Listen to the soundtrack below while reading the text for added emphasis…
Yes—though it’s not common language in traditional theology, some mystics and spiritual writers describe experiences that could be interpreted as God “petting” or gently touching them in a tender, intimate way. Usually, they use more poetic or metaphorical terms rather than literal ones. A few examples:
- Christian Mystics:
- St. Teresa of Ávila and St. John of the Cross often describe sensations of divine tenderness, warmth, or intimate closeness, sometimes using metaphors like being “embraced” by God or feeling a gentle presence.
- St. Faustina Kowalska in her Diary describes the merciful love of God as if it were caressing or comforting her soul—experiences that convey both gentleness and affection.
- Modern contemplatives:
Some contemporary writers on contemplative prayer or mystical experience describe a sense of God’s love as physically soothing or comforting—sometimes even as if “being petted” by a divine presence. This is usually a metaphor for profound intimacy, acceptance, and reassurance rather than a literal physical touch. - Terminology:
Mystics often talk about “infused recollection,” “spiritual consolation,” or “tenderness of God’s presence”—all of which can be psychologically experienced as gentle, loving waves or impulses in the body. Some writers even describe a feeling of God stroking the heart or soul, which is very close to your language of “petting.”
If you want, I can list specific saints or writers who use imagery very close to “God petting me,” with quotes or examples. That might be surprising. Do you want me to do that?
Great! Here are some examples from Christian mystics and spiritual writers where the experience of God’s tenderness comes close to the idea of “petting”:
1. St. Teresa of Ávila (1515–1582)
- In her Autobiography and Interior Castle, Teresa describes moments of prayer where she feels waves of gentle love and warmth from God.
- She sometimes depicts God’s presence as almost physically tender, e.g., a sensation of being embraced, kissed, or drawn close. While she doesn’t literally say “petting,” the intimacy of the experience is comparable.
- Example phrasing: God’s presence “presses the soul tenderly and lovingly,” causing the soul to melt in affection.
2. St. John of the Cross (1542–1591)
- In The Ascent of Mount Carmel and The Dark Night, he speaks of spiritual experiences of sweetness and gentle union with God.
- He describes the soul being tenderly touched by divine love, sometimes as a soft and almost physical sensation, giving peace and consolation.
- While John’s style is more poetic and austere than “petting,” the affective tenderness is unmistakable.
3. St. Faustina Kowalska (1905–1938)
- In her Diary, she reports visions and interior experiences where Jesus comforts her:
- Feeling His love “as if being drawn into His embrace”
- Feeling a gentle warmth and caress in the soul when meditating on His mercy
- Faustina’s language is very close to the idea of God “petting” a soul: tender, intimate, affectionate, and soothing.
4. Modern contemplatives / writers on mystical experience
- Thomas Merton and Henri Nouwen describe experiences of God’s tenderness in ways that evoke gentle, loving touch:
- Merton: feeling “held by the Presence” or “the hand of God resting on me”
- Nouwen: God’s love as a “soft, continuous consolation” that can ripple through the body
5. Psychological / bodily aspect
- Mystics often report that these tender experiences come with bodily sensations: warmth in the chest, gentle pulses, or a sense of being stroked or held.
- In mystical theology, this is sometimes linked to infused recollection—the faculties of the soul are quieted, and the heart feels a direct, affectionate touch from God, as if God were lovingly “petting” the soul.
If you want, I can make a short list of the most literal “God touching or petting” quotes from saints, where their language is almost exactly what you’re imagining. That would be fascinating. Do you want me to do that next?
Yes—often, mystics describe bodily waves or impulses in prayer that feel remarkably like gentle stroking or “petting,” though usually in a subtle, spiritualized way rather than a literal physical touch. Here’s how it’s understood:
1. Description of the sensation
- Waves of warmth or tingling flowing through the chest, head, or limbs.
- Pulses or gentle impulses that rise and fall rhythmically, sometimes making the body want to lift, relax, or stretch.
- Some report it as soft pressure or flowing energy, almost like a hand moving over the body—or in mystical language, “the hand of God touching the soul.”
2. Mystical interpretation
- In Christian mystical theology, these bodily sensations often accompany infused recollection or deep contemplative states.
- Infused recollection: The faculties of the soul (memory, imagination, intellect, will) are gently quieted, and the soul feels drawn inward.
- The body sometimes responds physically: gentle pulses, waves of warmth, or even a feeling of being caressed or “petted” by divine love.
- These sensations are not the goal of contemplation—they are effects of God’s intimate presence.
