An analysis of
the Contemplative Prayer in the Book of Life of St. Teresa of Avila
Preliminaries
It is no secret any longer that the
world is passing through a new paradigm of what in cultural anthropology people
popularly call “Neo Renaissance.” The resultant outcome of this new phase of
history is the revival of life whether in family, society, culture or religion.
People more than ever are focused to reinvent for themselves their true identity,
realizing finally that the externals alone can’t take them to any higher realm
of life and give them the satisfaction that their minds and hearts crave for. The
re-emergence of Personal Prayer in its contemplative dimension has to be seen
from this social cultural dimension of neo renaissance on one hand and the
desire and deeper aspiration of the human quest for the experience of the
divinity on the other. This new challenge finds in the expression in the
clarion call given by Pope John Paul II at the dawn of the new century and in
millennium year.
“The time has come to re-propose
wholeheartedly to everyone this high standard of ordinary Christian living: the
whole life of the Christian community and of Christian families must lead in
this direction. It is also clear however that the paths to holiness are
personal and call for a genuine “training in holiness.” This training in
holiness calls for a Christian life distinguished above all in the art of
prayer … we well know that prayer cannot be taken for granted. We have to learn
to pray. In today’s world, despite widespread secularization, there is a
widespread demand for spirituality, a demand which expresses itself in large
part as a renewed need for prayer. How can we forget here … the teachings of
Saint John of the Cross and Saint Teresa of Avila?” [1]
The call to holiness and the emergence
of new challenges through the “Neo
Renaissance has further effects on the lives of priests and religious and laity
challenging on one hand their habituated customary way of life and the need
re-focus themselves according to the
changing situations of the times on the other. “New wines in the new wineskins”
However, no new wine can be made out of nothing. It requires the grapes from
yesterdays. Human person being historic in nature requires historical roots to
reinvent within himself/herself meaning and purpose that suits the signs of the
time. We build on the past when on our way to construct the future by merging
the past with the future in appropriating life in the present.
However, it has to be noted that, the
desire of the human heart for a deeper God experience is a phenomenon that is
common in all cultures and religions from the very beginning of human history.
In our Christian literature when Raimundo Panniker calls this desire as “the
Archetype of the Monk,” Karl Rahner names it as “Transcendental Existential.”
St. Augustine says it all when he prays, “our hearts are treated for Thee O
Lord; they are restless until they rest in Thee.” The human person who is
created by God from the abundance of his love cannot be reaching its creative
originality unless it remains in tune with the creator.
Down the centuries many a Mystics and
traditions have sought this God experience and attained it with compelling success
thereby making mystical tradition a realistic one on one hand and attainable on the other. Carmelite tradition
in general and the St. Teresa of Avila in particular are the subject matter of
our discussion in this ontology. Herein this article we restrict ourselves to
the Book of Life of St. Teresa with a brief introduction to the Carmelite
tradition and tradition of the personal contemplative prayer. We intend to
discuss the book of life exegetically keeping behind our mind one single theme:
Contemplative prayer.
A Historical
Glance at Carmelite Tradition:
The Carmelite tradition goes back to the
simple origins of the Carmelite Order when lay hermits grouped together near
the fountain of Elijah in a ravine two and a half miles south of the modern city
of Haifa at the wadi ain essiah.
These hermits who settled in this ravine knew full well the historical
significance of this lovely location that faces the beautiful blue waters of
the Mediterranean Sea. These hermits sought the church approval for their
simple way of life from Albert, the patriarch of Jerusalem, who presented them
between 1206 and 1214 with their formula of life. The formula, in a slightly
revised form, became their Rule in 1247. The formula is a description of a
small community of hermits with each hermit having his own cell, gathered
together for a weekly meeting about their way of life, and for the daily
Eucharist whenever it was possible. Solitude, silence and simplicity were the
hallmarks of a life that included manual labour. The life of hermits entailed
spiritual combat so well known to the desert dwellers of early Christian
Monasticism and for which the Carmelite was to “put on the armour of God.” Each
hermit was to “…remain in his cell, or around it, meditating day and night on the
law of the Lord and keep vigil in prayer unless occupied with other lawful
duties.” Today it is well-known fact that the first Carmelites prayed the
Psalms rather than recited the hours of the divine office.[2]
Prayer among the first Carmelites was
simple, contemplative and carried out in a solitude supported by community.
