping for more of an overview/broad introduction to the topic, rather than writings of specific mystics 😃
Click to expand...
This is the reason I’ve been hanging back. I’d be more inclined to recommend writings of specific mystics. 🙂
 
aspirant said:
This is the reason I’ve been hanging back. I’d be more inclined to recommend writings of specific mystics. 🙂
Click to expand...
That seems to be the trend! I’ll throw it open then haha 😃 . Feel free to recommend specific works in addition to or instead of suggestions relating to the original topic 🙂

Regards
Matt
 
Dear Matt,

Thank you for asking about this!

Like a few others, I would advise attempting to read directly some of the church’s mystical authors such as the Cloud of Unknowing. The Western Classics of Spirituality series gives one immediate access to an extensive list of mystics.

Nevertheless, I can understand why that might seem like “the deep end”. Sometimes an anthology can be priceless in giving one a “taste” of the depth and breadth of mystical writings. Therefore I will not hold back in advising you on which ones are best.
  1. Bernard McGinn’s book is an excellent choice. I own a copy of it. In a relatively small book he packs in a very broad range of mystical texts, ranging from Origen & the Church Fathers too modern day people such as Thomas Merton. The only criticism one could make of it is that he is somewhat weak on Eastern Christian mysticism or “Hesychasm” (although he does provide selections from I think St. Gregory Palamas, Abba Philemon, St. Symeon and The Way of a Pilgrim). Very strong on Western mystics however.
  2. I would advise you to read Evelyn Underhill’s “Mysticism” (1911). It may be old but it is the most comprehensive overview of the prototypical mystical journey and you can read it for free here:
sacred-texts.com/myst/myst/index.htm

Go straight to part 2 “The Mystic Way”, skip Part 1 (read that later). Again she practically ignores the entirety of the Eastern Christian tradition. Obviously it was not available too her in translation. This is very Western focused.
  1. This last anthology is brilliant but very “pricey”. Its called “An Anthology of Christian Mysticism” by Harvey D Egan (1991). On Amazon it costs a bomb - something like £34. Nevertheless it is a wonderful anthology. It is the broadest one I know of, providing you with in-depth but short descriptions of each mystic and a healthy sampling from their texts. You can view pages from it online at Googlebooks:
books.google.co.uk/books?id=LHdS5hNH7zsC&printsec=frontcover#v=onepage&q&f=false

After reading through sections of it, whichever you choose, you will eventually be blocked from reading anymore. If you wait a few days then your browser will let you read it again. Just select a different mystic or set of mystics this time.

Go to the contents page by the way, rather than the drop-down list, because it doesn’t give you all the chapters for some reason 🤷
 
Vouthon said:
Dear Matt,

Thank you for asking about this!

Like a few others, I would advise attempting to read directly some of the church’s mystical authors such as the Cloud of Unknowing. The Western Classics of Spirituality series gives one immediate access to an extensive list of mystics.

Nevertheless, I can understand why that might seem like “the deep end”. Sometimes an anthology can be priceless in giving one a “taste” of the depth and breadth of mystical writings. Therefore I will not hold back in advising you on which ones are best.
  1. Bernard McGinn’s book is an excellent choice. I own a copy of it. In a relatively small book he packs in a very broad range of mystical texts, ranging from Origen & the Church Fathers too modern day people such as Thomas Merton. The only criticism one could make of it is that he is somewhat weak on Eastern Christian mysticism or “Hesychasm” (although he does provide selections from I think St. Gregory Palamas, Abba Philemon, St. Symeon and The Way of a Pilgrim). Very strong on Western mystics however.
  2. I would advise you to read Evelyn Underhill’s “Mysticism” (1911). It may be old but it is the most comprehensive overview of the prototypical mystical journey and you can read it for free here:
sacred-texts.com/myst/myst/index.htm

Go straight to part 2 “The Mystic Way”, skip Part 1 (read that later). Again she practically ignores the entirety of the Eastern Christian tradition. Obviously it was not available too her in translation. This is very Western focused.
  1. This last anthology is brilliant but very “pricey”. Its called “An Anthology of Christian Mysticism” by Harvey D Egan (1991). On Amazon it costs a bomb - something like £34. Nevertheless it is a wonderful anthology. It is the broadest one I know of, providing you with in-depth but short descriptions of each mystic and a healthy sampling from their texts. You can view pages from it online at Googlebooks:
books.google.co.uk/books?id=LHdS5hNH7zsC&printsec=frontcover#v=onepage&q&f=false

After reading through sections of it, whichever you choose, you will eventually be blocked from reading anymore. If you wait a few days then your browser will let you read it again. Just select a different mystic or set of mystics this time.

