Mystical Experiences: Visions

 

Visions are among the most striking of mystical experiences. They can come as a single, vivid image that imprints itself on the mind, or as a living sequence—like a film unfolding before the inner eye. Some arrive with accompanying words, forming a hybrid of vision and locution. Others are purely visual, silent yet eloquent.

The saints and spiritual writers—from Teresa of Ávila and John of the Cross to Thomas Dubay—agree that visions are not rewards for holiness but instruments of grace. They are meant to teach, correct, or console, and they require discernment as much as wonder.

🌿 The Three Main Types of Vision

1. The Single Image

A single, unmistakable image that conveys meaning without words. It may appear suddenly, often in prayer or contemplation, and carry a clear directive or insight.

Example: Years ago, Elizabeth Mahlou saw the image of a colleague whom she barely knew imprinted on her last bottle of holy water from the Baptismal Site every time she happened to look at it. She had given away all the others and intended to keep this one, but the vision’s intention was unmistakable. Without consulting her priest—something she normally did—she obeyed what felt like a very clear inner prompting, brought the bottle to work, and tracked down the colleague in the division where he worked. He burst into tears: his newborn was hovering between life and death, and that gift became his first glimmer of hope.

Such visions are rare but deeply purposeful. They speak once, and their fruit endures.

2. The Living Vision — “Like a Movie”

These are dynamic, unfolding scenes—sometimes symbolic, sometimes literal.

Teresa of Ávila described seeing Christ “as if alive,” moving and speaking, though not with physical eyes. Catherine of Siena and Hildegard of Bingen experienced visionary sequences filled with theological imagery—living tableaux that conveyed truths beyond words.

These visions often come during intense prayer or suffering and are meant to instruct or strengthen, not to entertain.

3. The Vision with Words

Some visions arrive accompanied by locutions—spoken or interior words that clarify the image’s meaning.

For example, St. Faustina Kowalska’s visions of Christ were often paired with direct messages, forming what she called “conversations of mercy.”

Teresa warned that such experiences must be tested carefully, since imagination can easily blend with emotion. When authentic, the words and images harmonize, producing peace and humility rather than excitement or pride.

🌿 How to Respond to a Vision

1. Remain Calm and Reverent

Authentic visions carry authority without agitation. They do not demand panic or haste; they invite peace and clarity.

2. Test the Fruits

Ask: Does this vision lead to greater love, humility, and obedience? If it inflates ego or causes confusion, it is suspect.

3. Seek Counsel

Even Teresa submitted her visions to confessors and theologians. A wise spiritual director helps discern whether the vision is divine, psychological, or symbolic.

4. Act Only When Clarity Persists

If the vision carries a directive, wait until peace confirms it. Authentic visions withstand time; false ones fade or contradict themselves.

5. Do Not Seek Repetition

Visions are gifts, not techniques. To chase them is to risk illusion. To receive them humbly is to remain safe.

🌿 The Safest Posture

Receive the vision with gratitude, discern it with humility, and let its fruit speak for itself.

Authentic visions do not demand belief—they reveal truth through peace and love.

image and some research contributed by AI

post inspired by Blest Atheist by Elizabeth Mahlou

Book Description:

As a young child, outraged by the hypocrisy she finds in a church that does nothing to alleviate the physical and sexual abuse she experiences on a regular basis, Beth delivers an accusatory youth sermon and gets her family expelled from the church. Having locked the door on God, Beth goes on to raise a family of seven children, learn 17 languages, and enjoy a career that takes her to NASA, Washington, and 24 countries. All the time, however, God keeps knocking at the door, protecting and blessing her, which she realizes only decades later.
Ultimately, Beth finds God in a very simple yet most unusual way.
A very human story, Blest Atheist encompasses the greatest literary themes of all time – alienation, redemption, and even the miraculous. The author’s life experiences, both tragic and tremendous, result in a spiritual journey containing significant ups and downs that ultimately yield great joy and humility.

