The Mystical Element of Religion, as studied in Saint Catherine of Genoa and her friends, Volume 1 (of 2)

This volume opens a careful investigation into the mystical side of Christian faith as lived and taught by Saint Catherine of Genoa and her closest companions. The author weaves together vivid portraits of Catherine’s early life, her spiritual friends, and the vibrant Renaissance atmosphere that shaped their outlook, all while tracing the roots of a pre‑Protestant, post‑medieval Catholic sensibility. Readers are invited to follow his own intellectual journey—from youthful impressions of Italy’s “virile personalities” to the influence of thinkers like Newman—setting the stage for a study that balances personal devotion with scholarly rigor.

Through detailed biographical sketches and a thoughtful appraisal of surviving manuscripts, the work seeks to bring order to a once‑confusing tapestry of writings attributed to Catherine. It highlights how her doctrine of the soul’s self‑chosen purification offers a fresh lens on medieval mysticism, revealing both its psychological depth and its relevance to the broader currents of religious thought. Listeners will come away with a clearer sense of the historical forces that shaped this extraordinary spiritual figure and the lasting questions her mysticism raises.