Recogimiento

Recogimiento, or recollection prayer, was a school of Christian mystical prayer popular in the Spanish Golden Age. The practice involved private, mental prayer, working to consciously cultivate a habitual attention to God.[1][2][3]

The practice of recogimiento first sprang up around the turn of the 16th century,[4] was popularized in the 1520s, and flourished through the middle of the seventeenth century.[3] It likely first originated in Franciscan monasteries, possibly La Salceda or San Pedro de Arlanza.[4] The practice spread rapidly through Europe and the Americas,[1] influencing figures including Ignatius of Loyola, Teresa of Avila, and John of the Cross.[5]

Foundational texts of the movement included Bernardino de Laredo's Subida del Monte Sión[3] and Francisco de Osuna's Third Alphabet.[5]

References

  1. ^ a b Lehner, Ulrich L. (2022). The Inner Life of Catholic Reform: From the Council of Trent to the Enlightenment. Oxford University Press. p. 112. ISBN 978-0-19-762060-1.
  2. ^ Giles, Mary E. (1 January 1990). The Book of Prayer of Sor María of Santo Domingo: A Study and Translation. SUNY Press. pp. 64–66. ISBN 978-0-7914-0235-1.
  3. ^ a b c Boon, Jessica A. (1 January 2012). The Mystical Science of the Soul: Medieval Cognition in Bernardino de Laredo's Recollection Method. University of Toronto Press. pp. 4, 6, 13, 38, 56, 58, 73. ISBN 978-1-4426-4428-1.
  4. ^ a b Tyler, Peter (16 June 2011). The Return to the Mystical: Ludwig Wittgenstein, Teresa of Avila and the Christian Mystical Tradition. Bloomsbury Publishing. p. 3. ISBN 978-1-4411-6151-2.
  5. ^ a b T&T Clark Handbook of Christian Prayer. Bloomsbury Publishing. 16 December 2021. pp. 417–425. ISBN 978-0-567-66437-2.