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Caryll Houselander (29 September 1901 – 12 October 1954) was a lay Roman Catholic ecclesiastical artist, mystic, popular religious writer and poet. ==Early life== Born in Bath, England, Houselander was the second of two daughters of Wilmott and Gertrude Provis Houselander. Several authors, including Maisie Ward in her 1962 biography ''Caryll Houselander: That Divine Eccentric'', incorrectly state that Houselander was born on 29 October 1901 when, in fact, she was born on 29 September 1901 according to her birth certificate (cited in Andrew Cook, ''Ace of Spies: The True Story of Sidney Reilly'', rev. ed., 2004, p. 319, n. 27) and her remark in ''A Rocking-Horse Catholic'' (cited below, p. 41) that she took the confirmation "name of Michael after the Archangel on whose feast day I was born." When Houselander was six, her mother converted to Catholicism and she in turn was so baptised. Shortly after her ninth birthday, her parents separated and her mother opened a boarding house to support the family. Houselander was sent to a convent where she reported her first mystical experience. One day, she entered a room and saw a Bavarian nun sitting by herself, weeping and polishing shoes. At this time, there was much anti-German sentiment owing to the war. As she stared, she saw the nun's head being pressed down by a crown of thorns that she was to interpret as Christ's suffering in the woman. In her teens, she returned home to help her mother in the running of the boarding house. Gertrude allowed a priest to stay and this became such a source of scandal that Houselander and her mother suffered ostracism in the community. This may have been partly influential in her decision to leave the Roman Catholic Church as a teenager, not returning until in her twenties. It may also have contributed to a sense of isolation she would feel at times, reflected in panic attacks when entering rooms and meeting strangers, so much so that she was considered neurotic. One night, in July 1918, Houselander was sent by her mother on an errand. On her way to the street vendor, she looked up and saw what she later described as a huge Russian icon spread across the sky. The icon she saw was Christ crucified lifted up and looking down, brooding over the world. Shortly after, she read in a newspaper an article about the assassination of Russian Tsar Nicholas II. She said the face she saw in the newspaper photograph was the face she saw spread out over the sky as the crucified Christ. A third vision occurred when she was travelling on a busy underground train when she suddenly saw Christ, living and rejoicing, suffering and dying, in each and everyone of the passengers. When she left the train, the mystical experience continued for several days, during which she became persuaded that the unity of life in Christ was the only solution to loneliness and the human condition. Another experience involved one of her doctors, who had died but appeared and sat next to her on a bus. They were able to talk and converse. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Caryll Houselander」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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