/lit/ - Literature

>>20325095
>Where to start on Christian Mysticism?
What are you seeking to learn? Pic related is a starting point.

>There's a lot of collections, but are there any more modern and singular experiences?

Sr. Faustina's diary, Divine Mercy in My Soul, describes her many quite striking mystical experiences. It is an amazing book.

Padre Pio, the 20th century Italian monk, was a mystic, among other things. His mystical experiences are described in C. Bernard Ruffin's book, Padre Pio, an excellent and very readable book.

Both Sr. Faustina and Padre Pio have been declared saints by the Catholic Church.

>Would I be able to understand Catechism of Saint Pius X without reading through the Bible?
Yes.

>>19531716

>>19510145
>I want to establish a good base of understanding but the body of literature is huge and I need guidance.

If you want an overview of the Western Christian mystical tradition, McGinn provides it. Pic related. He discusses all major and significant minor texts. Multiple volumes. In a sense he does for mysticism what Copleston does for philosophy. As such, it could be a bit much. I'm sure there are shorter introductory volumes.

'Light from Light: An Anthology of Christian Mysticism' edited by Louis Dupre is a very nice anthology of Christian mystical texts.

Another such anthology, compiled by McGinn, is titled 'The Essential Writings of Christian Mysticism'.

If the chief characteristic of mysticism is "some form of union with God," then the spiritual practice described in Caussade's Abandonment to Divine Providence leads the practitioner to not necessarily exalted (e.g., Paul's trip to the seventh heaven), but to frequent mystical experiences in that one recognizes God's will in all of the events of daily life, both those that are pleasant and those that are not.

Some remarkably vivid and striking mystical visions are described in Sr. Faustina's diary, published as Divine Mercy in My Soul.

I might add that both the Faustina book and the Caussade are spiritual works of the first order.

>>17080483
>Where do I start with mysticism?

Start by understanding what it is: essentially, union with God. See pic related.

>>16531548
I don't know much about the subject, but the book from which pic related is derived appears to be solid.

>>16258872
Bernard Lonergan, SJ, Insight: A Study of Human Understanding (1957)
- If you can get through this one, you're a better man (or woman) than I.
>https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bernard_Lonergan
>http://lonergan.org/
>https://www.amazon.com/Insight-Understanding-Collected-Bernard-Lonergan/dp/0802034543

Bernard McGinn, The Presence of God: A History of Western Christian Mysticism
pic related
>https://www.amazon.com/Foundations-Mysticism-Origins-Presence-Christian/dp/0824511212

Catherine of Siena : The Dialogue
>https://www.amazon.com/Catherine-Siena-Dialogue-Classics-Spirituality/dp/0809122332

Start with the last book. It's actually readable, and great.