This prayer was carried out in the warmth of Grace received from the Holy
Spirit. No prescribed methods of prayer appear in the formula of life, as has
been the norm in the Carmelite tradition. A life of prayer in the desert
tradition undoubtedly led to the intensification of prayer that later would be
called mystical. Although there are no reports of the lay hermits at the wadi ain essiah, it is reasonable to
conjecture that, in the silence and solitude of Mount Carmel, some of these
hermits enjoyed that prayer of desert dwellers described by John Cassian as,
“…fashioned
by the Contemplation of God alone and by the fervent charity, by which the
mind, having been dissolved and flung into love of him, speaks most familiarly
and with particular devotion to God…and which leads them by a higher stage to
that fiery and …wordless prayer which is experienced by very few.” [3]
By 1238, some of the Carmelites were
migrating to the West due to the hardships imposed on the Latin kingdoms by the
local political establishments and settled in places like Cyprus, Sicily,
England and France. Here they first encountered the mendicant orders like
Franciscans and Dominicans and had to change their state from eremitical to
mendicant. Although the academic qualifications and exposure to the mendicant
way of life changed their lifestyle considerably their basic orientation to
life were still authentic and brought forth a new vision of Carmelite mystical
tradition. The book “Institution of the
First Monks” speaks of this new vision so clearly.
The
prophet of God, Elijah, was the chief of the monks, from whom the holy and
ancient order took its origin. For it was he who, desirous of greater progress
in the pursuit of divine contemplation, withdrew far from the cities and
despoiling himself of all earthly and mundane things, was the first to adopt
the holy and solitary life of a prophet which he had established at the
inspiration of the Spirit.
The
goal of this life is twofold. One part we acquire, with the help of the divine
grace, through our efforts and virtuous works. This is to offer God a holy
heart, free from all stain of actual sin…. The other part of the goal of this
life is granted as the free gift of God: namely to taste somewhat in the heart
and to experience in the soul, not only after death but even in this mortal
life, the intensity of the divine presence and the sweetness of the glory of heaven.”
[4]
Another important historical phase that
requires our attention is the reform that came into the Carmelite Order in the
person of Blessed John Soreth, the prior general of the Order from 1451 to
1471. He called for an urgent return to solitude and renewed regard for the
cell, the separated cell of the Formula of life and the Rule. Moreover, Soreth
officially welcomed for the first time women as Second Order Carmelites, an
innovation that had a momentous impact on the Carmelite tradition of prayer. It
is among the cloistered Carmelite women that the ideal of solitude in community
from the original charism continues as a special witness to the whole church
and to the rest of the Carmelite Order.
Besides this venture, John Soreth also helps to raise the sight of his
medieval Carmelites to an awareness that they must not neglect solitude nor
forget their vocation to contemplative prayer, that prayer open to God’s
transforming presence. Soreth knew that solitude and contemplative prayer had
been the lot of the Carmelites since the days of the hermits on Mount Carmel.
The challenge then and now is for fruitful solitude that leads to living
attentively in the presence of God, whether that prayer be mystical or quite
ordinary, whether in the cloister or in the classroom, in the pulpit or in
one’s cell, whether in the service of the poor or in pursuit of one’s work in
the world, whether as lay Carmelite or a as a Carmelite Religious. It is the
same challenge of the need of solitude and contemplative prayer that persuaded
St. Teresa of Avila to reform Carmelite order later in the 16th
century.
