Document Type

Presentation

Publication Date

4-24-2024

First Advisor

John Gavin, S.J.

Abstract

The title of my 2024 Academic Conference student presentation is “Demystifying Mysticism.” My work is based on my “Christian Mysticism” tutorial with Fr. John Gavin, S.J., in the Religious Studies Department. I studied Carmelite Mysticism in the Roman Catholic Christian tradition, and how it can be applied to the prayer life of every Catholic. The Carmelites are a Contemplative order of religious sisters and brothers who live lives devoted to active prayer to God, following the Blessed Virgin as the model of faith. My thesis is that the Carmelite tradition provides vocabulary and images in order to share the inexpressible, personal experience of the divine such that all persons may seek mystical experience in their lives. I focused my study of the Carmelite tradition on these four saints, from two different periods of time: Saints Teresa of Avila and John of the Cross, and Saints Thérèse of Lisieux and Elizabeth of the Trinity. Fr. Thomas Dubay, S.M., a Carmelite scholar, highlights in his book (Fire Within: Teresa of Avila, John of the Cross and the Gospel on Prayer) that every topic these mystics are all rooted in the Bible. Their works can help any Catholic better understand the Word of God. My conclusion can be summarized in the word, “contemplation.” Through studying the examples of those four influential figures in Christian Spirituality, I saw how they model contemplative prayer as the accessible mode to mysticism.

Comments

Presented at the 2024 Academic Conference.

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