Angela of Foligno: Complete Works

by Angela da Foligno, Romana Guarnieri (Contributor), Paul Lachance (Translator)

The most in-depth and scholarly panorama of Western spirituality ever attempted In one series, the original writings of the universally acknowledged teachers of the Catholic, Protestant, Eastern Orthodox, Jewish, Islamic and Native American traditions have been critically selected, translated and introduced by internationally recognized scholars and spiritual leaders.

The texts are first-rate, and the introductions are informative and reliable. The books will be a welcome addition to the bookshelf of every literate religious persons". -- The Christian Century

Genres: Religion, Catholic, Mysticism, Theology, Medieval, Christianity, Nonfiction

448 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1298

About the author

Angela da Foligno, T.O.S.F., (1248 – 4 January 1309) was an Italian Franciscan tertiary who became known as a mystic from her extensive writings about her mystical revelations. Due to the respect they engendered in the Catholic Church, she is known as "Mistress of Theologians".
Angela was noted not only for her spiritual writings, but also for founding a religious community which refused to accept becoming an enclosed religious order that it might continue her vision of caring for those in need. It is still active.
The Catholic Church declared Angela to be a saint in 2013.

Also listed as Angela of Foligno or Angela von Foligno.

Reviews

[Paul Hoehn · Rating 5 out of 5]

Bl. Angela, who my friend called my “spiritual twin,” really took the time to shoot some truth arrows at me across the century with this one.

[Adam Thomas · Rating 2 out of 5]

Choice quotes:

"It came to pass, God so willing, that at that time my mother, who had been a great obstacle to me, died. In like manner my husband died, as did all my sons in a short space of time. Because I had already entered the aforesaid way, and had prayed to God for their death, I felt a great consolation when it happened."

"This fire of the love of God in my heart became so intense that if I heard anyone speak about God I would scream. Even if someone had stood over me with an axe ready to kill me, this would not have stopped my screaming."

"We washed the feet of the women and the hands of the men, and especially those of one of the lepers which were festering and in an advanced stage of decomposition. Then we drank the very water with which we had washed him. And the drink was so sweet that, all the way home, we tasted its sweetness and it was as if we had received Holy Communion. As a small scale of the leper’s sores was stuck in my throat, I tried to swallow it. My conscience would not let me spit it out, just as if I had received Holy Communion. I really did not want to spit it out but simply to detach it from my throat."

"This was a beautiful, useful, and long instruction but I, brother scribe, could not write it because it was time for us to leave the church, and later I did not take time to do so because other things needed to be written."

"Lord, why did you create man, and after you did, why did you allow us to sin? And why did you allow so much suffering to be inflicted upon you for our sins, when you could have just as well made it possible that without any of it we could be just the same as we are, be able to please you, and be endowed with as many virtues?"

[Zimblo · Rating 4 out of 5]

Angela is one of the most interesting figures in Christian mysticism. Her influence is prevalent in Italian Christianity, and female mysticism. This copy is THE authoritative translation and it comes with extensive introduction and explanation. You really won't just be left alone with the raw translation.

[K. P. · Rating 4 out of 5]

Intense Umbrian mystic, better known among English Catholics in first half of 2oth century. Great introduction.

[Tiegel · Rating 5 out of 5]

The author of the completed works does a good job setting up the environment of Angela, the times (ie: commonly held beliefs, different debated religious topics, competing "problem" orders, and etc.), the religious order, and more through both a heavy introduction and extensive notes. While I feel it was too often attempting to place her works into some hierarchy of thought or indicating same/similar phenomena as possible "influences" it by no means reduced the book or Angela.