The
Roots of Contemplative Prayer Tradition
The two important sources that come
handy to us in our attempt to glance through the early history of Carmelite
life are: the “Rule of Life” and “The Institution of the First Monks.” In fact
the Rule of Life describes a life
rather than a particular practice of prayer. Although the rule mediates the
life of a monk through the daily liturgy and the recitation of the psalms, the
seventh chapter summarizes the entire life sequence of a Carmelite. “Let all
remain in their cells or near them, meditating day and night on the law of the
Lord and keeping vigil in prayer, unless occupied with other lawful duties.”
What is the meaning of ‘meditating’ and
‘keeping vigil in prayer’? The answer will be found in the monastic practice of
the time, which came from the desert fathers through John Cassian and the
ancient rules of Basil and Benedict; it was the monastic form of lectio divina. Although this was done by
reciting our father or the psalms, one special way was by repeating the phrases
of the scriptures, often aloud , after the teaching of John Cassian, who
suggested the words, “God come to my assistance; Lord make haste to help me.” This
use of the mantra fits the prayer of the heart that Thomas Merton characterizes
in the desert tradition. This prayer was not an intellectual analysis, or the
active use of the imagination. Prayer of the heart consisted in entering deeply
into one’s self to seek purity of heart, that is utter detachment and surrender
to the indwelling God. The way to the heart was the word of God. Biblical
phrases were repeated and pondered as in Jesus prayer, which is a perfect
example of the method followed. The goal was both transformation and continuous
loving conversation with God according to the exhortation of the chapter
fourteen which says: May you possess abundantly in your mouth and hearts the
swords of the spirit, which is God’s Word. Just so whatever you do, let it be
done in the Lord’s Word.”[5]
We can in fact trace the roots of this
prayer in the bagah tradition of the
Old Testament, a tradition that was quite familiar to the pious Jew. The pious
Jews recited the passages from the sacred Scripture aloud from memory and
repeated the phrases of the psalms to root the thought in the mind and the
heart.[6]
The continuous repetition was called murmuring. Kees Waaijiman describes the
practice in an Old Testament Context:
“One
murmured the Torah ruminating it until the text had completely becomes one’s
own, and began to sigh from within as the cooing of a dove. One made Torah
one’s own bodily, emotionally, cognitively, memorizing it so that he ultimately
became one with Torah.”[7]
The whole person is involved - the voice,
the imagination, the feelings, the mind, and heart – and the whole person was
to be clothed with the word of God. As a result a new person emerges.
The method of meditating, therefore, was not
objectified thinking, but pondering the word of God in one’s heart, with one’s
whole interior being in non discursive attention. Even the mouth and the tongue
participated, so that the pondering was physical as well as interior. This was
one reason for placing the solitary cells at a distance from each other not to
disturb the neighbours by noisy prayer. The end in view was however was both
public praise and the transformation of the person, letting the word of God
penetrate one’s very being for a new, personal identity after scriptural model.
The early Christian brethren who had by
and large Jews continued this method of the prayer of the heart in their own
private prayers till the Desert Fathers made it famous by their method of Hesychasm. Hesychasm is a mode prayer
where the mystic quietly recites the name of Jesus with faith and love through
which the mind, heart and life are united in a single authentic whole.[8]
The Desert Fathers proposed a sacred phrase “Lord Jesus Christ, have mercy on
me a sinner” an expression made popular by the book “Way of the Pilgrim” in our
own times. Even here the method was the same. This was the prayer used in the
monastic tradition in the Eastern Churches.
John Cassian, have the unique
credibility of bringing this method of prayer and the contemplative life style
in the western world. The conferences of
John Cassian and the book “Cloud of Unknowing” are two classical texts
available to us that extensively deal with contemplative method and propose it
as a way of life. St. Teresa who enters into the mystical world of sixteenth century,
therefore is only continues to deal with this method of prayer with her
personalized uniqueness.
St.
