Margaret Clitherow

In the life of Margaret Clitherow (b. 1552/3–d. 1586), international Counter-Reformation piety met English national and provincial politics and led to the creation of a Catholic martyr. She was born Margaret Middleton in predominantly Protestant York and in 1571 married a widowed butcher and father of two, John Clitherow. By the end of 1574 she had given him at least two more children but had also embraced Catholicism, refusing to attend prescribed Protestant services. This recusancy resulted in three prison terms, each of six months or more, in 1577–1578, 1580–1581, and 1583–1584. She was particularly inspired by the heroism of missionary priests from the English seminaries in Continental Europe and made a point of sheltering them at the family home in York’s Shambles. One such was John Mush, who returned from Rome to England in 1583 and became her spiritual director from c. 1584. The 1585 Act against Jesuits and seminary priests made it a capital felony to harbor such clerics: the sentence could be death. On 10 March 1586 the Clitherows’ house was searched, evidence of Catholic worship was found and Margaret arrested. Her trial followed four days later, though it was for her refusal to enter a plea that she was sentenced to death peine forte et dure, being crushed to death. Her stepfather was then serving as York’s lord mayor, so it was a high-profile case in a close-knit community. Every effort was made to prevent the law taking its course, but Margaret would not be dissuaded from the path of martyrdom. The sentence was executed on 25 March, crushed to death under a door loaded with weights. Mush was among those who buried her body; he then wrote a life of the martyr. That Life is integral to all subsequent developments: popular Catholic devotion to the “Pearl of York,” her inclusion among the lives of the martyred priests, the opening of a formal process in 1874, beatification by Pius XI in 1929, and canonization—as one of the Forty Martyrs of England and Wales—by Paul VI in 1970. Apart from the pious and the scholarly, there are few obvious divisions within the literature on Margaret Clitherow: Reference Works and an Overview derive from John Mush’s Life. Other Lives either parallel Mush or follow in his wake, though there are many other sources for wider studies of Recusancy in Yorkshire. For the martyr’s Trial and Death one must rely on Mush and his sources. His failure to locate the place of her burial has had diverse consequences, as conveyed in the final section of the present article, Burial and Legacy.

Between Genoa and Milan: Giovanni Maria Visconti and His Hagiography of Anton Giulio Brignole Sale (1666)

Giovanni Maria Visconti, member of a prominent family of the Milanese patriciate, had an important career in his order as a teacher and spiritual director, and a valuable role in the internal government of the Society, between Milan and Genoa. After the death of Anton Giulio Brignole Sale, he was charged by his superiors with the task of writing a hagiographic biography of this famous man of letters and politician (son of a Genoese duke) who, after a long cursus honorum in the public offices of his republic and during a period of political crisis of the Genoese state, decided to end his career to become a diocesan priest, and, some years later, a member of the Society of Jesus. The work was published in 1666, with the title Alcune memorie delle virtù del padre Anton Giulio Brignole (Some memoirs of the virtues of Father Anton Giulio Brignole). It is an interesting book especially because the author, while describing Brignole Sale’s life and heroic virtues, also explained his transformation from the role of Catholic statesman to the role of religious preacher.

SPIRITUAL DIRECTION IN AN AFRICAN CONTEXT: CHALLENGES AND OPPORTUNITIES

An upset spiritual director just ended a retreat with a group of African priests because they could not observe strict silence. Similar situations elsewhere on the continent led a young African student to raise the question of the suitability of sixteenth-century Spiritual Exercises to modern Africans. This essay acknowledges the challenges facing spiritual directors to “accurately” apply the method of the Spiritual Exercises in a diverse and ever-evolving, noisy and busy world. From the concrete experience of this group of priests, it argues for the suitability of the Exercises to the African context based on the adaptability and flexibility inherent in Ignatius’ Spiritual Exercise and subsequent directories. The particular crisis between this director and his retreatants, however, also presents a unique opportunity for retreat directors to find creative ways to accommodate retreatants with specific needs, and to communicate the message of the Exercises in a way that is both accessible to and respectful of the African worldview. KEYWORDS: Retreat Director. Diocesan African Context. Blended Retreat. Confession and Narrativity.

Duplicity behind Stained Glass: Childlike “Self-knowledge” and the Role of Community

The recent revelation of Jean Vanier (1928–2019) and historical cases of sexual manipulation and abuse of six women workers at L’Arche (Trosly-Breuil, France, 1970–2005) is a reminder of our human fragility. This article explores the question of how we, as people working in religion, can seek greater integration so as to avoid, as far as possible, the self-deception and duplicity that can lead to profound harm of others. Through engaging with two theologians—Teresa of Avila (1515–1582) and George MacDonald (1824–1905)—we gain insights concerning discernment of our blind spots, plus wisdom regarding ways to safeguard ourselves from duplicity. Teresa reminds us of the need to continually develop authentic “self-knowledge,” and the importance of a courageous, discerning community—both a perceptive spiritual director and honest peers who are willing to challenge leaders and speak up. MacDonald highlights the need for spiritual discernment and a “childlike” posture (rather than self-elevation to a revered “guru” status), to help us live more integrated, genuine lives. Both dialogue partners are explicitly Christocentric and emphasize the ongoing work of the Spirit, opening our eyes and ears to the reality of who we truly are, and the importance of imitating and being “in Christ,” in order to be freed from self-obsession, duplicity, and self-deception.

