The Waiting Game
Published on: 17 November, 2014
By: David Torkington
St Catherine of Siena said that patience isn’t so much a virtue as the test of all true virtue. If you haven’t any patience at all its ten to one you haven’t any virtues either that are worth writing home about. That brings us all down to size doesn’t it? It made me reflect on…
Mystical Theology and Liturgical Renewal
Published on: 2 November, 2014
By: David Torkington
The most mischievous feature of Quietism was the suspicion that it threw on the contemplative life as a whole
Mystical Contemplation is For All
Published on: 17 October, 2014
By: David Torkington
Sometime ago I wrote a blog on what I called ‘mystical premonitions’ or ‘touches of God’, nevertheless I would like to write something further to make myself a little clearer. In that blog I used St Augustine to make my point, this time however I would like to make my point by describing common experiences…
The Beginning of Contemplative prayer
Published on: 3 October, 2014
By: David Torkington
In my last blog I tried to distinguish between true contemplative prayer and its counterfeit, but now I want to show how authentic contemplative prayer begins, by describing the prayer that usually precedes it. But before proceeding let me make two important points. Firstly I want to make it clear that contemplation is a pure…
True Contemplation and its Counterfeit – Part two
Published on: 16 September, 2014
By: David Torkington
I have yet to come across any Christians who belonged to ‘The World Community for Christian Meditation Movement’, inspired by Fr John Main, who have not been thoroughly good people. They don’t just take the external practice of their faith seriously, but also put aside regular time for daily going into ‘the inner room’ to…
True Contemplation and its Counterfeit – Part one
Published on: 2 September, 2014
By: David Torkington
Normally the word contemplation is used to describe the mystical awareness of God working through the Holy Spirit, in believers as they are being gradually transformed into the image and likeness of Christ.
The Transforming Union or the Mystical Marriage
Published on: 18 August, 2014
By: David Torkington
The final stage in the mystic way is usually called the Transforming Union or the Mystical Marriage. Now it doesn’t suddenly begin because God does something other than what he’s been doing all along – it begins because what he’s been doing all along finally destroys everything in us that’s been keeping him out. Many…
Praying in the Dark Night
Published on: 14 August, 2014
By: David Torkington
For the last post I made a few suggestions from my own experience about how to pray in the Dark Night when the prayer once used can no longer help. I chose the prayer Jesus himself made upon the Cross, ‘My God, my God, why have you forsaken me’? When I felt in the pits…
The Cloud of Unknowing
Published on: 11 August, 2014
By: David Torkington
Everybody who prays seriously and consistently for any length of time will eventually find themselves on the other side of first fervour, at the threshold of the mystic way. This is the moment when the vast majority who come this far in prayer, usually pack it all in – I know I nearly did. All…
Into the Dark Night
Published on: 3 August, 2014
By: David Torkington
For many of us the first brief glimpses of God came through His creation. It might have been through a beautiful sunset, a breathtaking stretch of countryside. It might have come through gazing upon a single blade of grass, an insect crawling through the undergrowth, or a caterpillar climbing up a rose bush. When your…
From Mystical Premonition to Contemplation
Published on: 20 July, 2014
By: David Torkington
Sometime ago I was speaking about what I called Mystical premonition or touches of God when one of the audience asked “Are we talking about something that is a particularly Christian experience, or does everyone experience God’s touch?” “It’s for everyone,” I replied emphatically. “God loves everyone, not just Christians, but Christians do respond in…
Mystical Marriage
Published on: 22 June, 2014
By: David Torkington
Some years ago I had lunch with friends in London. On my way out they introduced me to their father who was busy working in the garden. Without thinking I asked him what he was doing and he replied –“I do be digging the garden.” Some months later I met a nun who taught Irish…