Teresa of Avila: The Mystical Doctor
St. Teresa enters into the history of
Contemplative prayer tradition when Spain was in effervescence not only
politically but also spiritually. In that respect Spain was much like the world
of today. There was an increasing desire for spiritual growth among the people
manifesting in these three following characteristics: a call to interior life;
the practice of mental prayer; and strong leaning toward higher levels of
mystical life. Giving support to this spiritual rebirth was the Spanish
Catholic reform initiated even before the Council of Trent and reoriented by
Cardinal Cisneros. Added to this were the other reform movements initiated by
great personalities like, John of Avila, St. Ignatius of Loyola, the
Benedictines, the Dominicans and the Franciscans. The printing press which came
as a new blessing to humanity offered large amount of literature on prayer and
interior life in different languages. Although these above said phenomena paved
ample scope for spiritual growth and maturity, their misuse and misguidance was
also abundantly manifesting at the same time, making the church nothing to
leave for chance but to curb all sorts of deviations with severe austerity and
sternness. It is no surprise therefore that we see in St. Teresa a certain fear
of her loosing track with the spiritual authenticity, sharing therefore every
spiritual phenomena she experienced with her confessors.[9]
The
Period and Situation Surrounding the “Book of Life”
It is now an accepted fact that at the
time when Teresa began to pen her Book of
Life she was around fifty years of age and experiencing a steady flow of
mystical graces for close to ten years. It was her confessors who asked her for
a written testimony of her life in order to make sure that she was in the right
direction. The painful difficulty for her was to write with accuracy what she
really experienced. She finally had to recourse to Laredo’s Ascent of Mount Zion in which she underlined and marked passages
that seemed to her that the experiences mentioned there are similar to that she
was experiencing. “For a long time, even though God had favored me, I didn’t
know what words to use to explain His favors. And this was no small trial”
(Life 12:6). To explain to others what she was going through itself a moment of
grace. “For it is one grace, to receive the Lord’s favor; another to understand
which favor and grace it is; a third, to know how to describe it” (Life 17:5).
In the wealthy, somewhat peaceful
surroundings of the palace of Dona Luisa de la Cerda, where she has been
staying, at this noble lady’s request, and by order of her provincial, Teresa
begins to put her story of life in paper as a first draft. The first draft she
wrote was like the form of a long letter without dividing it as paragraphs or
chapters. She presents it to Fr. Gartia,
her confessor, in June 1562, before returning to Avila.
Unfortunately the first draft has been
lost for us. However, her confessor read her composition making some
observations and corrections and asking more details wherever obscurities were
evident in the text. This request with her first manuscript she receives
sometimes between 1563 and 1564 when she began to reside in her new foundation
– the monastery of St. Joseph. Then she sets out to write her second draft
amidst the tranquility of contemplative life she enjoyed as she began residing
in this new monastery, in a cell stark for its poverty, of course with minimum
comforts, may be even without a chair or a table.
The contents of the second draft are
much extensive than the first one. She adds eleven chapters (Chapters 11 -22)
in which using the allegory of the four ways of watering garden, she composes a
complete treatise on the degrees of prayer. She added as well the requested
account of her foundation of St. Joseph’s (Chapters 32-36) and then wrote her
additional chapters that tell us of her extraordinary favors received up till
1565. This may be therefore considered the completion date of the Book of Life in its present form.
Nature
and Content of the Book of Life
Although the Book of Life is considered as an autobiography of St. Teresa, it is
to be understood neither as an autobiography nor a personal diary rather a
guide to an interior life. It is true that St. Teresa makes use of her
autobiographical material as a backdrop against which she treats supernatural
realities bestowed to a soul by God. Thus when one reads the book of life one
should remember two things: one, the fragmentary and scattered biographical material
which deals both external and internal of her life. Second, the more sublime
part of the treatise should be read as a manual of spiritual life meant for a
universal audience. The external part of
her biography deals with the historical facts; it is a personal chronicle
limited in value. The interior level deals with the mystical facts, which by
their very nature lie beyond that which is purely historical and psychological.
It embraces higher levels of consciousness, passive perception and love and
intimacy with God; an intense state of life in the spirit.
St. Teresa harmoniously blends both these
levels as she prepares the Book of Life.
