What Are God’s Touches, and How Should One Respond to Them?

 

Touch is the most intimate of all divine communications. It bypasses words and images, reaching directly into the body and soul. Throughout history, mystics and ordinary believers alike have described moments when they felt physically touched—comforted, healed, or awakened—by a presence they recognized as holy. These experiences vary widely, but they share one trait: they leave peace, not fear.

 🌿 The Forms of Divine Touch

1. The Comforting Touch

Gentle, parental gestures—like a pat on the head, a hand on the shoulder, or a stroke on the cheek—often come in moments of distress or prayer. They carry reassurance rather than command. St. Thérèse of Lisieux described feeling “a caress from Heaven” when she was overwhelmed by suffering. Others have felt a light pressure on the crown of the head or a hand resting briefly on the back, as if to say, You are not alone.

2. The Healing Touch

This is the most dramatic form. It may coincide with physical healing, as in the Gospel accounts of Jesus touching the sick—or in modern testimonies of sudden recovery. Elizabeth Mahlou describes two such moments: one in solitude, when warm hands were laid upon your stomach and a severe infection vanished overnight; another during Eucharist, when a light touch on your shoulder coincided with the instant healing of a torn rotator cuff, the result witnessed immediately by many. These touches are rare, sovereign, and unmistakable. They are not rewards but interventions—signs of divine mercy breaking into human frailty.

3. The Awakening Touch

Some mystics speak of a touch that awakens the soul rather than the body. St. Teresa of Ávila wrote of feeling “a wound of love” when God’s presence pierced her heart—a spiritual sensation so intense that it left her trembling yet filled with joy. John of the Cross described similar experiences as “touches of divine fire,” moments of purification and union.

4. The Directive Touch

Occasionally, the touch carries instruction or a call to act. A nudge, a pressure, or a sudden warmth may accompany a call to act. For example, a missionary once reported feeling a firm hand on his shoulder while praying about whether to visit a dangerous region; the touch came with an inner certainty that he must go—and the journey proved providential. Elizabeth Mahlou once felt unworthy to receive Communion because of a venial sin she hadn’t confessed. As she remained in the pew, she felt a strong pull into the aisle and a locution impressed rather than heard: I want you to come. She obeyed. The touch and word were one—gentle, firm, unmistakably loving. Such touches are rare and must be discerned carefully since emotion and imagination can imitate them.

🌿 How to Respond to Divine Touch

  1. Receive with Reverence, Not Fear Authentic touches bring peace, not alarm. They do not demand attention; they invite trust.

  2. Discern the Fruits Ask: Does this touch lead to humility, gratitude, and love? If it breeds pride or obsession, it is not from God.

  3. Seek Confirmation in Prayer God’s touches harmonize with Scripture and conscience. They never contradict truth or charity.

  4. Avoid Seeking Repetition Divine touch is gift, not technique. To chase it is to risk illusion; to receive it humbly is to remain safe.

  5. Share Only When Guided Teresa and Dubay both caution that extraordinary experiences should be shared only with trusted spiritual guides. The purpose is not to impress but to discern.

🌿 The Hidden Continuity

Even when the physical sensation fades, its fruit remains—peace, healing, courage, or renewed faith. As Teresa wrote, “He touches the soul so gently that it knows Him without seeing.”

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.



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