Psychological Healing
in the Roman Catholic Mystic Tradition

Reading

Introduction | Primary Readings | Additional Readings: Saints | Additional Readings: General | Resources

 
FTER the decline and fall of the Roman Empire, when illiteracy became the norm of the general population, the average Christian depended on icons and preaching for guidance in the faith. And for centuries thereafter, even with the Renaissance in the West, lay Catholics depended on educated clerics for religious instruction.

Now that’s all well and good, except for the fact that when the clerics get it wrong, everybody suffers. And that is precisely the case in the modern world. Most priests today feed their flocks little of any holy substance but offer them, day after day, the spiritual equivalent of potato chips and soda pop. And religious education has, more often than not, fallen into the hands of those who dissent from the true faith. Religious educators, seduced by the social world around them, like the ancient Hebrews embracing the idols and abominations of the heathen lands around them, now place their “faith” in the diversity of secular values derived from humanistic psychology. And all the while the bishops, like shepherds terrified of the wolves, run from the cross with their tails between their legs.

Do you know how people often snicker when they hear the words “military intelligence,” thinking it to be an oxymoron? Well, true Catholics feel the same way when they hear a reference to “Catholic education.” And, even more sadly, especially in the US, the same is true of the words, “holy bishop.”

So I will say it plainly, and yet with tears and sadness: If you think that being a good Christian means going to church on Sunday and enjoying yourself the rest of the time, and if you’re not willing to spend more time in prayer and reading spiritual texts than watching TV and chatting on your cell phone, you’re in serious trouble.

	But you, remain faithful to what you have learned and believed, because you know from whom you learned it, and that from infancy you have known (the) sacred scriptures, which are capable of giving you wisdom for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. . . . For the time will come when people will not tolerate sound doctrine but, following their own desires and insatiable curiosity, will accumulate teachers and will stop listening to the truth and will be diverted to myths. But you, be self-possessed in all circumstances; put up with hardship; perform the work of an evangelist; fulfill your ministry.
	— 2 Timothy 3:14–15; 4:3–5

Primary Readings

Read this book to learn the essential facts of the Christian faith.
	Catechism of the Catholic Church: Revised in Accordance With the Official Latin Text Promulgated by Pope John Paul II, 2nd edition (Liberia Editrice Vaticana, 2000). Paperback ISBN: 0-87973-976-2
Use this book to help make prayer a foundation of your daily life.
	Christian Prayer [the one-volume edition of the Liturgy of the Hours] (Totowa, NJ: Catholic Book Publishing Corp.). ISBN: 0-89942-406-6 Use the four-volume edition if you are familiar with it.
Read this book to learn the basic simplicity of applying Christian ideals in daily life.
	Thomas à Kempis. The Imitation of Christ, trans. William Creasy (Notre Dame, IN: Ave Maria Press, 1989). Paperback ISBN: 0-87793-411-8 There are many versions of this timeless classic, and, in my opinion, this is the best.
Read this book to learn about the mystic process of “dying to the self” through holy love.
	St. John of the Cross. “The Ascent of Mount Carmel” and “The Dark Night.” In The Collected Works of St. John of the Cross, trans. K. Kavanaugh and O. Rodriguez (Washington, DC: ICS Publications, 1991). Hardcover ISBN: 0-935216-15-4
Read this book to learn from a practical, down-to-earth woman how the mystical effects of divine love transformed her life.
	St. Teresa of Avila. “The Way of Perfection” and “The Interior Castle.” In The Collected Works of St. Teresa of Avila, Volume Two, trans. K. Kavanaugh and O. Rodriguez (Washington, DC: ICS Publications, 1980). Paperback ISBN: 0-9600876-6-4
Read this book to learn about the fundamantal, underlying events that brought the Church into being.
	The New American Bible. I prefer the Saint Joseph edition. (Totowa, NJ: Catholic Book Publishing Corp.) Paperback ISBN: 0-89942-962-9 You can read the Bible online at The New American Bible by United States Conference of Catholic Bishops. A common-sense guide to Reading the Bible
Read this book to make the Bible easy to comprehend.
	Bishop Frederick Justus Knecht, D.D. A Practical Commentary on Holy Scripture (Rockford, IL: TAN Books and Publishers, 2003). Paperback ISBN: 0-89555-757-6 If you need help interpreting the Bible, in simple, understandable language, this is it.