As for the exterior events of her Life the first part, that is 1515 –
1535, consists of twenty years of her family life, the next twenty seven years,
1535 – 1562, comprises her Carmelite life in the monastery of Incarnation; the
final period includes three years 1562 – 1565, her life at St. Joseph’s those
infant years of hers in the reformed Carmelite life the expansion of which
becomes her mission till her death in 1582.
As for the interior events, her life was
by and large a life that is ascetical until her conversion experienced in 1554
(Life 9: 1-8). For the next two years she experiences the first inpouring of
the mystical graces; feelings of God’s presence, passive recollection and
quiet, the first tastes of union (Life 19:9, 10:1). About 1557 she receives her
first locutions and raptures (Life 25:1, 15; 27:2). In June 1560 she had her
first intellectual vision of the humanity of Christ (Life 7:2) and in January,
1561 the imaginative vision of sacred humanity in its risen form (Life 28:3).
She frequently received these graces for the next two years from 1561 – 1563
and then for the next three years 1563 – 1565 she was bestowed with vehement
impulses of love, spiritual wounds of love and transverberation. Teresa was in
this spiritual state when she begins to pen down her Book of Life. Beside this before adding the final touches to her
work, Teresa was raised to a still higher form of mystical experience. It is
quite certain therefore, what she gives us is not just a theoretic formulation
of her interior life but the totality of mystic experiences in all its
fullness.
While giving personal testimonies of her
own experiences Teresa in fact writes a treatise on Mystical Theology for the
universal church. Although no two mystics go through the same mystical
experiences – thanks to the uniqueness of human person – her personal account
of interior life becomes a handbook for all seekers to reach their higher plane
of life. Thus in her own personal journey Teresa simultaneously becomes a
universal teacher on mystical Theology.
The
General Structure of the Book
The basic structure of book consists of
four parts
1. Sins,
graces and vocation 10 chapters
2. Treatise
on the degrees of prayer 12
chapters
3. Mystical
Life 9
chapters
4. Effects 9
chapters
Emerging
Themes in the Book of Life
1.
The
Nature of Contemplative Prayer:
Before we take up Teresa’s treatise on
contemplative prayer it would be advisable to go to the personality of Teresa.
It should be noted that one’s relationship with God is closely interlinked with
one’s relationship with oneself and to the other. Integration is the hallmark
of any relationship including spiritual relationship. The way one looks at oneself
is the way one look at others; the way one looks at oneself and others is the
only way one can look at God.
Teresa had a heart open to affection and
a mind open to wonder. She was a lover in every sense of the term. She had a
tremendous inborn talent to make friends. This would work out as a biggest
blessing for her in her mission of expansion on one hand and growth of spirituality
on the other. At the same time everything in nature aroused her sense of
wonder. Nature was like a book in which she read messages about the wisdom and
the love of God. (Life 9) Early in life she was impelled by the need for
sharing her experiences. Listening to the lives of the saints and the accounts
of those martyred by the Muslims especially in southern Spain, she experienced
an inner ignition of her devotion to leave home and set off for the land of the
Moors in order to die a martyr. But she wanted a companion. She shared her
aspiration with Rodrigo her brother. This incident reveals Teresa’s desire and
need of companionship and fellowship in her youthful adventures – her trait
that will mark her throughout her life. This need for sharing will invade also
her life of prayer. There was a large picture in her house of Jesus sitting by
the well of Jacob and the Samaritan woman coming to draw water. Teresa made
those words her own and instinctively identified herself with the Samaritan
woman whose thirst for love she seems to have intuited in some mysterious way.
“Give me water,” she used to say, she used to pray. Possibly her vocation to
Carmel was the answer to that prayer.
