Some events and some experiences are so awesome that we find it difficult to capture them in words. The first Christians, for instance, found the
I used to run a retreat and conference centre in London. As I had to run the place on a shoestring, I tried to do
How do we start to pray? I was just thinking of the first time that question was asked and of the answer that was given.
It was Easter in the 1970s that I first met my wife. I received a phone call from the local convent asking me to drive
My first form master told me that there are usually two ways of looking at most things, two different perspectives with which to view different
I first began to understand certain mystical truths as I prayed at the place where Jesus was crucified on the first Good Friday. I have
The essential principles of Christian spirituality are to be found in the teaching of the first Apostles that they received directly from Jesus Christ, It
‘Contrast and compare’ was a commonly used phrase used by the teachers who set our examination papers when I was at school. It is one
Some weeks ago I went to a special Mass prepared by a group of laypeople to ask for God’s mercy on them and on their
I had a cousin called John who was a bit of a rake. If he was not genially propping up the bar at the rugby
A hermit I know used to say, ‘When you stop falling you will be in heaven, but when you stop getting up, you will be
The year was 1220, the place was Egypt, shortly after the siege of Damietta. A small nondescript looking man stood before the Sultan arrayed in
Of the whole gamut of myths, legends and fairy tales that have been told in human history, not even the most outrageous or outlandish can
Continuing A Brief History of Christian Mystical Spirituality: Part 9 When the constitution on the liturgy was promulgated at the end of the Second Vatican
Continuing A Brief History of Christian Mystical Spirituality- Part VIII Before going to the Franciscan novitiate to try my vocation, I went on a grand
Continuing A Brief History of Christian Mystical Spirituality- Part I Molinos, the founder of Quietism, was a Spanish priest stationed in Rome from where he
I am as delighted as all other orthodox Catholics that the Spanish Bishops have spoken out against all forms of prayer involving Eastern meditation techniques
Continuing A Brief History of Christian Mystical Spirituality- Part VI Part 1– A Handful of Heretics in The Early Church If you visit Italy you will
Continuing A Brief History of Christian Mystical Spirituality- Part V Part 1– A Handful of Heretics in The Early Church It was thanks to St.
Part IV- Continuing A Brief History of Christian Mystical Spirituality (see Part I- A Handful of Heretics in The Early Church)) I have already suggested
Continuing A Brief History of Christian Mystical Spirituality with links to read Part I and Part II The history of Christian spirituality is rather like
Part II- Continuing A Brief History of Christian Mystical Spirituality. Part 1- A Handful of Heretics The love that was the mainspring of early Christianity
A Brief History of Christian Mystical Spirituality- Part I of 9 In the fourth century the God-given plan that Jesus introduced to lead people back
Although we do not like to admit it, even to ourselves, we still believe that prayer happens suddenly, or never happens at all. We kid