Additional Readings: Saints

Read this book to learn how to put into practice a genuine devotion to the Blessed Virgin.
	St. Louis Marie de Montfort. True Devotion to the Blessed Virgin (Bay Shore, NY: Montfort Publications, 1980). Hardcover ISBN: 0-910984-49-2 Contains the Consecration To Jesus through Mary.
Read this book to learn how a life of devout Christian love reflects Christ’s own suffering, sacrifice, and obedience.
	St. Margaret Mary Alacoque. The Autobiography of Saint Margaret Mary (Rockford, IL: TAN Books and Publishers, 1986). Paperback ISBN: 0-89555-295-7 Intimate insights from the saint to whom Our Lord gave the Sacred Heart revelations.
Read this book to learn the details about Purgatory and Hell.
	St. Catherine & Don Cattaneo Marabotto. The Spiritual Doctrine of Saint Catherine of Genoa (Rockford, IL: TAN Books and Publishers, 1989). Paperback ISBN: 0-89555-355-X This great lay mystic “wrote the book” about Purgatory.
Read this book to learn how divine mercy becomes real in everyday life.
	St. Maria Faustina Kowalska. Diary (Stockbridge, MA: Association of Marian Helpers, 2003). Paperback ISBN: 0-944203-04-3 The “Apostle of The Divine Mercy” records Jesus’ message of mercy in a diary.

Additional Readings: General

Read these books and be enthralled as the meticulous details of Biblical events allow salvation history to come alive in its full human and divine reality.
	Emmerich, Anne Catherine. The Life of Jesus Christ and Biblical Revelations (Rockford, IL: TAN Books and Publishers, 2004). Paperback ISBN: (Vol. 1) 0-89555-787-8 (Vol. 2) 0-89555-787-6 (Vol. 3) 0-89555-787-4 (Vol. 4) 0-89555-790-8 One of the greatest treasures of Catholic mystical writing shows “how the Roman Catholic Church faithfully follows the teachings and administers the Sacraments of Jesus Christ Himself.”
Read this book to get a sense of how Jesus may have actually spoke and taught on a day-to-day basis.
	C. Alan Ames. Through the Eyes of Jesus. (Touch of Heaven, 1996.) Paperback ISBN: 0-9748225-3-1 Episodes from the daily life of Jesus, seen through His eyes—as revealed to a modern visionary. Read an excerpt from the book (from the publisher’s website)
Read this book to learn the historical details about the mysteries recalled by the Rosary.
	Johnson, Kevin Orlin. Rosary: Mysteries, Meditations, and the Telling of the Beads (Dallas: Pangæus Press, 1996). Paperback ISBN: 0-9653660-1-4 A comprehensive reference for the history and meaning of the Rosary.
Read this book to learn the tell-tale signs of genuine mystic phenomena.
	Johnson, Kevin Orlin. Apparitions: Mystic Phenomena and What They Mean (Dallas: Pangæus Press, 1998). Paperback ISBN: 0-9653660-0-6 The only comprehensive reference book that puts supernatural events clearly in their Biblical context.

TRUE DISCIPLES . . . will point out the narrow way to God in pure truth according to the holy Gospel, and not according to the maxims of the world. Their hearts will not be troubled, nor will they show favour to anyone; they will not spare or heed or fear any man, however powerful he may be. They will have the two-edged sword of the Word of God in their mouths and the blood-stained standard of the Cross on their shoulders. They will carry the crucifix in their right hand and the rosary in their left, and the holy names of Jesus and Mary on their heart. . . . By the will of God, Mary is to prepare them to extend His rule over the impious and unbelievers.

—Saint Louis Marie de Montfort True Devotion to the Blessed Virgin, no. 59