Mystical City of God: The Incarnation

by Mary of Agreda

St. Alphonsus “a single bad book will be sufficient to cause the destruction of a monastery.” Pope Pius XII wrote in 1947 at the beatification of Blessed Maria “There rises to Our lips the cry of the 'Woe to the world because of scandals!' (Matthew 18:7). Woe to those who consciously and deliberately spread corruption-in novels, newspapers, magazines, theaters, films, in a world of immodesty!” We at St. Pius X Press are calling for a crusade of good books. We want to restore 1,000 old Catholic books to the market. We ask for your assistance and prayers. This book is a photographic reprint of the original The original has been inspected and many imperfections in the existing copy have been corrected. At Saint Pius X Press our goal is to remain faithful to the original in both photographic reproductions and in textual reproductions that are reprinted. Photographic reproductions are given a page by page inspection, whereas textual reproductions are proofread to correct any errors in reproduction.

Genres: Catholic, Classics

628 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1670

About the author

Venerable Mary of Jesus of Ágreda, OIC, also known as the Abbess of Ágreda (2 April 1602 – 24 May 1665), was a Franciscan abbess and spiritual writer, known especially for her extensive correspondence with King Philip IV of Spain and reports of her bilocation between Spain and its colonies in New Spain (now New Mexico and Texas). She was a noted mystic of her era.

A member of the Order of the Immaculate Conception, also known as Conceptionists, Mary of Jesus wrote fourteen books, including a series of revelations about the life of the Blessed Virgin Mary. Her bilocation activity is said to have occurred between her cloistered monastery in rural Spain and the Jumano Indians of central New Mexico and West Texas, and inspired many Franciscan missionaries in the New World. In popular culture since the 17th century, she has been dubbed the Lady in Blue and the Blue Nun, after the color of her order's habit.

Reviews

[Benjamin Stahl · Rating 4 out of 5]

The second volume of The Mystical City of God, a biography on the Holy Virgin, this one concerning the announcement of the angel Gabriel, that She is to conceive the Son of God, the Incarnation within Her virginal womb, the glorious birth of our Lord, Jesus Christ, the escape of the Holy parents and Jesus from Herod's murderous plot to Egypt, and then finally their return to Nazareth.

This book, if you believe the authoress's claims (it has been validated by the Vatican) details the Divine revelations given privately to an abbess superior in 17th century Spain by the Virgin Mary. Daunting in size, this book and the one before it are essential reading for any serious Catholic who is lucky enough to find a copy (it is freely available online). With detailed insights into the life of Mary, as direct instruction from Her, the book is a blessing of wisdom and guidance.

I did not give this one five stars, like the last, merely because I struggled a bit more to get through it. I will say that apart from the Incarnation, I didn't find the book as transformative an experience until the second half. All the same, though, City of God is a beautiful book and I thank God that I have been given the opportunity to read it.

[Lkb · Rating 5 out of 5]

Sublime! The story of the Blessed Virgin Mary and Our Lord from the Annunciation. through their return from Egypt with lessons from Our Lady for us to apply in our lives. Well worth a slow, careful read and re-read.

[Ann · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is an audio book at LibriVox.org.

https://librivox.org/mystical-city-of...

[Diana Kullman · Rating 5 out of 5]

excellent and enlightening

[ShepherdsDelight · Rating 5 out of 5]

99/100 (= 5.9/6) ≈ 5 Stars

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Oh boy, here we go again. How do I do this one justice in a review! I feel more and more inclined to just add my voice to the long list of endorsements by popes and to those who say this was a wonderful gift of God to humanity. Not in the gnostic sense of us getting to be let in on the untold secrets of what was going on in the Hidden Life of Our Lord. It's much more spiritual than that. And it keeps getting better as it goes along. The sanctification of Egypt, almost like a second Holy Land was so fascinating. Absolutely wonderful. I can't even gush coherently! :)