Carmelite lifestyle as we have already
seen characterizes more than anything else “meditation on the Word of God day
and night and watching in prayer.” Teresa learnt as a young religious the
customary method of prayer but before she practiced them for a long time, she
was captivated by some secret, inexplicably delightful, very personal
encounters with the Lord (Life 4, prayer of quiet and union). The Lord himself
had come to mark her out as his own. Now prayer became for her the greatest of
blessings. It enabled her to feel and experience at very close range the
friendship of Jesus as the apostles and the Magdalene had experienced it. She
became an oratious student of prayer and made affords to practice it. Her
desire for companionship urged her to share her prayer experience with others
including those for whom she wrote the account of life.
Intimacy
with God
Teresa defines contemplative prayer as “an
intimate sharing between friends; it means taking time frequently to be alone
with him who we know loves us.” (Life 8:5) This definition is comprehensive; it
is a definition that would require to be meditated and reflected, and more than
that it requires to be put into practice. Have you ever fallen in love? Only a
lover like Teresa can understand the significance of the words that she uses.
Teresa however, understands that friendship is a state that demands a great
deal from those who are caught up in such an alliance; the self exchanges with
the other. The other becomes another self and so Jesus says to Teresa, “lose
yourself in me and you will find new life.” After many years in the convent
Teresa came to understand more fully the demands and the cause of this divine friendship.
She gave herself so generously to God who cannot be outdone in generosity.
“This is another new book from here, she says, I mean another new life. The
life dealt with up to this point was mine; the one I lived from the point where
I began explaining these things about prayer is the one God lived in me”. (Life
23:1). Such is the transforming power of
friendship with God. Teresa began to experience that prayer was divinizing her.
How did this come about? Teresa explains her method. “I tried as hard as I could
to keep Jesus Christ within me (Life 9:4). Prayer means attention to Jesus
within one self where personal encounter takes place. “I remained with Him” (Life
9:4). She tells her readers “one should just remain there in his presence”
(Life 13:22). This method of presence gave Teresa satisfaction in prayer. It
was the presence of a friend to a friend. To pray she says is “to seek to be
servants of love” and “to follow resolutely by mean of this path of prayer Him
who has loved us so much” (Life 11:1).
“We belong no longer to ourselves but to
Him” (Life 11:12). This sense of belonging will gradually though imperceptibly
have an impact on our whole life and being. Our thinking, our attitude, our
speech, our behaviour will be progressively patterned on Jesus so that with
Teresa and Paul we will be able to say “I live no longer but Christ lives in
me.”
As in friendship so in prayer the
purpose is “to conform our way of life to His” (Way 22:7). Once again in the Way of Perfection Teresa wants the
person who prays to be looking at Jesus. “With the intellect quiet...look at
Jesus who is looking at us” (Life 13:22). Paying loving attention to the person
of Jesus is looking with regard at God’s love for us. In the teaching of Our
Father she says, “You will understand immediately the love He has for you” (Way
26:10). To know one is loved is a starting point of friendship. To know one is
loved is starting point of dialogue-the dialogue of friends. “Love begets love”
(Life 22:14). Teresa’s method therefore for mental prayer would be “do that
which best stirs you to love” (Castle 4:7) a method she would explain later in
the degrees of prayer. Friendship is an encounter between love and love but for
Teresa it is also an encounter between truth and truth. In prayer God reveals
Himself to us and we are expected to reveal ourselves to God. Even more; in
prayer if we are ready for it- as would be in the case of a true friend – God
reveals me to myself. “God loves to give” says Teresa, and “He never tires of
giving” “without measure”. “He goes around looking to someone to give to.”
For Teresa as already hinted, prayer is
the way of self-discovery. Through prayer we get to know ourselves; “our
miseries, our moral state; our psychology, our conscientiousness. If we
correspond with the light that God gives us regarding our conscience life, He
will gradually unveil for us glimpses of our subconscious.” Which earthly friend
will do this favour for us? This is a subject matter although she just traces
in the Book of Life its full
exposition is made in The Interior Castle.
