Molinos

(Revision as of 16:40, 10 Jul 2005)

Categories: The Gnostic Saints | Mystics

Miguel de Molinos. Founder of Quietism, born at Muniesa, Spain, 21 December, 1640; died at Rome, 28 December, 1696.

Molinos was a Catholic priest, having been ordained in his youth and given a benifice at Santo Tomas. He eventually became confessor of a group of nuns at Sant Alfonso. It was during this period when he published his Spiritual Guide, the main document of Quietism.

Quietism (Lat. quies, quietus, passivity) in the broadest sense is the doctrine which declares that man's highest perfection consists in a sort of psychical self-annihilation and a consequent absorption of the soul into the Divine Essence even during the present life. In the state of "quietude" the mind is wholly inactive; it no longer thinks or wills on its own account, but remains passive while God acts within it.

Miguel de Molinos was declared a dogmatic heretic, sentenced to life imprisonment after a bull by Pope Innocent XI declared as heresy his Spiritual Guide, and died in 1696. Many of his Quietistic teachings found their way into Thelema. His Spiritual Guide is a recommended text for preparation of the Student level of the A.'.A.'..

Sources

• http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/10441a.htm Molinos, Miguel de. The Catholic Encyclopedia.
• http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/12608c.htm Quietism. The Catholic Encyclopedia.
• http://www.adamford.com/molinos/ A downloadable text of the Spiritual Guide.