Written in the 16th century by a reform-minded Carmelite monk, “Dark Night of the Soul” is a treatise focusing on the metaphor of a dark night to represent a lonely phase in one’s personal spiritual life. Saint John was a Roman Catholic mystic and a Spanish poet, and this work reflects his mystical stages toward union with God. Divided into two books, the purification of the senses and the spirit, “Dark Night” describes these two phases and addi ...
First Published in 1631, “The Bruised Reed” is the widely read and inspiring classic by Richard Sibbes, the 17th century English theologian and preacher. Sibbes was an important spiritual leader during the early days of the Anglican Church under Queen Elizabeth I. He was also a vocal supporter of traditional Puritan religious doctrine and encouraged the faithful to worship according to the English “Book of Common Prayer”. Sibbes was well-known d ...
“Faith’s Checkbook” is a classic and inspirational work by Charles Haddon Spurgeon, one of the world’s most famous preachers. Born in Essex, England in 1834, he converted from the Anglican Church to the Baptist faith at the age of 15 and by the age of 22 he was well-known throughout London for his powerful and engaging style. Spurgeon went on to preach at the New Park Street Chapel, later the Metropolitan Tabernacle, for 38 years. He was an impo ...
First published in 1589, Father Lorenzo Scupoli’s “The Spiritual Combat, The Peace of the Soul, and Thoughts on Death” is a classic Catholic text on spiritual discipline. Scupoli’s work was commercially successful and was highly influential soon after it was published. Prominent religious figures such as St. Francis de Sales recommended that everyone under his direction read it every day as he did. Father Scupoli believed that in one’s daily lif ...
Roman Catholic Augustinian Canoness Anne Catherine Emmerich was a 19th century German mystic whose life both inspired religious devotion but also was embroiled in great controversy. Born into a poor family, Emmerich’s youth was spent helping to provide for her family through work in farming and as a seamstress. She desired to pursue a life of religious devotion and applied many times to join a convent but was routinely rejected because she could ...
Cardinal John Henry Newman was a major figure in the Oxford Movement, a response by the members of the Church of England to a perceived attack by the reforming Whig administration who had already legislated a restructuring of the Church of Ireland. Members of the Oxford Movement feared the secular appropriation of ecclesiastical property and moved to assert their religious authority by returning the church to its Catholic origins. In 1854 John H ...
First published in 1911, “Mysticism” is the seminal work on the subject by noted English Christian mystic and author Evelyn Underhill. The book is divided into two parts which examine both the history and meaning of mysticism and how it can be a part of one’s daily life and spiritual practice. In the first part, “The Mystic Fact”, Underhill explores the theological, psychological, and philosophical underpinnings of mysticism from a historical pe ...
A revised and amplified edition, with a new introduction, of the three books «Broadcast Talks,» «Christian Behaviour,» and «Beyond Personality» by the acclaimed author of «The Chronicles of Narnia.» ...
