In June 1981, six young Croatians in the village of Medjugorje, in the former Yugoslavia, reported that the Virgin Mary had appeared to them. The Medjugorje visionaries say that Mary has returned every day since then, bringing them important messages from heaven to convey to the world. Throughout history, people have reported encountering extraordinary religious experiences-apparitions of the Virgin Mary, visions of Jesus Christ, weeping statues and icons, the stigmata, physical healings and miracles, and experiences of the afterlife-and interpreted them as supernatural in origin. Scholars have often tried to reinterpret such experiences, including those described by the great mystics like Francis of Assisi, Catherine of Siena, and Teresa of Avila, into natural or psychopathological categories, such as hysteria, hallucination, delusion, epileptic seizures, psychosis, the workings of the unconscious mind, or fraud. Are such reductionist explanations valid? Over the past three decades the Medjugorje visionaries have been subjected to extensive medical, psychological, and scientific examination, even while undergoing their visionary experiences. Daniel Klimek argues that the case of Medjugorje affords a rare opportunity to understand a deeper dimension of extraordinary religious phenomena. Presenting and analyzing the scientific studies on the visionaries in juxtaposition with the major scholars and debates surrounding religious experience, Klimek concludes that a multidisciplinary approach grants a more holistic and deeper understanding of such extraordinary religious experiences.
For the Love of Mary takes the reader on a spiritual journey of tender love that begins with the questions, “How do I fall in love with Mary, the mother of Jesus and my spiritual mother? How do I cultivate a deeper, more intimate and meaningful relationship with her, inviting her into my spiritual life?” Fr. Daniel-Maria Klimek, T.O.R., presents a path of deep spiritual intimacy with Mother Mary that includes practicing the “presence of Mary” in one’s life, consoling her Immaculate Heart through a spirituality of reparation, hearing her voice through her apparitions, and delving into a greater understanding of her sufferings as Mother of Sorrows. For the Love of Mary considers Our Lady’s important identity and role in matters that are seldom mentioned in books about her but are of the utmost importance, such as her role in spiritual warfare and the ministry of exorcism, as well as her role in the renewal of the priesthood in a time when the Church faces so much scandal and confusion. She is the Morning Star that guides the struggling Church—and each one of her children—in the midst of surrounding storms to a purer path.
For the Love of Mary takes the reader on a spiritual journey of tender love that begins with the questions, “How do I fall in love with Mary, the mother of Jesus and my spiritual mother? How do I cultivate a deeper, more intimate and meaningful relationship with her, inviting her into my spiritual life?” Fr. Daniel-Maria Klimek, T.O.R., presents a path of deep spiritual intimacy with Mother Mary that includes practicing the “presence of Mary” in one’s life, consoling her Immaculate Heart through a spirituality of reparation, hearing her voice through her apparitions, and delving into a greater understanding of her sufferings as Mother of Sorrows. For the Love of Mary considers Our Lady’s important identity and role in matters that are seldom mentioned in books about her but are of the utmost importance, such as her role in spiritual warfare and the ministry of exorcism, as well as her role in the renewal of the priesthood in a time when the Church faces so much scandal and confusion. She is the Morning Star that guides the struggling Church—and each one of her children—in the midst of surrounding storms to a purer path.
In June 1981, six young Croatians in the village of Medjugorje, in the former Yugoslavia, reported that the Virgin Mary had appeared to them. The Medjugorje visionaries say that Mary has returned every day since then, bringing them important messages from heaven to convey to the world. Throughout history, people have reported encountering extraordinary religious experiences-apparitions of the Virgin Mary, visions of Jesus Christ, weeping statues and icons, the stigmata, physical healings and miracles, and experiences of the afterlife-and interpreted them as supernatural in origin. Scholars have often tried to reinterpret such experiences, including those described by the great mystics like Francis of Assisi, Catherine of Siena, and Teresa of Avila, into natural or psychopathological categories, such as hysteria, hallucination, delusion, epileptic seizures, psychosis, the workings of the unconscious mind, or fraud. Are such reductionist explanations valid? Over the past three decades the Medjugorje visionaries have been subjected to extensive medical, psychological, and scientific examination, even while undergoing their visionary experiences. Daniel Klimek argues that the case of Medjugorje affords a rare opportunity to understand a deeper dimension of extraordinary religious phenomena. Presenting and analyzing the scientific studies on the visionaries in juxtaposition with the major scholars and debates surrounding religious experience, Klimek concludes that a multidisciplinary approach grants a more holistic and deeper understanding of such extraordinary religious experiences.
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