Mystics: Twelve Who Reveal God's Love

by Murray Bodo, Richard Rohr (Preface)

Because I share my brother Murray’s lifetime fascination with the mystics, I sort of assumed there would not be much new here for me (which is called pride!). Honestly, it was not true! I kept discovering new facts, quotes, insights, historical contexts that presented each of these figures in a much more exciting and yet also imitable way. What a treat it was to read this book. And now I am quite sure it will be a treat for you too. —Richard Rohr, OFM

Christianity is a mysterious faith. Some of these mysteries can be described with Scripture or doctrine, but others can only be experienced. Those graced with these experiences, these intimate glimpses of God, are called mystics. Murray Bodo's sensitive guidance leads us into the heart of what these mystics have expressed about God and how their insight can deepen our own experience of the boundless mystery of a loving God.

This updated and expanded edition includes new chapters on St. Clare and St. Bonaventure.

Genres: Nonfiction, Christian

239 pages, Kindle Edition

Published September 30, 2019

About the author

"Those are the two magnetic poles of my life: books and the Franciscan Priesthood. The glue that holds them together is Saint Francis of Assisi himself. From the time I was thirteen years old and read Sophie Jewett's God's Troubadour, The Story of St. Francis of Assisi, St. Francis has been a major inspiration of my life. I became a Franciscan in 1955; I've written about him, prayed for his intercession, studied him, taught his life and spirituality and for the last 34 years led pilgrimages to Assisi " - Murray Bodo

Reviews

[Dan Charnas · Rating 5 out of 5]

An excellent compilation about people who were chosen by God over the past two millenia and had special relationships with God. Some of these twelve were completely new to me, e.g., Julian of Norwich and Robert Lax, and I also learned new things about those with whom I had some familiarity.
Father Bodo's writing style is accessible rather than erudite, and he is not one for sugar-coating. He makes us realize that these mystics were quite human, sometimes with off-putting human frailties. (He wrote that as a child the story of Pollyanna made him ill, and it's clear that there is no place for Pollyanna-isms in Father Bodo's philosophy nor in his writings!)
Two quotes in particular remain with me, but there are many more worth remembering.
1. "I am nothing; God is everything."
2. "(God is the)...most pure and absolute being...is an intelligible sphere whose center is everywhere and whose circumference is nowhere."
I'm better for having read this book about these twelve mystics in that it has given me new insights into my personal relationship with God.

[David Ward · Rating 5 out of 5]

Murray Bodo is a prolific writer on all things Franciscan.

His chapters on the saints and most of the other mystics featured here are especially outstanding, However, his chapters on the poets Hopkins and Lax left me feeling I didn't understand their work at all. That says more about me than about Murray Bodo.

A book that many will benefit from reading.