5 min
Music · Cappella Romana
Ukrainian War Requiem: In Paradisum
An audio recording of the closing movement of Benedict Sheehan's Ukrainian War Requiem, released by the ensemble's own label.
Overview
What does christian mysticism point to?
Christian mysticism refers to contemplative currents within Christianity that emphasise direct, often wordless encounter with the divine, alongside scripture, liturgy and communal life.
Figures and practices span many centuries and traditions, from desert monasticism to contemporary centring prayer, united by an interest in silence, surrender and inner transformation.
In the stillness beneath the words, something is already listening.A central teaching within Christian mysticism
Teachers
Voices within this path.
Compare background, approach and format before choosing a teacher to follow.
Franciscan contemplation
Richard Rohr
Franciscan friar and founder of the Center for Action and Contemplation, largely retired from teaching after a cancer diagnosis.
View profile →JF
Christian contemplation
James Finley
Clinical psychologist and former student of Thomas Merton, teaching Christian contemplative practice through the Center for Action and Contemplation.
View profile →
Wisdom tradition · Centring prayer
Cynthia Bourgeault
Episcopal priest and teacher of centring prayer, working within the Christian contemplative Wisdom tradition of the Work of Inner Christianity.
View profile →MS
Christian mystic translation
Mirabai Starr
American writer and translator of Christian mystics such as St. John of the Cross and Teresa of Ávila, teaching within an interfaith contemplative frame.
View profile →Retired
Gratefulness practice
David Steindl-Rast
Austrian-American Benedictine monk known as the 'grandfather of gratitude', now living in contemplative retirement at Europakloster Gut Aich.
View profile →AB
New Monasticism
Adam Bucko
Episcopal priest and co-founder of the Reciprocity Foundation who now directs the Center for Spiritual Imagination, teaching contemplative Christian prayer and "new monasticism."
View profile →Artists
Musicians and singers.
Devotional music and chant from within this path, alongside its teachers.
SM
Chant of the Christian East
Sœur Marie Keyrouz
Lebanese nun and musicologist who sings the sacred chant of the Christian East — Maronite, Melkite-Byzantine and Syriac — mostly in Arabic, and founded an ensemble of musicians drawn from different faiths.
View profile →CN
Maronite and Syriac Hymns
Christiane Najjar
Lebanese singer of sacred and Oriental repertoire, at home in Maronite, Syriac and Byzantine chant as well as the classical and traditional music of her country.
View profile →HD
A Cappella Sacred Chant
Harpa Dei
Four siblings — born in Germany, raised in Ecuador — who sing Catholic sacred music unaccompanied, gathering chant from many traditions and languages.
View profile →SO
Ambient Music for Prayer
Salt of the Sound
Husband-and-wife duo Anita and Ben Tatlow, writing quiet ambient music for prayer and reflection from their home in Hong Kong.
View profile →YO
Prayer Music
Young Oceans
Eric Marshall's prayer-music project, layering ambient indie textures under songs written for church gatherings and for private devotion alike.
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Tintinnabuli
Arvo Pärt
Estonian composer whose tintinnabuli style, drawn in part from Gregorian chant, has made him for years the most performed living composer in the world.
View profile →CR
Sacred Music of the Christian East
Cappella Romana
Vocal ensemble founded in Portland, Oregon in 1991, known for its work in Byzantine and Orthodox sacred music alongside the Western repertoire.
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Chants for Prayer and Silence
Taizé
Ecumenical monastic community in Burgundy of about a hundred brothers from Catholic and Protestant traditions, whose short repetitive chants are sung to carry prayer and silence rather than to be performed.
View profile →Upcoming events
Upcoming events in christian mysticism.
Retreats, dialogues and online gatherings connected to this path.
02SEP
Feast of Light
Fairfield, Iowa, United States · Weekly healing gathering
See event pageWeekly healing gathering
02SEP
Empowerment Series Healings
Online · Weekly online healing session
See event pageWeekly online healing session
05SEP
The Art and Skill of the Quantum Jump
Online · Monthly online gathering
See event pageMonthly online gathering
07SEP
Meditation and Contemplative Prayer
Online · Weekly online contemplative prayer
See event pageWeekly online contemplative prayer
Talks & videos
Selected talks.
Talks and conversations from teachers within this path.
12 min
Music · Cappella Romana
Cherubic Hymn in Mode 1, in a virtual Hagia Sophia
A recording from the Icons of Sound research project, in which Cappella Romana's singing of the Cherubic Hymn is rendered with the reconstructed acoustics of the original Hagia Sophia.
3 min
Music · Cappella Romana
Communion for Sundays, live in Greece
Filmed footage of the ensemble performing a Sunday Communion hymn live during a tour in Greece.
3 min
Music · Cappella Romana
The Vespers of St. Catherine: Invitatorium
An audio recording of the opening Invitatorium movement from Cappella Romana's Vespers of St. Catherine.
Listen
Recordings from christian mysticism.
Voices from this path and the schools within it, playing from the platforms the teachers publish on.
Laurence FreemanChristian mysticism
A Apple Podcasts
Strengthening the Muscle of Attention with Fr Laurence Freeman
Laurence Freeman speaks about attention as something that can be trained through meditation and about how that capacity relates to love.
From the podcast WCCM Audio
Listen on Apple PodcastsLaurence FreemanChristian mysticism
A Apple Podcasts
The Iceberg of Consciousness with Fr Laurence Freeman on WCCM+
A talk on the unconscious layers of the mind and what happens to them in the silence of Christian meditation.
From the podcast WCCM Audio
Listen on Apple PodcastsTurning to Earth and Soul in the Quest for Healing and Home
John Philip Newell as a guest on the Nomad Podcast.
From the podcast Nomad Podcast
Listen on SpotifyLaurence FreemanChristian mysticism
A Apple Podcasts
A Hunger for Depth and Meaning with Laurence Freeman OSB
Freeman reflects on the search for depth and meaning that brings people to contemplative practice.
From the podcast WCCM Audio
Listen on Apple PodcastsReading Room
Source texts
The source texts beneath this path, free to read.
The Cloud of Unknowing
Translated by Evelyn Underhill · 1912
The anonymous 14th-century English guide to contemplative prayer.
Meister Eckhart's Sermons
Translated by Claud Field · 1909
The first English translation of the medieval German mystic's sermons.
The Life of St. Teresa of Jesus
Translated by David Lewis · 1870
Teresa of Ávila's own autobiography of her spiritual life and visions.
The Interior Castle
Translated by The Benedictines of Stanbrook · 1921
Teresa of Ávila's map of the soul's seven mansions, from the outer wall to union with God.
Discernment
Clarity should include the human context.
Contemplative practice can surface deep material. Spiritual direction is traditionally paired with pastoral or psychological support when needed.
Ask about contextIs a statement philosophical, meditative, relational or practical?
Notice powerHow are authority, money, intimacy and complaints handled?
Include embodimentDoes the teaching make room for emotion, the body and nervous-system limits?
Keep agencyA useful teacher supports clear choice rather than demanding surrender of judgement.