Madelaine Delbrêl - inspiration for lay spirituality Abstract Madeleine Delbrêl is one of significant personalities in the Catholic Church in the twentieth century. Her way of life and her thoughts, in particular those regarding universal vocation to sainthood and mission influenced the Second Vatican Council. Her prophetic inspiration about lay dignity based on baptism was after thirty years expressed in many council documents and so contributed to a change of lay status in the Church. Key words Church, lay spirituality, mission, Marxism, worker priests Rozsah práce: 132 006 znaků včetně mezer (bez anotací a příloh)

In fourteenth-century England, a form of lay spirituality emerged, influenced by the writings and example of the famous mystics, both English and continental, of that period, but much affected by other developments as well. Against the background of socio-economic and political change, the emergence of lay spirituality is examined, with particular emphasis upon continuity and change within the church, the religious instruction of the age, and the spirituality of the English mystics. Finally, the sole surviving written record of lay spirituality of the period, The Book of Margery Kempe, is investigated, along with its author, Margery Kempe - pilgrim, visionary, and aspiring mystic.