mysticism

Laurel Mathewson introduces new readers to Teresa of Ávila—and to the famed saint’s trustworthy spirituality.

The modern mystics profiled in Bernard McGinn’s new book don’t experience ecstatic visions, supernatural miracles, or paranormal phenomena.

“I have the sense that Mechthild of Magdeburg’s whole life was lived in pursuit of her divine beloved.”

Michael Battle’s biography focuses on the archbishop’s religious moorings.

Essays spanning four decades offer a fitting entree into the work of a distinguished scholar.

“Practicing to be a contemplative," says Zen priest Sensei Zenju, "you’re learning to be embodied and to be boundless at the same time.”

In the private journals of contemplative thinker Thomas Merton, Sophronia Scott found guidance for how to live in these fraught times.

A contemplative Catholic nun touches the world through prayer.

A memoir of an activist whose life is grounded in Sikh mysticism

I love pop psychology pieces that try to make sense of those Christmas-tree-colored splotches that appear on brain scans. 

While women have historically been bound by family obligations, household chores, or desperate poverty, there have been monasteries throughout history that allowed some to focus on their vocation without those typical pressures.

At first I found the "little flower" insufferable. Then I read her unedited writing.

Hart’s vision is at once allegorical, moral, and eschatological. Christ, married to the church, draws us into deeper life with God.

I was the only woman in a seminary course on negative theology. One day, a young man raised his hand and asked, “What about an ordinary housewife? How could a person like that live this life of prayer?”