Academic degrees earned
B.D., Pontifical University of Saint Thomas Aquinas
S.T.L., Pontifical University of Saint Thomas Aquinas
Ph.D., University College, Dublin
Brief biography
Paul Murray, O.P., an Irish Dominican friar, lives in Rome, where he teaches courses at the Angelicum University on the literature of the Western mystical tradition. He was born at Newcastle, Co. Down, in the North of Ireland on 26 November, 1947. Father Paul began teaching full time at the Angelicum in 1994 and, in the same year, was appointed Spiritual Director at the Convitto Internazionale San Tommaso. In 2000-2001, he was invited by Cardinal George to occupy the Paluch Chair of Theology at the University of St Mary of the Lake, Mundelein, Chicago. From the period 2001 to 2005 he was Vice Rector of the Angelicum University and, in 2007, he was elected President of the Institute of Spirituality at the Angelicum and re-elected in 2009. In 2010 he was invited by The House of Lords, London, to deliver an hour-long lecture on Christian Contemplation. On 17 January 2012 he was conferred with the STM (Master in Sacred Theology) by the Dominican Order. Father Murray’s books, 19 in all, including 6 books of poetry, are in the general field of spirituality and literature. They have been translated into languages such as German, French, Italian, Korean, Chinese, Polish, and Arabic.
Areas of Academic Specialization and Interest
Literature of the Western Mystical Tradition
Associations and Memberships
Fellow of Word on Fire Institute
Academic honors and awards
2012 STM (Master in Sacred Theology)
Current research/writing projects
Book project: Soundings in the Dominican Spiritual Tradition
Select Publications
T.S. Eliot and Mysticism: The Secret History of Four Quartets, 1991
A Journey with Jonah: The Spirituality of Bewilderment, 2002
The New Wine of Dominican Spirituality: A Drink Called Happiness, 2006
“I Loved Jesus in the Night”: Teresa of Calcutta, A Secret Revealed, 2008
In the Grip of Light: The Dark and Bright Journey of Christian Contemplation, 2012
Aquinas at Prayer: The Bible, Mysticism and Poetry, 2013
Stones and Stars (poetry), 2013
Scars: Essays, Poems, and Meditations on Affliction, 2014
God’s Spies: Michelangelo, Shakespeare, and Other Poets of Vision, 2018
Praying with Confidence: Aquinas on the Lord’s Prayer, 2010
Light at the Torn Horizon, 2022.
Curriculum Vitae