The Spiritual Formation of Evelyn Underhill by Robyn Wrigley-Carr (review)

"Goodness and Love are caught, not taught," reflects Evelyn Underhill in an early retreat. Robyn Wrigley-Carr, a scholar of Christian Spirituality and practicing spiritual director, demonstrates the deep truth of these words in her compact and abundantly annotated study of Evelyn Underhill's spiritual formation under the guidance of Baron Friedrich von Hugel, demonstrating how this formation is manifest in Underhill's pioneering work as a spiritual guide and retreat leader in the 1920s and 30s. Though plentiful scholarship on both figures already exists, this book is unique in offering personal portraits of von Hugel and Underhill in relationship to one another. The chapter on von Hugel (known affectionately as "the Baron") begins with an accessible portrait of the Baron himself, from his role in the Catholic Modernist movement to his published writing on spirituality. It notes especially his monumental exploration of Catherine of Genoa as exemplifying the "mystical element" in Christianity and shows how he draws on Catherine's wisdom in his work with directees. Von Hugel's emphasis on balance between the intellectual, institutional, and mystical elements of religion is threaded through his work, and Wrigley-Carr gives a welcome reminder of the value of this balanced approach to spiritual formation. It becomes particularly significant in the Baron's work with Evelyn Underhill, whom he gently encouraged away from a broadly transcendental and theocentric spirituality toward a balanced and "ordinary" approach to the spiritual life, rooted in an incarnational, mystical, and Christocentric spirituality. These themes would become signatures for Underhill, especially in her later retreat work.

Most compelling is Wrigley-Carr's account of the correspondence and visits that helped to form both von Hugel and his directee. Readers enter this friendship gradually, with a biographical chapter on von Hugel followed by one on Underhill. These chapters appreciate the ardent and original personalities of these two people. Wrigley-Carr then brings the two together in a third chapter that explores how this relationship formed Underhill herself . The Baron provided her with biannual letters of direction that she was instructed to reread monthly. Because they lived near one another, the two had occasional social visits in between his letters. However, the spiritual direction conversation took place by letter, not least because of the Baron's deafness and delicate health. Still, they came to know one another quite well. Underhill and others report the depth, generosity, and good humor of the Baron's personality, which they experienced as radiating from his life of prayer. People would say the same of Underhill later in her life, calling her a "mother of souls." After von Hugel's death, Underhill wrote of a sense of continuing "contact" with his spirit. The relationship between them, though it lasted less than two years, clearly played a formative role.

Wrigley-Carr insists persuasively that Underhill was not simply a "popularizer" of von Hugel's ideas. She shows instead the depth of formation that comes out of this friendship. To this friendship Underhill owes a fresh centering on Christ—she credits the Baron's prayers with leading her to "experience Christ"—and an appreciation of what she often calls our "amphibious existence" as creatures of matter and spirit. A Roman Catholic himself, the Baron encouraged Underhill's return to the Anglican church rather than pushing her toward a conversion to Roman Catholicism. This decision led to Underhill's important and persisting contributions to the revival of retreats and the contemplative life in the Anglican tradition, for both clergy and laity.

The organization of this book indirectly provides some guidance to scholars and practitioners who desire to go deeper with the themes of spiritual formation and the journey toward Christian spiritual maturity that are threaded through Wrigley-Carr's discussion. The subheadings within these chapters, for example, become a remarkably concise and helpful road map to some of the themes that often arise in relationships of spiritual guidance. For example...