After I wrote in my All Souls post that Creation Spirituality has many patron saints, it occurred to me that some, however, occupy a quite conspicuous place. It cannot be otherwise, starting with Marie-Dominique Chenu, the great Dominican friar, theologian, and historian, who mentored young Matthew Fox in Paris in 1968 and helped him focus his theological and spiritual vocation:
I remember as if it were today that moment in our seminar at the Catho with the green velvet cloth on the table, when Chenu named the two spiritual traditions, that of “fall/redemption” and that of “creation-centered spirituality.” Scales fell from my eyes; I was bumped from my own horse!
In his diary from July 3, 1990, Matthew tells us who the other major patron saints of Creation Spirituality are. He spontaneously named them and paired them with a color in preparation for his vision quest, which he conducted under the guidance of Buck Ghosthorse and a woman named Syke. They are Meister Eckhart (black), Mechtild of Magdeburg (red), Julian of Norwich (yellow), Francis of Assisi (white), Thomas Aquinas (blue), and Hildegard of Bingen (green).
They all belong to the High Middle Ages: that is, the period that is usually considered the height of intellectual and spiritual production, from the fall of the Roman Empire to modernity. Also, they all got into some trouble with the ecclesiastical authorities. Also, it’s three men and three women, and all incredibly passionate people.
Matthew’s genius was to invite them into a deep Native American celebration. He baptized them into another world, while he was being initiated himself. In his diary, he writes: This pattern of Western, medieval, creation-centered mystics was present throughout the weekend. We had a powwow, and I called on them as I called on the six directions. It felt wholly good and natural to do so.
We can, of course, look at creation-centered spirituality as a universal reality. Everywhere people experience and understand their connection to the cosmos and the earth, there is such spirituality. But it would be naive not to recognize from whom we got it, historically, and it would be ungrateful as well. There is a certain shape that Matthew gave to Creation Spirituality as a contemporary movement, with him in turn being indebted to his patron saints. Each represents some viewpoints on life, in search of integration with the others.
The four paths run through each of these people, yet there are six of them, just as there are six directions in the teaching of Buck Ghosthorse: West, North, East, South, Up (Sky), and Down (Earth).
In the course of the years, Matthew added people to his pantheon, and I would be remiss if I did not tell you, for example, about John of the Cross and the book that Matthew wrote about him, which was just launched this week; I will write about it soon. But I believe that there is something deep about the formation years of Creation Spirituality that is captured very well by the interplay of four and six that I just briefly described.
If you are curious to understand the roots of Creation Spirituality more in depth — for example, where the passion for the transformation of society comes from and why it is deeply spiritual — you may want to check out in particular those mystics among the six that you know less. You can start with a search about each of them in the Daily Meditations, from the MAIN PAGE; or you can go directly to Matthew Fox’s books about them HERE; or you can enroll HERE in the new online class on them that Matthew is teaching.
Banner Image: Six Creation Spirituality saints: Top, L-R: Julian of Norwich (Icon by Br. Robert Lentz OFM), Francis of Assisi (Wikimedia Commons), Hildegard of Bingen (Wellcome Images, CC BY 4.0). Bottom: Meister Eckhart (Wikimedia Commons), Mechthild of Magdeburg (Wikimedia Commons), Thomas Aquinas (Wikimedia Commons).
Queries for Contemplation
Do you have a preference among the six Medieval mystics named in this DM? Do you feel spontaneously attracted to any of them, and why?
Related Readings by Matthew Fox
Confessions: The Making of a Post-Denominational Priest, p. 80, p. 204-205
Christian Mystics: 365 Readings & Meditations
Meister Eckhart: A Mystic Warrior for Our Time
Julian of Norwich: Wisdom in a Time of Pandemic–and Beyond
The Coming of the Cosmic Christ: The Healing of Mother Earth and the Birth of a Global Renaissance
Hildegard of Bingen, A Saint for Our Times: Unleashing Her Power in the 21st Century
Matthew Fox, Skylar Wilson, Jen Listug, Order of the Sacred Earth: An Intergenerational Vision of Love and Action
8 thoughts on “Patron Saints of Creation Spirituality”
The current phase of my spiritual journey began only 5 months ago. During that time, I’ve been attracted to Francis and Hildegard. I would love to take the course on the mystics to learn more but my plate is full for now.
