José Pereira and Robert Fastiggi on Augustinian Spirituality during the Catholic Reformation, Part 2 of 2

Baroque Augustinian Fray. Luis de León

The last post concerned the writings of José Pereira and Robert Fastiggi on Augustinian spirituality during the Catholic Reformation. This post concerns a part of their writings where St. Augustine posits the degrees of the spiritual life, which is numbered at seven grades of progress, and are closely linked to the Beatitudes (which are eight though apparently two are grouped together to make seven main points). I am cautious about what is contained in this reading of St. Augustine's work since I've not yet read St. Augustine's sermons on the Sermon on the Mount, nor am I too familiar with St. Augustine's writings on spiritual progress. All the less however, I will post this forward in an attempt to bring a scholarly (and costly) work to the public. The work again is The Mystical Theology of the Catholic Reformation. Which is about $48 on Amazon.

José Pereira and Robert Fastiggi on Augustinian Spirituality during the Catholic Reformation, Part 1 of 2

Luis de León, a Baroque Augustinian theologian

This excerpt comes from Pereira and Fastiggi's book "The Mystical Theology of the Catholic Reformation: An Overview of Baroque Spirituality" published in 2006. The book is quite fascinating though it is a light read for a scholarly book, and from what it looks like it is a partial view into the mystical theology of the Catholic Reformation. There are quite a number of long lists of authors and their lives throughout the book which is a bit off-putting if you want to dive directly into the theme of the book, and even then the book seems a bit generic at times, though with sure nuggets of many Baroque authors' views on Catholic spirituality. The book covers an overview of Baroque thought first, including Baroque Scholasticism, Baroque modernity, Baroque Positive Theology, and Baroque Sacred Oratory. Following these sections are chapters that actually deal with the title's topic, spirituality. They include a chapter titled, "Unfolding of Baroque Spirituality", then followed by the Spirituality of the Monastic Orders (Benedictine, Cistercian, Carthusian), Spirituality of the Mendicant Friars (Franciscan, Dominican), Spirituality of the clerics Regular (Augustinian, Theatine, Barnabite), Spirituality of the Major Orders of the Baroque age (Jesuit, Oratorian), and the final sections deal with Carmelite Spirituality (Calced Carmelite, Discalced Carmelite, St. Teresa of Ávila, St. John of the Cross).