Adornment of the Spiritual Marriage is just one of the three works included in this version of St. John of Ruysbroek's (1293-1381) writings. It also includes The Sparkling Stone and The Book of Supreme Truth. St. John is well-known as a Christian mystic of Flemish descent who spent most of his life in solitude, living as a hermit or with a small number of disciples. Adornment of the Spiritual Marriage is a study of the Bible's metaphor of Christ as the Bridegroom and the church as the Bride, a "marriage" that produces perfect union. Union with God is also the theme of The Sparkling Stone and The Book of Supreme Truth, where St. John describes several mystical levels of union with God in which the human body and mind are forgotten. St. John is known for having an extraordinary propensity for theology and philosophy, and his works exhibit his great mind. These classic pieces of spiritual literature are rife with imagistic language and readers will be in awe of this spiritual giant's mind.

Abby Zwart
CCEL Staff Writer