In the passionate poetry of a bride to her bridegroom, this thirteenth-century German mystic recorded thirty years of her most intimate conversations with God. The selections in this edition offer a powerful glimpse into Mechthild's vision of God and her constant longing to be in his heart. This eloquent female ascetic recounts her mystical union with God in an unusual combination of literary genres ranging from rich allegory to lyrical poetry and prose. At age twenty, Mechthild left her home to begin a life of intense prayer as a beguine under the direction of the Dominicans. Continually speaking out against abuses in the Church, Mechthild incurred a lifelong conflict with the religious authorities of her time, making the survival of her writings all the more remarkable. With these two titles, Paraclete begins a highly praiseworthy series of spiritual classics, one each by a female and male mystic of the Middle Ages. Editor Carrigan's commendable "mild modernizations" slightly alter the syntactic difficulties and archaisms of the originals while allowing them to retain both their otherness and their rhetorical power. Ardent spiritual seekers, especially Christians, can scarcely do without Mechthild and Lull, and for any library lacking the "Classics of Western Spirituality" versions of these authors, these convenient paperbacks should be an essential purchase. [Carrigan is an LJ reviewer and former Spiritual Reading columnist.AEd.] Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc. In the passionate poetry of a bride to her bridegroom, Mechthild of Magdeburg (1207/10-1282/97) yearns for the unity of her heart with the heart of God. In her only writing, The Flowing Light of the Godhead, she declares, "I do not know how to write nor can I, unless I see with the eyes of my soul and hear with the ears of my eternal spirit and feel in all the parts of my body the power of the Holy Spirit." As she seeks mystical union, Mechthild depicts her struggle with Lucifer, who tries constantly to disrupt her relationship with God, as well as God's lovesickness for Mechthild's heart. Mechthild borrows luminous imagery from the Song of Songs to express her constant longing to be in God's heart. The selections in this edition offer a powerful glimpse into Mechthild's vision of God.