Medieval Women Mystics: Gertrude the Great, Angela of Foligno, Birgitta of Sweden, Julian of Norwich: Selected Spiritual Writings

by Elizabeth Ruth Obbard (Editor)

This book is an excellent introduction to some of the most fascinating women writers of the high Middle ages.

Genres: Nonfiction, Spirituality, Christian, Theology

158 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2002

About the author

Elizabeth Ruth Obbard is a Carmelite sister and lives as a solitary attached to the Friars, Aylesford, Kent. She is a popular retreat leader and spiritual director and is the author of numerous books.

Reviews

[Andrew McHenry · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a good little compendium for those who are wanting to dabble in this genre. You can go a lot deeper with each author in the Paulist Press publications of the Classics of Western Spirituality. But those writings are pretty dense, and it's not for everybody to take on a read like that. Sr. Obbard has compiled a collection of some of the key gathered thoughts from four medieval Christian mystics: Gertrude the Great, Angelina of Foligno, Birgitta of Sweden, and Julian of Norwich (in the modern U.K.). Personally I found the life stories of each of them more interesting than the content of their writings (though that's always the case for me). Some of them are hard to relate to; the common Christian understandings were so pre-Protestant at that stage; especially when they get into the Marian devotions there's a lack of resonance. But each one has their own set of insights as well. And it's interesting, just in a general way, how in an age when women had fewer opportunities, these four really found a way to stand out and assert their faith in a way that has gained them some renown. Their writings are still in print for a reason, all these hundreds of years later.

[Kathryn · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a book about four female mystics of the European church between the thirteenth and fifteenth centuries in Europe, a time when being a woman usually meant that you were destined for cooking, cleaning, and raising of children, and when literacy for women was usually only of the most basic sort. These four women were literate and / or good at expressing themselves with words that others wrote down, and the mysticism of the Church would be much poorer if we had never heard of them. I loved this book, and enjoyed reading it.

After a short general introduction, the author takes each woman in turn, first with an introduction, then with sections from that woman’s writings / printed works. Gertrude the Great (died 1302) was raised as an orphan (or as a child of dubious parentage) in a very literate convent of Benedictine nuns in Saxony. At the age of twenty-five she began having visions; among other things, she was an early devotee of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, seeing and feeling the love from his Heart coming into her own Heart. Angela of Foligno (died 1309) was born to wealth in Italy; she married and had children, but by 1291 was widowed and bereft of her children, and joined the Third Order of the Franciscans; she had visions and gathered around her many disciples who were devoted to her and to her visions, telling them to never stop praying. Birgitta (or Bridget) of Sweden (died 1373) was of Swedish nobility, and she and her husband went on pilgrimages. Long before beginning her family she had visions of Christ and of the Blessed Virgin Mary, and these visions continued during her life. One vision of the Nativity included the ass and ox, and Mary and Joseph kneeling before the manger.After her husband’s death in 1344 she began the Bridgettines, the Order of the Most Holy Savior, which still exists in several branches. The Brigittine Sisters are notable for their unusual headdress, a white circlet on top of their veils, with a cross and five red marks honoring Christ’s five wounds. In 1350 Bridget went with her daughter to Rome, both to speak to power and to get approval for her order, and used the Eternal City as her base for the rest of her life. Julian of Norwich (died about 1416), was a mystic and anchoress attached to the Church of St. Julian in Norwich, England. At the age of thirty-one, around 1375, on what she and everyone else thought was her deathbed, she had sixteen “showings”, or visions of Christ. She wrote a short account of her Showings. At some point after 1390 she became an anchoress, and spent some thirty years meditating on the Showings before writing a long account of her Showings, which included her conclusions. Her mysticism included both the image of “a small thing, like a hazelnut, in his hand” which she was told is the world, in his care, and the famous statement that "All shall be well, and all shall be well, and all manner of thing shall be well", which should be familiar to those who have read the Four Quartets by T. S. Eliot (1943).

All four of these women have things to say to us at this time, and I enjoyed reading this slender book.

[Joseph R. · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book gives a collection of writings by four medieval women who experienced mystical visions. Those visions were not just for their personal gratification but led them to live holier lives, instruct others, and give a concrete witness to the demands of Christ's love. They are not the only women mystics of the time. They have been selected to represent the variety of vocations available to women and to show a feminine response to grace. These texts are not dry, technical scholasticism. They do contain precision and show a concrete and personal response to the call to holiness.

Each section starts with a brief biography and overview of the woman followed by passages from primary texts. I am a fan of primary texts when studying someone so I like the format very much. Enough texts are provided for each woman to present various thoughts and experiences. Here is a quick overview of each lady:

Gertrude the Great (1256-1302) went as a five-year old orphan to the Benedictine abbey of Helfta. Nothing is known now of her parents; she clearly adopted the nuns as her family. She became a nun and had several visions of our Lord. Late in her life she was commanded to write down her visions. Some stories come from her own words; others are written down by others. She had a great closeness to Christ, granting her insights on His suffering and His relationship with His mother that are edifying.

Angela of Foligno (ca. 1248-1309) was highly influenced by the rise of the mendicant orders (Franciscans, Dominicans, Carmelites, etc.), especially by the character and spirituality of St. Francis of Assisi. She was a married woman of some wealth who was transformed by Francis's example. She became a spiritual mother to many and often gave others practical advice. Her words center around Christ in His poverty and humility, emphasizing that spiritual growth can only come through both the knowledge of Christ's life and the imitation of His example. Suffering is to be embraced as a means of unity with Jesus and a way to strengthen virtue.

Birgitta of Sweden (1303-1373) was also a married woman but she lived in high society. After having mystical visions of Jesus and His blessed mother, she spoke out against abuses and corruption among the courtly aristocrats, earning her the title "the Swedish Joan of Arc." She and her husband eventually left courtly life and went on various pilgrimages. Birgitta founded a mixed order (i.e. men and women in the same setting) and obtained papal approval. Her fame and influence all but disappeared during the Protestant Reformation and only recently has Birgitta's writings and contributions been recognized.

Julian of Norwich (1342-1420) had a near-death experience in her thirties during which she had sixteen visions of Jesus and Mary over a few days. Afterward, she became an anchorite, someone who dedicated their lives to prayer and counseling while never leaving very small quarters. Typically anchorites live in a room attached to or inside a church so they could receive the sacraments. She lived her life in Norwich at the Church of St. Julian (so most scholars don't even think "Julian" is her real name) and wrote a book about her visions and her reflections on them afterwards. Since she was not part of an order, her book was thought lost during the Protestant purges in England. She has only recently been rediscovered. She had an intense devotion to Jesus and Him crucified and is famous for writing "all shall be well and all manner of things shall be well." The quote is a response to reflections on the damage that sin causes. She is a bit controversial--she discusses the "motherhood" of Christ, which would surely garner all sorts of misinterpretations in modern media. She describes His providence and how He feeds His children from His own body, something that mothers do. So the idea isn't really as controversial as it seems.

The book is a wonderful overview and makes for a good jumping off point for further reading. I am interested especially in Julian and Birgitta and will be hunting around from more from them.

[Adam Irving · Rating 3 out of 5]

While it's nice to have some selections collected together - and the introductions for each are well done - it makes it difficult to read for any great length of time, since any narrative flow the originals possessed is disrupted by the selective process. As a resource to dip into and glean nuggets of spirituality from another time, however, it is excellent. Having four different mystic writers bound together also illustrates how incomparable Julian of Norwich really is among her contemporaries.