Thomas Pater

This doctoral dissertion from the 1940's was most useful to me for information gained about inedia, or miraculous abstinence from food. The author covered briefly the lives of lesser known mystics as well as two more prominent of the last century. He proposes evidence for valid as well as false cases of abstinence, setting forth distinguishing characteristics of what constitutes a mystical fast opposed to a psychological or biological chosen fast. The technical descriptions toward the end seem redundant based upon what we know of such ailments as anorexia in our current time period, but his efforts in focusing on Catholic mystics and how to discern fasts that are miraculous, is quite enlightening and helpful, as well as interesting.… (altro)