Four Christian Mystics: Two Medieval, Two Modern

This course will consider four great figures from the Christian mystical tradition - two medieval and two modern - in an attempt to consider different ways of understanding how awareness of God leads to transformation in the Christian life.

8 March 2023, 7pm (on Zoom)

To watch the recording of this session, go here

he first seminar will deal with Mechtilde of Magdeburg (1210-1285), a German Beguine (one leading a religious life in the world) and will consider her audacious poetic mysticism, with its daring language of erotic union with God.

15 March 2023, 7pm (on Zoom)

To watch the recording of this session, go here

The second will examine the figure of Meister Eckhart (1260-1328), a Dominican priest as famous for his condemnation as for his brilliant but demanding mystical insights into divine union.

22 March 2023, 7pm (on Zoom)

To watch the recording of this session, go here

To read the Prayer to the Holy Trinity of Elizabeth go here

The third and fourth will span the 19th and 20th centuries, looking first at Elizabeth of the Trinity (1880-1906), a young Carmelite nun less famous than Therese of Lisieux, but a no less remarkable modern mystical writer, with her vision of the Christian life as union with the Trinity dwelling in the self.

29 March 2023, 7pm (on Zoom)

To watch the recording of this session, go here

The fourth and last, will examine the great but much neglected figure of Evelyn Underhill (1875-1941), a brilliant Anglican laywoman and passionate lover of God, who in many ways set the agenda for modern mystical studies with a book (‘Mysticism’) that has never been out of print!

To find out more about training opportunities online in the Diocese of Chichester, including those led by Fr Earl for the Year of the Old Testament, go here

Fr Earl Collins, Ph.D., is a native of Belfast, where he studied philosophy and Byzantine Studies. For many years a Benedictine monk in Ireland, and for five years Abbot of the Dormitian Abbey in Jerusalem, and has lectured widely in Europe and the United States. A priest of the Church of England (currently Vicar of St John’s, Hove, and Officer for Clergy Development in the Diocese of Chichester), he is co-producer of The Glenstal Book of Prayer, and author of The Glenstal Book of Icons, and Meeting Christ in His Mysteries.