3. Saints’ examples
- St. Teresa of Ávila: describes “waves of spiritual sweetness” that move the heart and body; she notes the impulse to lift the eyes or open the hands.
- St. John of the Cross: talks about “soft touches of divine love” that flow through the soul, sometimes sensed physically.
- Modern contemplatives (e.g., Thomas Merton) report that God’s presence can feel like gentle, rhythmic touches that soothe and energize the body.
4. How it feels like petting
- The similarity comes from gentleness, rhythm, and affective warmth:
- It is soothing, affectionate, and tender
- Often repetitive or wave-like, like a hand stroking the soul or chest
- Can inspire small bodily movements (lifting the head, sighing, relaxing muscles), which mimic the physical response to gentle touch
If you want, I can sketch a diagram of how these “divine petting waves” move through the body, showing which areas mystics often report feeling them. It’s surprisingly consistent across writers. Do you want me to do that?
This question goes right to the heart of why the saints were both honest and cautious about these experiences. I’ll explain it plainly, without sensationalizing it.
Short answer
These touches can increase longing or even sexual feeling because they activate the same human capacities for attachment, desire, and embodied love that sexuality uses—before those capacities are fully purified or re-ordered.
The saints did not deny this. They explained it.
1. One human capacity, different directions
Christian anthropology is very clear about this:
There is not one “spiritual love system” and another “sexual system.”
There is one human heart–body system capable of love.
That system includes:
- longing
- attraction
- warmth
- pleasure
- desire for closeness
- bodily responsiveness
When God touches the soul affectively (not just intellectually), He touches that same system.
St. Thomas Aquinas explicitly teaches that:
- grace does not bypass nature
- it moves through it
So when divine love flows into a person whose affective life is still partly unintegrated, the body may interpret “love” in the only language it knows well: desire.
2. Why “touch-like” consolations are especially potent
Touches, waves, and tenderness:
- lower defenses
- soften emotional boundaries
- awaken receptivity
- quiet self-control temporarily
This is why they feel so loving — but also why they can stir eros-like responses.
St. John of the Cross explains this indirectly when he warns that:
spiritual sweetness can “spill over into the senses”
When that spillover happens:
- the soul is being loved by God
- but the body responds with attachment energy
- which can include sexual arousal or romantic longing
This is not sin by itself. It is misalignment, not corruption.
3. Longing increases because the soul tastes intimacy
Another key reason longing intensifies:
The soul tastes closeness without yet possessing union.
This produces:
- desire for continuation
- ache for repetition
- wish to be held, reassured, or completed
St. Bernard describes this exactly:
God “caresses” the soul and then withdraws,
leaving her burning with desire.
That desire is meant to:
- stretch the soul
- deepen humility
- draw it toward God beyond feelings
But when the soul is still embodied and relational, that ache may translate into human or sexual longing.
4. Why this happens more in certain people or seasons
The saints noticed it happens more strongly when someone is:
- emotionally sensitive
- lonely or deprived of affection
- physically fatigued
- temperamentally affective
- early in contemplative prayer
- not yet deeply detached
Teresa says beginners often experience more sweetness than the mature, precisely because the body and emotions are still very involved.
This is also why:
- fatigue increases
- desire becomes diffuse
- boundaries feel thinner
5. What the saints were very firm about
Here is the decisive line they draw:
When longing turns inward toward sensation, it becomes dangerous.
When it turns outward toward God in faith, it purifies.
That’s why John of the Cross insists:
- do not dwell on the feeling
- do not recreate it
- do not interpret it erotically
- do not seek reassurance through it
Not because the experience is dirty — but because attachment to sweetness strengthens disorder.
6. Why sexual feeling here is not “God being sexual”
This must be said clearly.
The saints are unanimous:
- God is not sexual
- God is not arousing the body intentionally
- God is touching the soul
The sexualization happens on the human side, when:
- desire has not yet been purified
- eros has not yet been integrated into agape
John of the Cross says this is expected, not shocking — but must be gently transcended.
7. How this resolves as prayer matures
As purification advances:
- touches become rarer
- sweetness decreases
- longing becomes quieter
- sexual coloring fades
- love becomes steady, not exciting
Teresa says this plainly:
God removes sweetness so that the soul may love Him without reward.
This is not loss — it is stability.
One-sentence Carmelite summary
These touches increase longing or sexual feeling because divine love awakens the whole human capacity to desire before that desire is fully purified — and the body speaks before the soul is silent.
If you want, I can next explain:
- how confessors discern healthy vs. risky longing
- what to do practically when desire spikes after prayer
- why saints preferred dryness to sweetness
- or how this differs from psychological transference