Go to the contents page by the way, rather than the drop-down list, because it doesn’t give you all the chapters for some reason 🤷
Click to expand...
Thank you so much for your response, I really do appreciate it! I will be sure to look into your recommendations 🙂

While not technically part of my original question, you mention that McGinn is quite weak on Eastern Christian Mysticism, and that Evelyn Underhill did not have access to translations and so obviously could not write about this topic. Could you possibly recommend a book that does cover this (or is it covered in your third recommendation)? I know I did not expressly inquire about this topic originally, but I am now very curious! haha 😃

Also, thank you for reminding me of the Classics of Western Spirituality series - I have already dabbled a little in Bonaventure and Athanasius, and it really does seem to be a very good series 🙂

Regards
Matt
 
Matt90 said:
Thank you very much for your suggestion 🙂

She is definitely on the list, though I was hoping for more of an overview/broad introduction to the topic, rather than writings of specific mystics :D. Though I definitely intend to delve into the works of specific mystics eventually!

Regards
Matt
Click to expand...
Matt - For a good introduction to the mystical tradition see the book in my signature. An excellent read. It’s not really a “history book” per-se but is a wonderful distillation of the writings of several (about 8) mystic doctors of the Church.

Peace
James
 
Matt90 said:
Thank you so much for your response, I really do appreciate it! I will be sure to look into your recommendations 🙂

While not technically part of my original question, you mention that McGinn is quite weak on Eastern Christian Mysticism, and that Evelyn Underhill did not have access to translations and so obviously could not write about this topic. Could you possibly recommend a book that does cover this (or is it covered in your third recommendation)? I know I did not expressly inquire about this topic originally, but I am now very curious! haha 😃

Also, thank you for reminding me of the Classics of Western Spirituality series - I have already dabbled a little in Bonaventure and Athanasius, and it really does seem to be a very good series 🙂

Regards
Matt
Click to expand...
Dear Matt,

Thanks again for your question!

This slideshow introduces you to the basics of praying the “Jesus Prayer”:

stgeorgegreenville.org/OurFaith/Foundation%20of%20Faith/9.%20Jesus%20Prayer.pdf

This page from Fordham university’s website gives you some quotations from Hesychast writings:

fordham.edu/halsall/source/hesychasm1.asp

I would ignore some of the commentary since I reckon it to be inaccurate in description of some perceived differences between East and West as concerns the mystical experience, so just skip straight too the quotes.

If you want an anthology of Eastern Catholic mysticism (known as Hesychasm), then might I suggest: The Book of Mystical Chapters: Meditations on the Soul’s Ascent. It quotes from the Early Desert Fathers, the Hesychasts and other Eastern Christian mystics.

Here is it on amazon:

amazon.com/Book-Mystical-Chapters-Meditations-Contemplatives/dp/1590300076

And here it is on GoogleBooks:

books.google.co.uk/books?id=1DmwrHnS0C4C&printsec=frontcover&dq=sayings+eastern+fathers+light&hl=en&sa=X&ei=4EdlUcW4MLTv0gW00IGADQ&redir_esc=y#v=onepage&q&f=false

Obviously nothing is as good as actually reading a translation of The Philokalia.

There is a very easy, condensed book from “Skylight publications” that gives you a small smattering of key quotations from the Philokalia:

amazon.com/Philokalia-Christian-Spiritual-SkyLight-Illuminations/dp/1594731039

Another excellent book for a Russian Orthodox slant on Hesychasm is “On the Jesus Prayer” by St. Ignatius Brianchaninov:

books.google.co.uk/books?id=DIbDjwk0MiwC&printsec=frontcover&dq=on+the+prayer+of+jesus+ignatius+brianchaninov+pdf&hl=en&sa=X&ei=N0xlUYvmDcy-PeS7gKgM&redir_esc=y#v=onepage&q&f=false
 
JRKH said:
Matt - For a good introduction to the mystical tradition see the book in my signature. An excellent read. It’s not really a “history book” per-se but is a wonderful distillation of the writings of several (about 8) mystic doctors of the Church.

