Enduring Grace: Living Portraits of Seven Women Mystics

by Carol Lee Flinders

Astonishingly relevant portraits of the lives of seven women mystics Known to more than a million readers as the coauthor of the classic vegetarian cookbook Laurel's Kitchen, Carol Lee Flinders looks to the hunger of the spirit in Enduring Grace. In these striking and sustaining depictions of seven remarkable women, Flinders brings to life a chorus of wisdom from the past that speaks with remarkable relevance to our contemporary spiritual quests.

From Clare of Assisi in the Middle East to Thérèse of Lisieux in the late nineteenth century, Flinders's compelling and refreshingly informal portraits reveal a common foundation of conviction, courage, and serenity in the lives of these great European Catholic mystics. Their distinctly female voices enrich their writings on the experience of the inner world, the nourishing role of friendship and community in our lives, and on finding our true work.

At its heart, Enduring Grace is a living testament to how we can make peace with sorrow and disappointment and bring joy and transcendence into our lives.

Genres: Spirituality, Nonfiction, Feminism, History, Religion, Biography, Christianity

274 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 1993

Reviews

[Ellen · Rating 4 out of 5]

I've been distracted these days and finding it hard to focus, even on reading (for the first time in my life!) so this took me a while to read and I'm not sure if it was me or the book. It's certainly not a fast read--this is the second time I've attempted to read it. This time I was determined to finish and I'm glad I did.

Flinders is not a Catholic which gives her an interesting perspective on these saints. She is also a feminist and examines in ways in which, in the context of the times they lived in, each of these women had a strong and unique voice. Some, like Catherine of Sienna, had great influence in the powerful church. Some wrote while the Inquisition flamed outside their windows and had to walk a fine line between self-abnegation and the proclamation of the word they had heard.

I chose this book because it tells the story of a number of my favorite women in history (and in the Catholic Church). The stories are all interesting, at least if you're drawn to mysticism. I like the balance these women had between their ecstatic experiences and their lives in the world and as Catholics where the personal experience with God must alway be weighed against the dogma and obligations of the church. Flinders presents an interesting argument regarding that tension--the personal experience contained within a larger logic can keep people from being led in strange directions (witness some of the positions taken by some of the evangelical Christians today). Church can anchor personal witness without robbing it of its power.

For me though the book really came alive in the penultimate biography--that of St. Teresa of Avila. St. Teresa was a brilliant writers; The Way of Perfection and (especially) Interior Castle (one of the most powerful spiritual books I've ever read) continue to be read today and remain relevant guides for prayer and meditation. I found her chapter exciting and vibrant. Theresa was a powerhouse of a woman, founding many convents and reforming the Carmelite order. She was good friends with St. John of the Cross, a gifted poet and fellow mystic. She lived very much in the world while also finding time to follow a contemplative path. She has always been a hero of mine: writer, mystic, organizer, leader. Flinders' writing of Teresa's "mental prayer" led me to pursue my own investigations as well as do a reread of The Interior Castle.

The chapter on St. Therese of Lisieux was another that I found fascinating. "Of the little flower", Therese died at 24, living a quiet, simple life. She entered the convent at 14, joining her sisters. She was gifted at guiding others, even at a very young age, knowing when to be gentle and when to be stronger.

All of the brief bios include interesting information about the life of these mystics as well as an examination of their spiritual lives and writings but the two I just described were, to me, the best in the volume.

Flinders' writing is sometimes less than smooth and there were times my interest flagged. However, before too long, her writing once again took on life.

This is a wonderful read for anyone interested in the spiritual life and the women who have left lasting impressions on the Catholic Church. They have all been gifted women, standing out in times less than hospitable to the success of women, with strong personalities and important voices. Where it is good, it is outstanding and elsewhere it is usually interesting. It's definitely worth the work.

[Samantha · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this book along with a small group of other women. We read a chapter a week and got together to discuss the lives of these mystical saints. I was challenged, enlightened, and left with a sense of peace after each reading and discussion. The author is neither Catholic nor Christian, but she gives a sketch of each woman's life and their journey of the inward life. While each woman's life is in many ways more extreme than I can possibly imagine or relate to, I did find something about each woman that was relatable and inspiring. Rather than feeling inadequate and unequal to their examples, I am left with a sense of assurance that God works His love and grace into each individual's life. And it makes me feel a quiet sense of peace.

[Marguerite Hargreaves · Rating 3 out of 5]

I have to say from the get-go that I think mysticism in Christianity is overrated, exaggerated, trendy, and confused with pathology/psychosis. In other words, some or many mystical episodes were triggered by extremes in fasting, sleep deprivation, bodily mortification, silence/isolation. This is a decent introduction to seven female mystics, but I found the sketches superficial and the author quick to accept things at face value. All seven women were products of particular times and places, and I need more context than this survey provided. Mysticism was one of the few religious experiences available to women, though the church tried to discredit the experiences and women both. I think the women's desire for God was authentic, but it was shaped in something of a mob mentality that held that divine union was superior worship and the Eucharist magical. We have different understandings today, shaped by our own times. Even the construct of seven seemed artificial and a nod to numerology. I'd have liked to see something about Angela of Foligno, Marguerite Porete or Hildegard, whose music is still effective and affective prayer. Caroline Walker Bynum has written a couple of scholarly books that offer a thorough grounding in history. For myself, I prefer the spirituality of some other medieval women who found God in service to the poor, elderly, orphaned and sick: the Beguines, the subject of a book by Walter Simons, Cities of Ladies. I also look to the desert mothers of the first Christian centuries for role models. They were grounded in silence, but also the Word, and their desert experience led them back to service in the context of community. They are as overlooked in church history as the Beguines, though not as discredited.

