god essay

Mechthild

and

other

medieval

women

mystics

employ

the

language

of

suffering

and

pain

to

describe

both

their

practical

piety

and

mystical

experience.

even

though

a

violent

struggle

against

God's

loving

advance

is

not

explicitly

described,

Mechthild's

admonition

implies

that

the

soul

has

a

tendency

to

"fiercely

fend

it

off."

Again

we

find

a

narrative

of

sacred

romance,

in

which

the

soul

struggles

against

but

eventual

submits

to

divine

persuasion.

pain

is

largely

incidental

to

the

larger

discussion

in

these

works,

treated

as

a

feature

of

the

"physical

and

spiritual

disjointedness,"

of

human

ex-

istence,12

or

the

manifestation

of

the

female

mystic's

commitment

to

bodily

imitatio

Christi.

The

soul

goes

on

to

offer

her

spirit

to

God

in

death,

descend

into

hell,

be

raised

from

the

dead,

offer

consolation

to

her

disci-

ples,

and

ascend

into

heaven.

In

all

these

ways,

the

loving

union

of

the

soul

with

God

is

depicted

in

the

language

of

Christ's

own

experience

in

the

New

Testament

Passion

narratives.

Mechthild

understands

that

fallen

humanity

is

brought

into

intimate

union

with

God

through

the

mediating

work

of

physical

•

23

pain

she

bursts

into

flames,

not

out

of

pain,

but

out

of

passion

for

the

Bridegroom.

For

medieval

women

mystics,

the

pursuit

and

embrace

of

physical

pain

became

a

focal

point

of

their

ascetic

religious

devotion

and

the

primary

means

by

which

they

experienced

union

with

God.

the

most

important

question

of

all

remains

unanswered:

For

Mechthild,

why

does

union

with

the

Godhead,

the

only

One

who

is

able

to

comfort

and complete

the

soul,

produce

wounding

and

pain?

Certainly,

room

must

be

made

for

the

emphasis

of

medieval

scholasticism

upon

God

as

Wholly

Other

and

the

Aristotelian

notion

of

pain

as

the

aspect

of

bodily

existence

that

is

most

intimately

human.33

But,

for

many,

especially

fe... See more

Hollywood,

Amy.

The

Soul

as

Virgin

Wife:

Mechthild

of

Magdeburg,

Marguerite

Porete

,

and

Meister

Eckhart.

Notre

Dame:

University

of

Notre

Dame

Press,

1995.