The book includes an appendix, a full bibliography of Carmelite primary sources with a listing of all the published writings of Ruth Burrows, and an extensive index. “About this book” introduces the readers to a brief biography of Burrows and the author and how the book came to be. A conclusion summarizes the book’s contents but also invites the reader to explore the possibility of what many consider the greatest need of our time: a mysticism that is not only personal, but deeply ecclesial, able to radically transform the church and the world.

Reviewers praise The Gospel Mysticism of Ruth Burrows as “the most comprehensive, readable introduction to Burrows that is presently available,” …. “an important contribution to studies on spirituality and mysticism.” In this pivotal book, Australian theologian and author Michelle Jones not only presents Ruth Burrows to a wider readership but also provides an important contribution to the academy vis-à-vis the study of spirituality. Jones’s book shows why Burrows is one of the most important Carmelite authors in our time and what it means to be a Gospel mystic.

“It's hard to imagine a more lucid and enlightening introduction to the work of Ruth Burrows, one of the most compelling spiritual authors of our time. What becomes clear, reading these pages by Michelle Jones, is the unique Gospel strength and startling freshness of the Burrows vision.”
—Paul Murray, O.P.
Professor of Spirituality
The Angelicum, Rome

“In this much-needed work, Michelle Jones provides … the most comprehensive, readable introduction to Ruth Burrows that is presently available.
      This book is an important contribution to the field of spirituality and will, no doubt deservedly, become the textbook for studies on Ruth Burrows and her spirituality. It will also help clarify the concept of mysticism that should, in turn, help make more accessible to us the deep wells of the Christian mystical tradition.
       We are in debt to Michelle Jones for this work. It not only presents Ruth Burrows to a wider audience, an audience she has long deserved, but also is an important contribution to the academy vis-à-vis the study of spirituality.”
—Ron Rolheiser, O.M.I.
President, the Oblate School of Theology
San Antonio, Texas

“At a time when many are seeking not words about God but the experience of God, Michelle Jones writes of mysticism in precisely those terms. The church now has to become more mystical in order to be more missionary, and this book, drawing in fresh ways upon the Carmelite tradition, helps us understand what that might mean. It is both old and new, reaching for heaven yet down-to-earth.”
—Archbishop Mark Coleridge
President of the Australian Catholic Bishops Conference and Archbishop of Brisbane

“Fresh, frank, and fruitful beyond measure is the wisdom of Ruth Burrows about what it means to be a Gospel mystic.
       Michelle Jones has plumbed the depths of that wisdom and offers readers a clear and insightful exploration of Burrows’s guidance for the Christian willing to stake everything on the crucified Jesus.
       Jones’s book shows why Burrows is one of the most important Carmelite authors in our time.
       A caution: the wisdom of Ruth Burrows may change your life.”
—Keith J. Egan, T. O. Carm.
Adjunct Professor of Theology, University of Notre Dame Aquinas Chair in Catholic Theology Emeritus,
Saint Mary's College

Interior Castle Explored

St. Teresa's Teaching on the Life of Deep Union with God

Ruth Burrows, OCD
 

This volume is a penetrating interpretation of St. Teresa of Avila's central teaching on prayer. But it is more than a contemporary Carmelite commentary... SEE FULL DESCRIPTION

Essence of Prayer

Ruth Burrows, OCD
 

Prayer is a word we take for granted. Ought we to do so? What do we mean by prayer? What does the word mean in in the Christian context? Almost always when we talk... SEE FULL DESCRIPTION