Book review

Brendan M. Howard

Flawed protagonist, honest struggles

DISCLAIMER: I received this book as an early review copy.

Elizabeth Mahlou's autobiography and tale of coming to believe in God has a lot going for it.

Her candid descriptions of physical, emotional, and sexual abuse at the hands of relatives gripped this reader in a flood of sympathy and horror. Mahlou's great reserve of optimism and compassion as child and adult seems initially boastful. But in light of her life of childhood trauma, physically and mentally challenged children of her own, her commendable hunt for intellectual success, and a cycle of poverty that she constantly fights to escape, readers will find themselves rooting for Mahlou more than most any other autobiographical subject in English letters. The story of her hurts and triumphs, unlike those of writers reeling from the obscene horrors of the Holocaust, horrific genocidal wars, or horrendous serial killing drama, is scary in its possibility. Parents who don't know how not to hit their kids? Medical and educational leaders who blindly try to force or refuse treatment to her children? These are realities for many, and her strength will be succor to those fighting against establishment figures.

But Mahlou's chief reason for writing this very personal tale is not to offer succor, but to tell the story of how an atheist came to believe in God. As a very intelligent, very compassionate nonbeliever-turned-Christian, Mahlou is a captivating example of religion's pull even for those who aren't writhing in self-pity, aren't blind to all but childish reasons for religious belief and aren't obediently following their parents' and parents' belief systems.

This is a tale of belief hard-fought-against, wisely considered, and spiritually experienced.

For more posts about Elizabeth Mahlou and her books, click HERE.

For more posts about religious conversion, click HERE.

For more posts about atheism, click HERE.

For more posts about spirituality, click HERE.

For more posts about God, click HERE.

CONTACT editor@msipress.com FOR A REVIEW COPY

MSI Press, a veteran-owned publishing house based in California, United States

best known for turning new writers into award-winning authors,
has gained mass recognition for releasing highly acclaimed books of varying genres
that are distributed internationally. Check us out on Wikitia.

To purchase copies of any MSI Press book at 25% discount,

use code FF25 at MSI Press webstore.

Want to read an MSI Press book and not have to pay for it?
(1) Ask your local library to purchase and shelve it.
(2) Ask us for a review copy; we love to have our books reviewed.

VISIT OUR WEBSITE TO LEARN MORE ABOUT ALL OUR AUTHORS AND TITLES.

Sign up for the MSI Press LLC monthly newsletter: get inside information before others see it and access to additional book content

(recent releases, sales/discounts, awards, reviews, Amazon top 100 list, links to precerpts/excerpts, author advice, and more)

Check out recent issues.

 

 

Follow MSI Press on Twitter, Face Book, Pinterest, and Bluesky. 

 

 

MSI Press welcomes submissions that reflect legacy and lived experience. Learn more about our publishing process on our website. We help writers become award-winning published authors, one writer at a time. We are a family, not a factory. Check our listing in Writer's Market, the most trusted guide to publishing.

Turned away by other publishers because you are a first-time author and/or do not have a strong platform yet? If you have a strong manuscript, San Juan Books, our hybrid publishing division, may be able to help. Ask us. Check out more information at www.msipress.com.

 

Planning on self-publishing and don't know where to start? Our author au pair services will mentor you through the process. See what we can do for your at www.msipress.com.

Interested in receiving a free copy of this or any MSI Press LLC book in exchange for reviewing a current or forthcoming MSI Press LLC book? Contact editor@msipress.com.

Want an author-signed copy of this book? Purchase the book at 25% discount (use coupon code FF25) and concurrently send a written request to orders@msipress.com.

Julia Aziz, signing her book, Lessons of Labor, at an event at Book People in Austin, Texas.

Want to communicate with one of our authors? You can! Find their contact information on our Authors' Pages.

Steven Greenebaum, author of award-winning books, An Afternoon's Discussion and One Family: Indivisible, talking to a reader at Barnes & Noble in Gilroy, California.

   

MSI Press is ranked among the top publishers in California.
Check out our rankings -- and more -- HERE.