Mysticism in Modern France by Evelyn Underhill

I. SŒUR THÉRÈSE DE L'ENFANT-JÉSUS

That Christian tradition of the spiritual life which has been specially developed within the religious orders -- with its definite objective, its methodical training in self-conquest and the art of prayer -- is often regarded as a mere survival of medievalism, lingering in odd corners but having no points of contact with our modern world. Yet this tradition lives now, as surely as in the days of St. Gertrude or St. Teresa. It continues to exercise its mysterious attraction; transmuting those who give themselves to its influence, and producing that special type of character and experience which is so clearly marked in the histories of the Catholic saints. In a world of change, this has hardly altered. Within the contemplative convents there obtains that same scale of values, that same contempt for the body and undivided attention to the interests of the soul, that same avoidance of all comfort or pleasure and eager acceptance of pain, which is revealed in the standard writings of Christian asceticism. In these houses, mysticism is still a practical art: the education there given represents the classic spiritual discipline of the west, and still retains its transforming power. Through it, souls obtain access to a veritable world of spirit; and apprehend under symbols eternal values, which are unperceived by their fellow men. By it they are supported through the difficult adjustments of consciousness and sublimation of instinct, which are needed when the centre of life's interest is shifted from physical to supernal levels. This is a fact which students of psychology, and especially of religious experience in its intensive form, should not ignore. They need not go to the Middle Ages for their examples of the effect of ascetic training and contemplative practice, or for characteristic specimens of the "saintly type"; for these may be found within our own period, and studied in their relation to our modern world.