A Year With the Mystics: Visionary Wisdom for Daily Living

by Kathryn Jean Lopez

There’s so much noise. Everything can seem like a distraction. Distraction, in fact, seems our oxygen. When was the last time you saw people talking on an elevator? We seem to plug in everywhere. We have earphones and screens and don’t evenlook up, never mind find time for silence. Our hearts need quiet. How are we ever going to pray otherwise? How could we ever possibly know God’s love and will, and the truth about ourselves and the world without resting in Him?

Resting in Him. What does that even mean? In A Year with the Mystics, popular National Review journalist and commentator Kathryn Jean Lopez, who writes and speaks frequently about faith and public life, and prayer and the Church, offers readers a tour of the magnificent variety of mystical writing in the heart of the Church. Featuring reflections from both household and contemporary names like Saint John Paul II, Mother Teresa and Edith Stein, as well as titanic historic figures such as St. Catherine of Siena and John of the Cross. The words of these holy men and women of prayer are presented in accessible doses ideal for daily prayer amidst the seemingly all-consuming busy-ness of life.

Each page is an invitation to enter more deeply into the life of faith. What does the road to union with God look like? What is a dark night? What is true love of the Trinity? What is this Church as bridegroom business?

Mysticism is not some foreign and remote life of prayer for poets and saints in heaven; rather, it is the call for every Christian to draw more deeply and profoundly from the heart of Christ in prayer.

A Year with the Mystics is a tour, a retreat, and a love story in which God seeks you out. With the small commitment of a few minutes a day to prayer with mystic saints and other holy ones, you will be making time for communication and peace in the heart of the Trinity. Your faith will grow and you will see that the life of a contemplative in the world can be yours; it can become for you the air you breathe and a wellspring of renewal in your life as a Catholic, rooted in the sacraments.

This beautiful Premium UltraSoft gift edition features two-tone sewn binding, ribbon marker, gold edges, and designed interior pages. 

Genres: Catholic, Religion, Nonfiction, Prayer

404 pages, Leather Bound

Published September 17, 2019

Reviews

[Steven R. McEvoy · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Mystics have always fascinated me, and yet I have approached them with a little hesitation. Since I did a fourth year Seminar Course at Saint Jerome’s University that had a strong influence from mystics, I have desired to learn more. But had not found the right book. I am very familiar with ‘A Year with’ series from Saint Benedict Press. I have read selections from a few of the other volumes. This book like others in the series 365 numbered reflections. But they are not tied to days of the year. You can pick up the book and start it at any point in the year. A sample meditation is:

“Day 24

So brilliant a light

We are the light of the world. Time with God makes it possible in all of life. This is the journey. This is the Christian life.

Now the Spirit is not brought into intimate association with the soul by local approximation.… Only then after a man is purified from the shame whose stain he took through his wickedness.… Shining upon those that are cleansed from every spot, he makes them spiritual by fellowship with himself. Just as when a sunbeam falls on bright and transparent bodies, they themselves become brilliant, too, and shed forth a fresh brightness from themselves, so souls wherein the Spirit dwells, illuminated by the Spirit, themselves become spiritual, and send forth their grace to others. Hence comes foreknowledge of the future, understanding of mysteries, apprehension of what is hidden, distribution of good gifts, the heavenly citizenship, a place in the chorus of angels, joy without end, abiding in God, the being made like to God, and, highest of all, the being made God.
—Saint Basil, On the Holy Spirit

IN GOD’S PRESENCE, CONSIDER…
Do I think about the gifts of the Holy Spirit regularly and how much deeper I want to grow in them? [For confirmed Catholics:] Can people tell that I was confirmed?

CLOSING PRAYER
Be the breath of my life, Holy Spirit. Lead me, guide me, infuse me with your gifts. I want to breathe you in and out until my last breath.”

But I am not sure I would classify all the sections as being by mystics. But I would consider most of them either mystics or visionaries. But No matter how you classify them, the selections in this volume will encourage and challenge you in your spiritual life. The book was not exactly what I was expecting, at least in the selections. I was surprised to find offerings from the pens of Blasé Pascal, Evelyn Underhill, And a few other surprises. Also, many of the meditation texts are taken from Scriptures. And yet even with that being said it is an excellent volume.

The book can be read from beginning to end. It can be flipped open to any day and read. Or you can pursue the subjects and pick and choose. Reading this volume has inspired me to go back and reread some of the others in the series. I especially appreciate the last two sections each day: In God’s Presence, Consider and Closing Prayer. Many of the prayers have stuck with me through out the day or even for a few days.

A good book in a great series. I am sure if you use it for personal devotions you will be challenged, and your life changed. And as much as I am an eBook guy the physical editions are beautiful books. And the leather version will last for years of use.

Read the review on my blog Book Reviews and More.

Note: This book is part of a series of reviews: 2019 Catholic Reading Plan!

[Emily · Rating 5 out of 5]

A beautiful, essential devotional for anyone who wants to grow their prayer life and personal holiness.

[Ellen Kolb · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book of brief meditations is meant to be carried every day. The short readings inspire and encourage.

[Angela · Rating 5 out of 5]

An excellent daily devotional, one you can revisit year after year and get even more from it. Not every excerpt is something from a mystic—I would argue many of them are not—but it offers insight into a deeper relationship with God, with reflections and prayers. Some of the excepts may seem odd out of context (especially when knowing the source material), but it's still a good guide for daily prayer.

[Crystal · Rating 1 out of 5]

52 days in and I have to stop. Not many actual mystics in here. Some people are still living And today, a quote from the cloud of the unknowing which is NOT doctrinally sound and should not be read by Catholics. Shocked and disappointed in Tan for putting out something like this. What a waste of money. But glad I recognized it before I did harm to my soul.

[Catrina Berka · Rating 3 out of 5]

Lots of Catholic and mystical writers in this collection. Good but not great. Not sure i would chose it for my daily devotional again.

[Kara · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really enjoyed using this book in my morning prayer time. It's short meditations from the saints and from Scripture contained many important insights. I highly recommend it.

[Katherine Scott · Rating 5 out of 5]

The highest praise I can give a book: when I got to the end, I moved the ribbon page marker to the beginning and started over. Not every page/day is a winner, but overall very rich and devotional.

[Joseph Tyler · Rating 5 out of 5]

review

Outstanding book, thoroughly enjoyed the daily readings. I would highly recommend this book and the other books in the series.