Hildegard of Bingen, Catherine of Siena, Julian of Norwich, Hadewijch of Brabant, Mechthild of Magdeburg, Marguerite Porete, Catherine of Genoa. Recognize those names? Probably not. Neither did I once. When I studied church history, no one mentioned their names. They weren’t bishops or theologians or anyone deemed important. All were medieval Christian women. One was a Benedictine nun, another a Dominican tertiary–a laywoman living at home but under a religious rule, one an anchoress–a religious woman withdrawn from society, three were Beguines–lay women who lived in communities serving their neighbors, one was a married women. All were mystics, persons who had an intimate relationship with God often expressed in terms of visions. All of them wrote about their visions, most of them in the vernacular language that ordinary people spoke.

I suppose much of their neglect was because they were both women and mystics. Many church leaders didn’t want to hear the opinions of women or pay attention to these nutty people who claimed to receive direct revelations from God. So fierce was the rejection of women mystics that some, like Marguerite Porete, were burned at the stake to silence them.

I have been reading from Mechtild recently. Here’s a quote from her.

Greetings to you loving God.
You are mine before all things.
I am endlessly glad
That I can speak to you without guile.
When my enemies pursue me,
I flee to your arms
Where I can complain to you about my suffering.*

We can always learn from godly people no mater what their status in life.

Read 1 Corinthians 2:12-13  and remember: God loves YOU unconditionally.

Wayne

*The Flowering Light of the Godhead, V. 17.