#beguines

I picked up Canticle after searching the web for books on nuns, and I had finally finished Catherine of Siena, which unfortunately was a tad of a drag. However, I enjoyed Victoria Mackenzie’s For Thy Great Pain Have Mercy on My Little Pain about both Julian of Norwich and Margery Kempe, one an anchoress and the other a woman with a wild faith.  There’s a hunger as Aleys seeks after God. It’s a…

A detailed look at the beguines of medieval Paris, examining their origins, royal support, daily life, and the debates their unconventional religious vocation sparked.

Set in the 13th century and in the city of Brugge (Bruges) this complex novel of faith, fairness, hypocrisy and the plight of women in a world of men fills in many voids in the contemporary understanding of the role of female mystics and the place of women in the church. Although much is known about the beguines, a sect of female monks prevalent in Europe during the years before Protestantism…

The three pillars were the three names by which the wretched ones who are far from Love understand him. The pillar like fire is the name of the Holy Ghost. The pillar like topaz is the name of the Father. The pillar like amethyst is the name of the Son. The profound whirlpool, which is so frightfully dark, is divine fruition in its hidden storms. On this mighty seat sat the one whom I was seeking and with whom I desired to be one in fruition.