Wim van den Dungen

On Seven Ways of Holy Love Wim van den Dungen

English and Dutch translations of 'On Seven Ways of Holy Love', a mystagogic treatise on 'minne' or 'holy love' by Beatrice of Nazareth, a 13th century Cistercian nun and the oldest datable mystical prose text in Middle Dutch. Beatrice describes the nuptial relationship between the good soul and her Bridegroom in terms of seven ways of holy love. The use of vernacular contributed in a significant way to the development of a mysticism influencing the more scholarly approach of John of Ruusbroec. Beatrice's text also affected Margaret Porette, Meister Eckhart and the Modern Devotion (Gerard Groote). Beatrice is the 'mother' of all these ways to the direct experience of God.