Association Of Catholic Bloggers

If you want to grow in spirituality, and learn the mystic way, then you will want to get a copy of David Torkington’s  Wisdom from the Western Isles . In this thought provoking book, we meet the main character, Peter Calvay, a mystic in his own right. He acts as a spiritual guide for a young man named James. Torkington does a masterful job at interweaving the stories of the two men’s lives, who are completely different. James is Protestant, searching for meaning in his life. Peter is a middle-aged Catholic, who experienced much spiritual growth and is considered a mystic. Through Peter’s kindness and willingness to share his experiences and knowledge with James, we all get the benefit of Peter’s  Wisdom from the Western Isles . The story is set in Torkington’s native England, thus the reference to the Western Isles. Peter Calvay teaches us how to pray, and why we should pray daily. One of my favorite lines states, “Prayer is a process of continual inner conversion th...

In reading  Wisdom from the Christian Mystics , by David Torkington, I learned a great deal about how I might go about having a more intimate relationship with Jesus. Torkington begins this book by informing the reader of the Church history of mysticism and how its reception by the faithful has changed over time, due to the course of human events.  As a result, today, we do not know Jesus as we well as we could, because we do not communicate with Him in the same manner as the early Christians. Find God in Prayer To know God, we must come to experience Him in prayer; a prayer that begins with vocal prayer, moves to meditation and culminates in contemplation. It is impossible to love someone that we do not know. Torkington tells us that prayer is the answer, if we want to get to know Jesus better. Therefore, we must first come to know Jesus, via... Read more...

Some Catholic authors write as if they belong to a Church Beleaguered, not the Church Triumphant.  Articles tend to be either defensive or angry attacks against adversaries.  Many religious writers retreat, focusing only on like-minded souls, writing for a small, mutual admiration society. The rest are tempted to quit when it seems like the world is wearing a spiritual blindfold. In an online conversation with me, Victor S. E. Moubarak articulated the dilemma of Christian writers today: Many Christian are busily writing their blogs daily wondering who is visiting them, or whether their efforts are having any effect on anyone. We all write for different reasons.  Some genuinely want to put some positives out there in a negative and dark internet full of bile and cynicism. Others write for pure vanity. Whilst others wonder whether to bother to continue writing or whether they should just give it up. The latter would be a pity because it would turn off ...

There is a wonderful blog written by a man of prayer, David Torkington, who considers it his life’s work to share the joy of true Christian prayer and to teach people how to pray.  He has also published countless books.   In his own words, David says,” All my writings try to promote the Christian way of prayer, and I consider it my life’s work.” read an interview with David on true Christian prayer  

I discovered a wonderful blog written by a man of prayer who considers it his life’s work to share the joy of true Christian prayer and to teach people how to pray.  He has also published countless books. In his own words David says,” All my writings try to promote the Christian way of prayer, and I consider it my life’s work.” David writes at   David Torkington: Journalist, Author, Speaker   http://www.davidtorkington.com/Home.html . Melanie:  Are you familiar with the Fr. John Main’s use of a Christian mantra, Maranatha, while meditating? . David : Yes I am. But I do not agree with his use of mantras for everyone, at all stages of the Christian prayer journey. To quote from my website:- The Christian mystical tradition continually asserts that any man-made means or techniques cannot attain true contemplation, which is a pure gift of God. The gift of contemplation is only given after years of practising prayer in the context of an ascetic...