Mysticism An Introduction

What Is Mysticism

There have been many Great Mystics in The Catholic Church, Teresa of Avila, John of the Cross, Catherine of Sienna, Francis of Assisi to name but a few.

But what exactly is Mysticism?

A mystic is someone who feels a longing for God, a great thirst within their souls which cannot be quenched. It is not a case of looking for God, but of God touching the soul with the spark of The Divine, which then ignites a holocaust within the soul of the recipient. This does not mean that one's soul is annihilated but that the EGO is annihilated, for God does not kill the soul but consumes the soul in the purifying furnace of His Love.

It is a dark journey that God invites the soul, where a blanket of immense blackness envelops the soul. As all light disappears the soul feels itself abandoned by its one true love, God. It is a searing of the intellect in that all worldly consolations are removed. As God readies the soul for Himself and to make a home within the person, it is the wooing of the Divine to His beloved. Therefore the person is no longer interested in the superficial, nor can it be appeased by the artificial, for once the soul has been ignited by the Divine, all else pales and there is no substitute.

This is a painful and at times an excruciating experience for those who are called to a higher degree of perfection, than most. Often times, the person mistakes this call as a punishment or a chastisement, and in confusion the person returns to the consolations of the world. This does not make God love the soul less, but it does reveal that it is the person in question who is lacking in spiritual maturity and also in trust.

It is a Divine call which few can endure, for it seeks to purify the soul without destroying it, to embrace the uniqueness of the individual without crushing it, to extinguish the element of self love and replace it with the Divine. And even though a person cannot enter nor become divinized, a spark of the Divine Love which penetrates to the depths of the soul will purify it from all worldly love, in order for the soul to be in the Presence of the Triune Spirit, which seeks to inhabit the soul of the loved by The Beloved.

In effect it is an intimate touch of The Creator to the created, the Divine Spark which when felt in all its Purity and intensity will change the person forever, and from which there is no cure nor is a cure sought. As the deer panteth after the water so the soul thirsts for God with a longing that only God Himself can appease.

Peace of Christ to you ALL

Copyright © 2005 Marie Smith. All rights reserved.