[James · Rating 4 out of 5]

What a discovery is Mechthild of Magdeburg (Germany). She was only “Mechthild,” not “Saint Mechthild” or even “Blessed Mechthild,” and she had no official biographer. We know almost nothing about her except what she tells us in her own book, and that is only enough to let us sketch the roughest outlines of her life. What she has given us, and it is to my mind an even greater treasure than a conventional biography might have been, is a voice, authentic and idiosyncratic, incomparably passionate and lyrical. (pp. 43-44).

To Mechthild, the body and senses are useful and worthy, as servants and sometime counselors, as long as their limitations are understood. And they will be rewarded, for she writes of love, “It wanders through the senses and storms with all virtues on the soul…melts through the soul into the senses, that the body also may have its share, for it is drawn into all things (p. 71).” There is Mechthild’s tender farewell to the body, given at the very end of her book: Ah! Beloved prison in which I have been bound, I thank thee for all in which thou hast followed me. Though I have often been troubled by thee, yet didst thou often come to my aid. All thy need will yet be taken from thee at the Last Day. Therefore we will lament no more but will be filled with gladness for all that God has done to us both. Now let us only stand fast in sweet hope (p. 71)!

[Laura · Rating 3 out of 5]

As a comparative literature piece that summarizes and gives context this book is well-written. The author is talented. I feel like I learned so much about the state of the church and society during the time periods during which these women lived.
However, the author's feminist undertones turned me off to some of her interpretations. I felt she was too eager to impose her view over these women's lives instead of letting the events of their lives or their texts speak. As she tried to delve into certain explanations, I found myself wishing that she had just quoted the actual saint more and let the reader draw their own interpretations. Sometimes it felt like her explanations attempted to explain ideas that were meant to be pondered and thought-over not boiled down to a quick explanation. In doing so it felt like the essences of the saints' messages pointing to God were lost and the book ended up just focusing more on the women themselves.

There are other devotionals I prefer to this one, but it was great to get a summary of the lives of these seven saints.

[Katrina Becker · Rating 4 out of 5]

I hadn't read this book since high school, & am so pleased to appreciate it much more this time round. Adding to the to-read list: pretty much anything & everything written by the women depicted. Oh dear.

[Jordyn Williams · Rating 3 out of 5]

I didn’t know anything about these Christian mystics before reading this book. In that regard, this book was a great intro for me as it gave a bit of biographical info and bit of analysis of their writings. I’d be interested to read a more in depth biography of each and more analysis of their writings as long as it wasn’t too academic. I’d also be interested in reading more about medieval monasticism and mysticism in general, as it sounds like the counter culture of the day. I’m glad to have read this book to respark my interest in church history.

That being said, I wouldn’t necessarily recommend the book. It was written in 1993 and the discourse on “contemporary women” is definitely dated. The author gives the disclaimer that this book was written purely out of and for her on own personal interest in each woman, which is fine, but I think a different writing format could have worked better.

[George Nielsen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very interesting book and, while not my all-time favorite, it is definitely one I would recommend to anyone who is in anyway interested in the topics of mystics.

[Kathleen · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is a beautifully written work explaining the lives of seven saints. Carol Lee Flinders is neither a Catholic nor a Christian, but she has a strong appreciation for these women and a clear respect for the tradition. I'm not the kind of Catholic who is offended by either the word feminism or a very slightly feminist reading of Catholic works, particularly when coming from someone who handles the material so nicely.

[Bob · Rating 4 out of 5]

An overview of seven female Christian mystics. I found them interesting enough to get more books on each of them. A good source is the Classics of Western Spirituality series by Paulist Press. As an agnostic I take this kinda thing less literally and more metaphorically, but it works for me.

[WillowAtSunset Bennehoff · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book set me on quest to learn about other saints and to humanize them as role models for ordinary people.

[Denise · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fabulous introduction to 7 incredible women!

[Rebecca · Rating 4 out of 5]

I am re-reading this fascinating book about several of Christianity's women mystic saints. Read it years ago when I considered myself a mystic and decided I wanted to know about some of the saints.

[Shellythieme · Rating 4 out of 5]

Supernatural thinkers will be inspired by this one!

[Noël · Rating 5 out of 5]

Beautifully written. I thoroughly enjoyed the way she highlighted the parallels and differences between these seven women.