Much of my journey has not been about learning and thinking, but about doing and experiencing. My heart is now running the show, not my head. I find myself spending less time reading, and more time in deep meditation. I find myself spending less time learning about what people have done, and more with people who are doing things now.
I like how Francis stepped away from his assigned role to pursue a different path, and his deep connection with the natural world. I love how Hildegard was so creatively prolific and was fully herself in a world that didn’t want her to be by most measures.
I am finding myself drawn to non-European sources of inspiration — specifically indigenous cultures and spirituality. This week I’m exploring canyons and ruins and ancient ways and finding it to be very rich. I am drawn to the Hopi tribe. Yesterday I had lunch on their reservation and took away a “corn dancer” kachina doll for my personal altar. Many of the ruins were still active around the same time as these saints!
I’ve also been drawn to the Black Madonna and St Michael!!! Looking forward to spending some quality time with them next summer in Italy. 🙂
Mark, I like your position. Though you’ve learned plenty through reading and hearing, you’re putting wisdom into action. To the Biblical writers in both testaments, God greatly prefers deeds over mere words. Humans after all are corporeal individually and corporate socially. The Word made flesh taught for all time, and part of what he taught was action and passion. Francis of Assissi is recalled as urging, “Preach the Gospel at all times; if necessary, use words.” Richard Rohr has written that actions have meaning and resonance. It follows that one can put into words what a person and a group have materially and spiritually experienced, a natural sequence.
I’m reaffirmed in today’s DM that Creation Spirituality is intimately related to Indigenous Spirituality and Incarnational Spirituality (lorian.org) in honoring Sacred Mother Earth/Her living creatures/Graceful abundance, evolving Humanity, Our evolving Sacred Cosmos, and Our living Ancestors and subtle spiritual dimensions/Beings in Our Loving Diverse Co-Creative Oneness in the Sacred Process of the Eternal Present Moment…
To me, Meister Eckhart is by far the most inspiring Christian spiritual guide. I was acquainted with his sermons in the late ’80s when I first read Matthew’s, “Breakthrough: Meister Eckhart’s Creation Spirituality in New Translation.” It was truly a breakthrough in my spiritual life, and I preserve as a relic the notebook full of quotes I copied while reading it. I have since read several sermons and treatises from Eckhart in different translations, and he never lost the pole position in my list of spiritual guides, a position he shares with Lao-Tzu: these two are enlightened spiritual twins and beacons that make the darkest night glow.
I value selected quotes from each of the other five mystics listed in today’s DM, especially John of the Cross poem “The Dark Night of the Soul,” but once Lao-Tzu and Eckhart have spoken, my spiritual hunger and thirst are fulfilled. T. S. Eliot’s Four Quartets are also very high on my list of mystical writings.
In addition to the six, (my favourites within them are St. Francis and Hildegard), I add St.Bridgid, Marjorie Kemp, Hafiz, John Woolman, Albert Schweitzer, Black Elk, Henry Bergh, Marjorie Kemp, St. Basil, St. Columba, Anthony of the Desert, Nicholas of Chios, Albert Einstein, Thomas Merton and most recently, Jane Goodall.
“Do not go where the path may lead, go instead where there is no path and leave a trail.” These were the words of Ralph Waldo Emerson which I took to heart decades ago. Undiscovered mystics are far more fascinating, and even illuminating, than the known. In this regard I follow George King and hopefully have left a modest trail in my wake: https://drgeorgeking.org/
My “favorite” among them is Meister Eckhart.
When I was searching for a mystic who described “my” mystical experience and seemingly couldn’t find it, I read a bit of Eckhart’s theology in an anthology, and suddenly realized, when he spoke of “union” and then went on to describe God and Jesus, he was talking about the same mystical experience I had, but in theological terms. I followed the trail to Plotinus and from there, back again to Eckhart, more fully in the 1981 book “Meister Eckhart” (translated by Bernard McGinn and Edmund Colledge, OSA). And that started my trail from the New Testament and Jesus, to the Old Testament, to other religions. (I’ve spoken of this in other posts).
Meister Eckhart gives us descriptions of this mysticism, more fully developed, from the “top” panentheistic two experiences, down into the top “Unitive Creation” awareness and further into the multidimensional material forms — including us and our world. This was his version of the original Judeo-Christian highest-level theology. This is the Mystical theology I speak from.
It is the theology Matthew Fox has deeply drawn upon and developed.
Thank you, Matthew, for connecting the Christian mystics to our land and people through your vision quest in this powerful Native ceremony.