Mariette In Ecstasy: A True Mysticism

The concept of being a mystic has been around for centuries. That is, “a person who claims to attain, or believes in the possibility of attaining insight into mysteries transcending ordinary human knowledge, as by direct communication with the divine or immediate intuition in a state of spiritual ecstasy” (Dictionary). This idea of mysticism is expressed in the novel Mariette in Ecstasy by Ron Hansen. While reading this novel, readers are forced to contemplate the question: is Mariette a fake or a real mystic? It can be decided that Mariette is in fact, a legit mystic due to the stigmata she experiences, the ecstasy she is overcome with, and the ever-growing relationship she has with God. The novel Mariette in Ecstasy tells the story of a young woman, Mariette who is aged seventeen, who defies her father’s wishes and joins the Our Lady of …show more content…
At the beginning, Mariette believes she has a lover, however he has not yet been found. Yet, she finds her beloved within God while she is in the convent, “’Every word penetrates me as softly as water entering a sponge. Weeks seem to pass, and yet only a half hour goes by. I know from hearing the choir singing the verses and responsories for Lauds. And he tells me what a great pleasure it is for his father to hear that. All our trying to please him pleases him, Jesus says.’ She kneels in front of the frowning prioress, her half-mittened hands nestled against her habit. She smiles. ‘And he gives me food as I have never eaten. And fine wine from a jeweled chalice. When he tells me to sleep, I do so at once, and he holds me. And I share in him as if he’s inside me. And he is’” (168). This statement proves Mariette’s love for God as she speaks of not only having emotional ties to God, but physical, and sexual feelings for him as well. This proves Mariette’s mysticism to be real because no other sister in the convent has had these experiences with