What can we learn from St. Francis today? Perhaps few of us are called to embrace the life of joyful renunciation that marked the lifestyle of Francis and his followers. But while it is not necessary to be poor in order to follow Christ, still there could be an important message in the Franciscan ideal.
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Margery Kempe is, without a doubt, medieval England's most colorful mystic. Martin Thornton, a popular twentieth-century Anglo-Catholic writer, considered Kempe's book to be more useful to the ordinary Christian than either Julian of Norwich or The Cloud of Unknowing.
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One of the most colorful and beloved of mystics comes from sixteenth century Spain: Teresa of Jesus, who was born in Ávila in 1515. She felt that humility and charity are essential virtues that all Christians need to cultivate, but especially so when entering into a serious and intentional life of prayer.
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The author of The Cloud is a true teacher, and displays a rich and nuanced relationship with the youth to whom the book is addressed. By turns encouraging, gentle, challenging and demanding, this spiritual guide has inspired countless readers through the centuries to seriously engage with the contemplative life.
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Like so many great writers, Merton's influence and legacy has only grown after his death. Nearly forty years later, most if not all of his books remain in print, and he is widely regarded as the unofficial founder of the Centering Prayer movement as well as of serious interfaith dialogue between contemplatives of different religious traditions.
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