Transcendent experience of St. Laura Montoya y Upegui

Abstract

The paper focuses on the life and written work of the Colombian Catholic mystic St. Laura Montoya y Upegui (1874–1949), known also as Mother Laura. The life of this mystic was marked by a mystical experience from her early childhood. In the work she left us, especially in her autobiography entitled History of the Mercies of God in a Soul [Historia de las misericordias de Dios en un alma], she tries to talk about her unique experience, although this task is not easy. She tends to speak about her mystical experience with God mainly through specific images of her own inner world. The aim of this study is to bring these images closer to the reader, analyse them and reconcile them with the aesthetic qualities of the narration, which helps to form more complete and complex image not only of the mystical experience, but also of the work by St. Laura.