Leprosus i księżna. Pielęgnacja zakaźnie chorych w świetle dokumentów z procesu kanonizacyjnego św. Elżbiety Węgierskiej

The aim of the article is to present the image of the care of the infectiously ill in the documents of the canonization process of St. Elizabeth of Hungary (1207–1231). The material under discussion includes the testimonies of the saint’s spiritual director Conrad of Marburg, her four servants and additional hagiographical material. The accounts made by direct observers of the duchess’ life emphasize the variety of forms of her involvement in the care of lepers and suffering from diseases that cause similar symptoms, arousing disgust in people from her surroundings. The narrative, rich in drastic details, plays the role of a hagiographic argumentatio illustrating the heroism of the central character of the testimonies.

Al-Hakim al Tirmidhi and Teresa of Avila: The Seven Stage Journey of the Soul and Spiritual Direction

The core feature of the spiritual life is human and divine desiring. Understanding and facing our desires as well as comprehending the desires of the Divine, remain a struggle for the human soul. Spiritual directors are likely to spend a considerable amount of time on this struggle and need to develop great skill in recognizing and responding to their directees’ desire for God and in helping them discern and unveil the illusory desires. This article explores the theories and insights of the spiritual stage theory from Islam through Sufism using the psychology of Al-Hakim al Tirmidhi and Christianity through Teresa of Avila, and the spiritual direction best suited for spiritual directees at the different stages. The exchange of both of these approaches presented here can perhaps enrich the spiritual directors’ style to travellers along the spiritual journey who come to them for direction. This mystical spirituality, articulated in Sufism from the Stations (maqamat) of Hakim Al-Tirmidhi and the mansions of Teresa of Avila, though experienced within different spiritual frameworks, brings a commonality in the exchange between them. Their experience of God both as directees and as Shaykh or Spiritual Director has much to offer to present day spiritual directors.

Battista Carioni da Crema (c.1460–1534) and the ‘Third Life’: Visions of Reform in Early Sixteenth-Century Italy*

This essay sheds new light on the spirituality and historical significance of the influential and controversial Dominican friar Battista Carioni da Crema (c.1460–1534). A popular spiritual writer, charismatic founder of devout associations such as the Barnabites, and a spiritual director of several well-known Catholic figures, including Gaetano Thiene, Battista’s significance has not yet been fully acknowledged. The essay considers his spirituality in the framework of reforming movements emerging in Italy in the first half of the sixteenth century. In dialogue with previous interpretations of Battista, the essay provides a novel and systematic analysis of his notion of perfection and concept of the Church. Synthesising ascetic and mystic spiritual influences rooted in the monastic and humanist culture of the fifteenth century, Battista presented a distinctive view of Christian life, which included an ecclesiological perspective and a new geography of the sacred. Defined as the ‘third life’ and conceived in a period of religious fluidity, it neither fitted emerging Lutheran ideas nor the orthodox Catholicism of the Roman Church. In addition, the essay argues that Battista’s proselytism can be seen as an attempt to reform society which preceded proposals for religious reform made by groups such as the Spirituali.

Myśl pedagogiczna św. Porfiriusza z Kafsokaliwii

Saint Porphyrios (Bairaktaris) of Kafsokalivia (1906-1991) is one of the most famous contemporary Greek saints. He belonged to one of the most respected in Orthodoxy category of holy Elders, that is, spiritual fathers endowed with the charism of clairvoyance. As an experienced spiritual director, he passed on his pedagogical thought, which focuses on the purpose of Christian life - divinization, the parent’s desire to become a saint and pass on holiness to his children not through discipline and pressure, but through God’s grace, which acts as a parent seeks to sanctify. The Elder opposed unequivocally selfishness, seeing excessive praise as the cause of the poor spiritual development of the child. He emphasized the need to obtain and pass on to the child the humility which he identified with the natural state of man and the necessary condition for obtaining God’s grace.

Ancestry, Place[s], and Identity in Spiritual Direction Narratives

In this 2017 John McKendy Memorial Lecture, Dr. Janet Ruffing, RSM, discussed spiritual direction as a narrative process, recognized or not, in which the directee tells his or her sacred tale in the interaction with a spiritual director who significantly affects the unfolding of this serial narrative of lived faith. At a time, when directees have unprecedented access to genealogical information and also live in or make retreats in a variety of places, how do these new experiences affect their identity spiritually and socially? Do they become integrated into the ongoing narrative of identity or not?

1. John Wesley and the origins of Methodism

‘John Wesley and the origins of Methodism’ explains that John Wesley never had any intention to form a movement or church. The early life of John Wesley and his brother Charles is described. In the 1730s, his life was redirected from academia in a series of developments that led him to become an extraordinary evangelist and spiritual director. Preaching in the open air was the first of many innovations for Wesley and was pivotal in the spread of Methodism. By the early 1750s, Methodism had become an evangelical order within the Church of England. The severe challenges faced by Methodism and the spread of Methodism to North America are also described.