Peace
James
Click to expand...
James, thank you very much! That book looks incredibly interesting :). A great recommendation!

Regards
Matt
 
Vouthon said:
Dear Matt,

Thanks again for your question!

This slideshow introduces you to the basics of praying the “Jesus Prayer”:

stgeorgegreenville.org/OurFaith/Foundation%20of%20Faith/9.%20Jesus%20Prayer.pdf

This page from Fordham university’s website gives you some quotations from Hesychast writings:

fordham.edu/halsall/source/hesychasm1.asp

I would ignore some of the commentary since I reckon it to be inaccurate in description of some perceived differences between East and West as concerns the mystical experience, so just skip straight too the quotes.

If you want an anthology of Eastern Catholic mysticism (known as Hesychasm), then might I suggest: The Book of Mystical Chapters: Meditations on the Soul’s Ascent. It quotes from the Early Desert Fathers, the Hesychasts and other Eastern Christian mystics.

Here is it on amazon:

amazon.com/Book-Mystical-Chapters-Meditations-Contemplatives/dp/1590300076

And here it is on GoogleBooks:

books.google.co.uk/books?id=1DmwrHnS0C4C&printsec=frontcover&dq=sayings+eastern+fathers+light&hl=en&sa=X&ei=4EdlUcW4MLTv0gW00IGADQ&redir_esc=y#v=onepage&q&f=false

Obviously nothing is as good as actually reading a translation of The Philokalia.

There is a very easy, condensed book from “Skylight publications” that gives you a small smattering of key quotations from the Philokalia:

amazon.com/Philokalia-Christian-Spiritual-SkyLight-Illuminations/dp/1594731039

Another excellent book for a Russian Orthodox slant on Hesychasm is “On the Jesus Prayer” by St. Ignatius Brianchaninov:

books.google.co.uk/books?id=DIbDjwk0MiwC&printsec=frontcover&dq=on+the+prayer+of+jesus+ignatius+brianchaninov+pdf&hl=en&sa=X&ei=N0xlUYvmDcy-PeS7gKgM&redir_esc=y#v=onepage&q&f=false
Click to expand...
Thank you once again for those sources and books. And thanks everybody for being so helpful! If people wanted they could keep suggesting books etc. relating to Christian Mysticism, so that others who come across this thread can have as much benefit as me.

Regards
Matt
 
aspirant said:
Thanks, Matt.

Others have mentioned St. Teresa of Avila, St. John of the Cross, & The Cloud of Unknowing.

For me, one of the most essential is Way of a Pilgrim. The Philokalia compilation that the pilgrim carries with him is also available in English as Writings from the Philokalia: On Prayer of the Heart.
Click to expand...
And thank you for your suggestions aspirant!

For anybody who is interested, you can find a copy of the first four volumes of the Philokalia translated here . There is a little bit of dodgy formatting with the repetition of subheadings throughout the text etc. but it is still readable 🙂
 
Matt90 said:
There is a little bit of dodgy formatting with the repetition of subheadings throughout the text etc. but it is still readable 🙂
Click to expand...
Yep. I’ve also got the books, though. Printed text is easier for me. 🙂
 
Your query is posted in the Traditional Catholicism forum, and the responses here do indeed represent many of the classics; great milestones of Christian mysticism.

Of the three books you proposed, I have read Carl McColman’s Big Book of Christian Mysticism, and I can recommend it (in fact, I have: I’m the CGS who reviewed it on Amazon).

However, the whole matter can be rather subjective. I might really connect with a particular author’s style and point of view, as I do with McColman, yet find another author dry or unapproachable, despite rave reviews by others. For many traditional Catholics, a blurb from progressive Fr. Richard Rohr will automatically place the recommended book on a personal forbidden index. You must decide for yourself.

Speaking from my own experience, I must admit that I began studying the mystical way hoping it might be a kind of shortcut to grace and union with God. I wanted to avoid some of the drudgery, the discipline, and the hard work of following Christ. What I have learned of course, and McColman’s book makes this very plain, is that there is no getting around the need for discipline and a committed daily practice, whatever form your prayer takes.

Not sure if this helps at all, but God bless your good intention all the same.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top