[Lelia · Rating 1 out of 5]

I really didn't like this book. I got it because I so much enjoyed Flinders' book At the Root of This Longing and expected Enduring Grace to be similarly focused on the ways spirituality and feminism can intersect. But I was put off by the self-mortification (St.Clare of Assisi, “through excessive fasting… put herself in jeopardy… For decades of her life she was too weakened to walk.”), the ecstatic visions and the self-noughting practiced by the women featured in the book. Flinders admits that she also found this offputting initially: “the overall tenor of their lives was daunting. The terrible austerity - the single mindedness with which they turned their backs on ordinary satisfactions - frightened me, seemed at times fanatic. Still, I kept coming back… finding here and there intriguing evidence that within their own very different contexts, these women might have been grappling with some of the same personal issues that my contemporaries are, and often even with the same imagery.”
I guess I just couldn't find that same affinity for these women.
I did love this bit: “... you don't have to go out looking for your calling, because it will be quite apparent to you once you have, in Gandhi’s words, ‘gotten yourself out of the way.’ The very proximity of a task, placed where you all but trip over it, will make it indisputably yours and no one else’s. The lives of those who bear witness to this unwritten law are characterized by a marvelous, enviable tranquillity.” And yet most of the women weren't tripping over their callings. Many had to use effort and force of will to achieve their dreams of joining a religious community - the family of St. Clare of Assisi tried to seize her from the church and St. Therese of Lisieux had to make the difficult decision to leave her father ("Therese was his dearest companion. How could she ask him to let her go?").
Obviously, I found myself arguing with this book more than enjoying it, but it did offer food for thought. In terms of books about women's spirituality, I've much preferred other recent reads - Longing for Darkness by China Galland, Traveling with Pomegranates by Sue Monk Kidd and Ann Kidd Taylor.

[Allison · Rating 2 out of 5]

I debated - this one is a 2.5 for me. It was okay. I am sure I learned some things, which leans me towards rating it a 3, but there were only a couple of chapters I actually enjoyed and I won't be reading this author again so I kept it at a 2. It's really interesting subject matter, but I found the author dry as well as somewhat . . . annoying. I feel awful saying that, but I thought she kept assuming how I was going to respond to the content and trying to mitigate that rather than just letting me respond. I also think in her endeavor to make the content relevant to a contemporary audience (and through trying to facilitate my response to the material), she actually made the book as a whole way more dated than it needed to be.

[Mary]

I had borrowed this book from our local library. It was yellowed with age and that may have affected my problem with reading it. Instead I downloaded a Kindle book and am doing better reading one mystic at a time. Flinders enters into the stories with her interpretations and opinions. These are strange stories and it is hard to know what is true. I have balanced each account by looking them up on Wikipedia which may give a more straightforward and at least briefer account of their lives.
-----------------I have read six of the seven chapters. One a day is enough. So removed from today's way of thinking--the mystical union with God--the depriving of the body--the suffering.

[Greta · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a scholarly overview of seven significant women mystics. I was familiar with Julian of Norwich and have read Teresa of Avila. I enjoyed being introduced to more ancient women who listened to their own call rather than that of the world or their families. I look forward to reading more of their writings in the future.

[Robin · Rating 4 out of 5]

I got this book in 1993, having been a fan of "Laurel's Kitchen" which Flinders was a part of, and getting ready for theological studies (again). A preface, introduction, and conclusion frame the seven portraits of women mystics. It was meaningful to me then and through the next decade or so. But I am letting go now and passing things on, so this one will travel.

[Greta · Rating 4 out of 5]

"Living Portraits of Seven Women Mystics" is an interesting history lesson of the exceptional women of spirituality. Stunning in it's breadth and depth, I feel enriched for having taken the time to ponder the lives of these women.

[April · Rating 1 out of 5]

Enduring Grace??!! I should be sainted for having read this book! History is storytelling, but this book read like a bad 8th grade research paper. So sad...I was so excited to learn about these seven women, but could never get past the dull and tedious listing of details

[Jennifer Talarico · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is the second book I have read by this writer and I am interested in reading more. I am intrigued with her topics and I enjoy her writing. Her writing never feels cumbersome and it is always insightful and informative.

[Louise Borda · Rating 3 out of 5]

I found the style of the book to be difficult to follow. The style of the writing is informal, and more like a series of lectures vs. a book. I also thought that the book seems to assume that the reader is already familiar with the various saints.

[Chayong · Rating 5 out of 5]

Thank you Grandma Maria for giving me this book. It’s the best gift you left behind for me and mama! I love you.

[Christine · Rating 4 out of 5]

Read this for a book club, one chapter a week, one mystic a week. Great discussions, learned a lot. Not a book I would have read on my own, but good to gain some knowledge of these women.

[Briana · Rating 3 out of 5]

Gave a good overview of each women and their time periods.

[Macy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Even as a non-religious person, this was a fascinating read. A good reminder that a diversity of beliefs has always existed.

[Jennifer Flath · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book was a bit scholarly for me. Would be a great book for those doing research.

[Boho Beannie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Engaging writing style and great introduction to female mystics