Angela and the "Memorial"

This is fascinating because we have an instance of spiritual phenomena that was arrived at through what many would consider "negative" qualities. She specifically focused on the "contempt, suffering, and poverty" of Jesus. So much so that her visions (verbal, visual, sometimes both verbal/visual, but unclear whether tactile) often included finding the love of god through these means. Yes, there were several Saints at the time who glorified and enjoyed these "merits" (ie: sleeping on concrete, putting rocks in shoes, wanting to be led by a noose from the neck, etc.), but so few of them go THROUGH it to find the love of it on the other side. So while she wanted to be reviled and tormented this got her to spiritual revelations and wasn't to "score points" with the people, church, or for the love of the game of pain. Let me attempt to indicate this with some quotes:

"She said she had first of all kissed Christ's breast - and saw that he lay dead, with eyes closed - then she kissed his mouth ... a delightful fragrance emanated, one impossible to describe. ... she saw him lying there with eyes closed, lips motionless, exactly as he was when he lay dead in the sepulcher. Her joy was immense and indescribable."

"And I desired to see at least that small amount of Christ's flesh which the nails had driven into the wood. ... Then Christ showed me his throat and his arms" ... "And then my former sorrow was transformed into a joy so intense that I can say nothing about it. ... I was so totally absorbed by this vision that I was not able to see, hear, or feel anything else. ... Through this beauty it seemed to me that I was seeing Christ's divinity ... I do not know how to compare the clarity and brightness of that vision with anything or any color in the world except, perhaps, the clarity and brightness of Christ's body"

And let's end the quotes with one of those incredible revelations that show the lack of rigid edge:

"God presents himself in the inmost depths of my soul. I understand not only that he is present, but also how he is present in every create and in everything that has being, in a devil and a good angel, in heaven and hell, in good deeds and in adultery or homicide, in all things, finally, which exist or have some degree of being, whether beautiful or ugly. ... while I am in this truth, I take no less delight in seeing or understanding his presence in a devil or in an act of adultery than I do in a good angel or in a good deed."

There is much else in these texts that are fascinating. Through these "negative" qualities she sees not evil and hell, but the love in all for all.

Angela and "Instructions"

I can, however, not say the same for the Instructions. While reading it I could only continue to say "this isn't her". It seems me that she did not write them or it's been so heavily modified by the multiple "redactors" that it bears little of that same spirit. A weapon and a constraint rather than a guide. This goes for the very defined rigid edges, the very flagrant attacks on things observed by others (ie: struggles between other Franciscan orders, "Spirit of Freedom" sect, etc.), the more technical terminology and ideas with hard theological bent, and more. Even the final words seem completely made up:

"The epilogue is not found in all manuscripts and some contain only part of it. It seems to indicate that Angela's book was used as a weapon in the struggle between the various tendencies in the Franciscan movement during the early fourteenth century."

There appears to be a big part in using her words as a polemic rather than in the spirit of "Truth". As such I'd actually recommend against the "Instructions". If that part was all there was this would be a 2/5 at best.

[Not Monica · Rating 5 out of 5]

I pulled her for my Saint for the Year and it was a fascinating read. There's some similarities with Theresa of Avila (from what I can tell) and what makes her interesting is she is a recently canonized mystic Saint. Hopefully more people will learn about her and her devotion.

[Camila · Rating 3 out of 5]

one of the better books of visions by a medieval christian mystic. i especially enjoyed angela's emphasis on the ineffability of god and her love for him.

[Humphrey · Rating 2 out of 5]

It was ok in the sense of being an interesting read, but I certainly didn't subscribe to it. Angela is... a bit out there. And by a bit, I mean a lot. An interesting contrast to Bonaventure's very different form of Fransiscan theology.

[Diane · Rating 3 out of 5]

Female mystic of the High Middle Ages. Focuses on the importance of humility. Lots of good teaching.

[Patti Clement · Rating 5 out of 5]

Stirred lots in my soul as I read from her complete works in my historical foundations of spirituality course.

[David · Rating 4 out of 5]

Layers and layers of neurotic anxiety about the presence of God. Fantastic.

[Agata Pona · Rating 5 out of 5]

Amazing, detailed and incredibly researched introduction alone is well worth it.