The poor and their image in the spiritual autobiographies of the Christian space of the 19th and 20th centuries

In this research, we will present the way how the poor and their image is reflected in the spiritual autobiographies from the Christian space from the 19th and 20th centuries. Saint Silouane the Athonite, Saint John of Kronstadt together with Faustina Kowalska, Mother Teresa of Calcutta, or other authors will be our sources from the Orthodox and Catholic space, while from the protestant area we will not neglect works like Dag Hammarskj old's one. We will try therefore to bring into attention a topic that has not been enough valorised by the contemporary research, has relevance for spiritual health, and constitutes an actual subject of discussion.

THE BEGINNINGS OF SPIRITUAL AUTOBIOGRAPHY - 2 CORINTHIANS 12, 2-5

Aim/Thesis. In this inquiry, the author examines the 12th chapter of the 2nd letter of Paul to the Corinthians in a hermeneutical way, highlighting its relevance for a Christian's spiritual autobiography and emphasizing the influence it has had on the later development of the genre. Concept/Methods. Using patristic exegesis (like that of Saint Chrysostom)t and also that of more recent authors dedicated to this theme, he tries not only to present and explain the event, but also to offer new interpretive keys for reading it. Results and conclusion. The approach focuses on keywords and phrases like "the rapture", "glimpse" or "thorn in the flesh" and it tries to presents Paul's understanding of the link between the spiritual experience of encountering God and the suffering that follows it, as a useful means of humbling a person. The research also highlights some important examples that show how the Apostle influenced the style and the way of thinking of later authors like Saint Augustine or Saint Silouan from Mount Athos. Originality/Cognitive value. The relevance of showing why Saint Paul's second letter to Corinthians (12, 2-) represents the beginning of the spiritual autobiography in the Christian space is a very big one due to the fact it can helps the reader to have a deeper understanding of latter spiritual autobiographies like the one of Saint Siluan, father John of Kronstadt, Teresa of Calcutta or Maria Faustina Kowalska.

The King Follett Sermon

Chapter Four provides a detailed analysis of Joseph Smith's famous funeral sermon, the King Follett discourse. The auditors' notes for this sermon reveal Smith's semi-extemporaneous preaching technique, which combines advanced preparation in the general outline of the sermon with the extemporaneous delivery of words in the moment of performance. The sermon also reveals Smith's familiarity with the common "doctrine and use" sermon pattern, as well as his use of resumptive repetition, concealed heads, and mnemonic cues. Turning to the sermon notes of Baptist preacher Abraham Marshall, the chapter continues with a discussion of mnemonic cues by illustrating the preaching technique of creating condensed, succinct sermon outlines, known as short notes, briefs, or sketches, which preachers extemporaneously amplified into fully developed sermons in the moment of performance. Finally, the chapter explores how Methodist preachers adapted these preaching techniques to structure their written compositions, with an emphasis on spiritual autobiographies. These oral and written techniques provide a historical context for understanding how Joseph Smith applied the same methodology in the construction and oral composition of the Book of Mormon.

Vocation and Enclosure in Colonial Nuns’ Spiritual Autobiographies

This article examines the discourse of enclosure utilized by Maria de San Jose (1656-1719, Puebla), Jeronima Nava y Saavedra (1669-1727, Bogota), and Francisca Josefa de Castillo (1671-1742, Tunja, Colombia) in their spiritual autobiographies. Despite dissimilar personal vocation narratives, these Hispanic nuns embraced enclosure as a tool of continuing spiritual advancement, both before and after actual profession of monastic vows. They portrayed the cloister simultaneously as connubial bedchamber and isolated hermitage, thus ascribing Baroque religious meaning to ancient anchoritic models through intersecting discourses of desert solitude, redemptive suffering, Eucharistic devotion, and nuptial mysticism. To attain ideal enclosure for self and others, these nuns advocated for reform in New World convents, which often reproduced worldly hierarchies, conflicts, and values. Enclosure, more than a symbolic vow or ecclesiastical mandate, constituted a formative practice that fostered correct action and attitude in nuns’ lives; these women conscientiously sought a cloistered life through which they cultivated holiness and created new spiritual meaning.

Studying theology: Between exploration and commitment-Researching spiritual development of higher education students of theology

This article presents the results of research in the area of spiritual development of students of theology as part of their more general personal and professional life. Based on the qualitative analysis of written spiritual autobiographies, patterns and characteristics were discovered and are presented here. After presenting the outcome of the project, results are connected to a major theoretical perspective of Marcia’s (1966) identity statuses and its revisions. Finally, it is contended that theological curricula should invest more in spiritual guidance and formation of students, and some suggestions are given in order to achieve this goal.

I Didn’t Know that I Was Starving ‘Til I Tasted You: 18th Century Moravian Women’s Ecstatic Experience of Bridal Mysticism in Communion and Marital Sexuality

Against recent moves to exoticize Moravian sexual practices, this project is an attempt to understand how sexuality and religion intersect and relate to each other in Moravian piety and theology. In the mid-18th century, Moravians practiced a deeply sensual and erotic form of bridal mysticism. Christ, the bridegroom and lover of the believer, became uniquely tangible to the Moravian in their experience of Holy Communion, as well as in sexual encounters with their spouse. This paper examines the realization of this union in the experience of Moravian women through their spiritual autobiographies (Lebenslauf) as well as the manuals for sexual intercourse in the 18th century Moravian Choir Instructions. During communion, women consumed the body of their eternal bridegroom with their own bodies, drawing close to Christ and nourished themselves through the ritualized breaking and bleeding of Jesus for their salvation. Moravians also understood marital sexual intercourse to be a blessed, liturgical act ordained by God and was it therefore an extremely ritualized act in which a husband represented Christ and a wife the Church. In encountering their husbands, Moravian women could encounter Christ. Sex was carefully directed to ensure its sacredness as well as the comfort of the couple.

Una autobiografía religiosa fuera de la norma: Autonomía y racionalidad en El libro de Recreaciones de María de San José

RESUMEN: Las «autobiografías por mandato» fueron, durante muchos siglos, el único mol-de autorizado donde la mujer religiosa podía desarrollar sus inquietudes literarias. En este artículo, se analiza cómo María de San José (1548-1603) realiza una «autobiografía por mandato» rompiendo con el modelo de saturación emocional que suele caracterizar a este género literario. Para ello, se estudian las referencias a la oración mental en su Libro de las Recreaciones y se comparan con los de otras escritoras carmelitas.ABSTRACT: The spiritual autobiographies were, for many centuries, the authorized model where contemplative women made real his literary ideals. This article investigate how Maria de San José (1548-1603) write a text that breaks the standard of emotional saturation that usually shows this literary genre. To accomplish this objective, references to mental prayer in her Book of Recreations are analyzed and compared with those of other Carmelite women writers.