Her Bright Merits: Essays Honoring Ingrid J. Peterson, O.S.F.

“Poverty, suffering and contempt” in the theology and practice of Angela of Foligno: problem or resource?

“Poverty, suffering and contemPt” in the theology and Practice of angela of foligno: Problem or resource?1 diane tomkinson, o.s.f. i. introduction Two incidents tend to capture the attention of those encountering the texts and life story of the Franciscan mystic Angela of Foligno (d.1309) for the first time: her admission that early in her conversion process she prayed for the deaths of her immediate family members and her account of drinking the water with which she had washed a leper.2 From graduate seminars to undergraduate classrooms to retreat and workshop settings, I have found that contemporary readers discover much that is intriguing and spiritually nourishing in Angela’s mystical texts, yet they remain disturbed by such extreme acts. In the early twenty-first century, we are right1 I presented an earlier version of this article at the session on Angela of Foligno sponsored by Women in the Franciscan Intellectual Tradition (WIFIT) and the School of Franciscan Studies at the 42nd International Congress on Medieval Studies in Kalamazoo, MI in May 2007. 2 Memorial I:91-3, 138 and V:122-141, 240-42 in Il Libro della Beata Angela da Foligno (edizione critica), ed. Ludgar Thier, O.F.M. and Abele Calufetti, O.F.M. (Grotttaferata [Roma]: Collegii S. Bonaventurae ad Claras Aquas, 1985), 126, 162-63, in Angela of Foligno: Complete Works, trans. Paul Lachance, O.F.M. (New York/Mahwah, NJ: Paulist Press, 1993). I will cite Thier and Calufetti’s Latin edition of the Memorial and Instructions (giving chapter, line and page numbers), with my own English translations of relevant quotations. For the convenience of the reader, I also include the related page numbers in Lachance’s English translation. DIANE TOMKINSON 112 ly suspicious of religious teachings and practices that either passively accept avoidable suffering, or actively inflict suffering upon self or others as a path to God. We question whether Angela’s passionate desire for union with the crucified Christ led her to pursue suffering in ways that were harmful to herself or others. Since poverty, suffering and contempt are central themes in Angela of Foligno’s mystical theology and practice, are her reflections on these topics a problem or a resource for contemporary Christians? In this essay, I pick up threads from the scholarship of two of my teachers and mentors, Ingrid Peterson and Elizabeth Dreyer. In an essay on “Angela of Foligno: the Active Life and the Following of Christ” (2000) Ingrid Peterson turned to Angela as an example of a medieval Franciscan woman in the Third Order tradition who might offer contemporary seekers a “teaching on how to lead an active contemplative life.”3 Ingrid argued that Angela presented “poverty, suffering and contempt” as virtues that were both fruits of her mystical life of prayer and the path “for those who wish to follow in the footprints of Christ’s public life.”4 In her 2005 book Passionate Spirituality, Elizabeth Dreyer cautioned those who would retrieve the spiritual and theological contributions of medieval women not to “gloss over the unhelpful, distasteful and potentially harmful dimensions of the spiritualities of many medieval women mystics,” including their “repeated call to seek suffering.”5 I share both Ingrid Peterson’s sense of the potential of Angela’s texts for contemporary retrieval and Elizabeth Dreyer’s caution regarding the pursuit of suffering . In the present essay, I argue that a theological analysis of “poverty, suffering and contempt” in Angela’s Memorial and Instructions further elucidates how these terms can function as positive virtues for both medieval and contempo3 Ingrid Peterson, “Angela of Foligno: The Active Life and the Following of Christ,” Studies in Spirituality 10 (2000), 125. 4 Peterson, 126. 5 Elizabeth Dreyer, “Medieval Women Mystics: Weird or Wonderful?” in Passionate Spirituality: Hildegard of Bingen and Hadewijch of Brabant (New York/Mahwah, NJ: Paulist Press, 2005), 17. POVERTY, SUFFERING AND CONTEMPT 113 rary readers grappling with the place of suffering in Christian discipleship. Although Angela did engage in some disturbing acts of asceticism, particularly early in her journey, her spirituality and especially her theology are more complex than this handful of incidents. A complete reading of her texts indicates that she eventually came to recognize many of these practices as a form of temptation. The Memorial’s depiction of Angela’s spiritual development suggests that she gradually rejected extreme practices of self-inflicted suffering common to many medieval women mystics...