# Christian mystics who were not members of monastic orders?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/christian-mystics-who-were-not-members-of-monastic-orders/527598>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [February 3, 2010, 10:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/christian-mystics-who-were-not-members-of-monastic-orders/527598 "2010-02-03T22:50:58Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 4\
**Page:** 2

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**Author:** ![Springtime\_for\_Spacers](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a3d4f5/32.png) [@Springtime\_for\_Spacers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Springtime_for_Spacers)\
**Post date:** [February 5, 2010, 3:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/christian-mystics-who-were-not-members-of-monastic-orders/527598/21 "2010-02-05T03:14:37Z")

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[St Catherine of Sienna](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/St._Catherine_of_Siena) is a good example. She had a close association with the Dominican order but was very active in the world, both travelling and writng letters.

> [@](#):
>
> In about 1366, St Catherine experienced what she described in her letters as a “Mystical Marriage” with Jesus. Her biographer Raymond of Capua also records that she was told by Christ to leave her withdrawn life and enter the public life of the world.

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**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\
**Post date:** [February 5, 2010, 7:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/christian-mystics-who-were-not-members-of-monastic-orders/527598/22 "2010-02-05T07:45:36Z")

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> [@yabob](#):
>
> Where on the “leaving the world” scale do you consider the Jesuits? They are a monastic order, but hardly a group that sets themselves apart from the world. And Pierre Teilhard de Chardin was one of them. He spent his life trying to reconcile science with spiritual mysticism.

And Ignatius Loyola set out in the path that eventually led to founding them _after_ his mystic revelations in Montserrat, where he was recovering from wounds suffered at the siege of Pamplona. He was a mercenary captain, got wounded, got mystic’ed, moved to Paris to study theology at the Sorbonne, met 5 priests (all of them from his same cultural tradition) whom he made friends with, they founded the Jesuits and he got ordained… in that order.

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**Author:** ![Polycarp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/82dd89/32.png) [@Polycarp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Polycarp)\
**Post date:** [February 5, 2010, 3:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/christian-mystics-who-were-not-members-of-monastic-orders/527598/23 "2010-02-05T15:43:03Z")

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> [@Krokodil](#):
>
> Hildegarde von Bingen was a Benedictine Abbess.

:smack: I shoulda nown that!

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**Author:** ![FriarTed](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/friarted/32/1052_2.png) [@FriarTed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FriarTed)\
**Post date:** [February 6, 2010, 6:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/christian-mystics-who-were-not-members-of-monastic-orders/527598/24 "2010-02-06T06:59:14Z")

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In this past century~  
Agnes Sandford- Episcopal Charismatic pioneer of Inner Healing

and every few years I’m reminded of this extraordinary fellow- (what was with him?)- Sadhu Sundar Sighn.

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