This book of Teresa is all about “our marvelous capacity”, “dignity,” “beauty,”
that we are “a palace made entirely out
of a diamond or of very clear crystal”. St. Teresa is herself struck with
wonder and exclaims, “we have the power to converse none other than God” (Castle1.1.6)
And what about our moral condition? Our
psychological makeup is one thing; our moral behaviour is another. There is of
course a relationship between the two, which assumes different tones in
different people. Of herself Teresa writes, “through practice of prayer... I
knew the road I was following was a bad one” (Life 19:12). “In prayer” “I understood
more clearly my faults” (Life 7:17).
Being a personal encounter and an
intimate one at that, prayer has the power of transforming people. The reason
for this is that when God helps His friends to discover the secret intentions,
motivations and movements of their souls which are hidden from their own eyes
His purpose is to change them for the better. Many people may have the courage
to tell us what they think of us. Some may even have the charity to do so. But
when we know that the one who is correcting us has a deep affection for us that
very knowledge is compelling and urging us to change. “Intimate friendly
sharing” tends to grow with the passage of time. Innumerable especially in her
own Life, Teresa tells us of her own experience and of what prayer did for us.
“... I think it would have been impossible in short a time to get rid of so
many bad habits and deeds. May the Lord be praised who freed me from myself” (Life
23:1).
Earlier she had mentioned some of her
lapses and short comings. “Since I thus began to go from past time to past
time, from vanity to vanity, from one occasions of sin to another to place
myself so often in a very serious occasions and to allow my soul to become so
spoiled by many vanities, I was then ashamed to return to the search for God by
means of a friendship as special as is that found in the intimate exchange of
prayer”( Life 7:1). She recognized later that this was a false humility, a
terribly evil trick; “that seeing myself so corrupted, I began to fear the
practice of prayer” (Life 7:1). Teresa soon understood that avoiding prayer
would be running away from the only medicine that could cure her sickness. She
fell at the feet of Jesus like another Magdelene and made “determined
determination” to sacrifice everything rather than lose her friendship with
God. In the Book of Life the chapter
23 onwards, she described the favours that were lavishly bestowed on her by her
Friend, who is preparing her to be His bride. This preparation consists mainly
in the deepening of the bond of intimate friendship.
The Methods
of Contemplative Prayer
St. Teresa, a great teacher in Prayer,
teaches the beginner the ways and means of entering into this Divine Intimacy.
In the Book of Life she proposes us
three methods, the very means she adopted spelling out at the same time other
methods which are very helpful to others but not very successful in her own
life. In this way reminding us the only way to prayer is to adopt what one’s
personality allows and never force what it does not. “Pray as you can and don’t
attempt to pray as you can’t.”
The best way, she found in prayer was to
represent Christ to oneself; that is to make Jesus Christ present to oneself.
“I tried as hard as I could to keep Jesus Christ, our God and our Lord, present
within me” (Life 4:7C also 9:4)). If you reflect on the passion of Jesus you
represent Him interiorly. Representing the humanity[10]
of Christ does not mean to picture Him rather to experience his presence and
live in that presence in a thoughtless stage. Teresa says this way of praying
is nonetheless very laborious and painful. “The soul is left as though without
support or exercise, and the solitude and dryness is very troublesome” (Life 4:
7C). A more effective way is to be aware of Him in love. He is the object of
our love. Prayer is an act of the will. There is a great struggle against
thoughts or the work of the imagination. If one perseveres in trying not to
depend on thinking, one reaches contemplation more quickly along this way (4:
7c). This method demands greater purity of conscience than those who can work
with the intellect because in this method there is no element of resolutions
and deciding to practice virtues. The time after receiving communion is a
special time for prayer (4: 9). This method is “without discursive reflection
on the part of the intellect” (9: 5).
The second method Teresa teaches us is perhaps
very common in religious communities is reflection on elements of faith; what
is popularly called discursive meditation. It is the act of the imagination and
intellect. In this method we reflect discursively on (a)what the world is, (b)
what one owes to God, (c) how much God suffered, (d)how little one serves Him,
and (e) what God gives to anyone who loves Him. From this we deduce doctrine to
free ourselves from thought, occasions, and dangers. Presencing Christ within oneself,
says Teresa, is “very laborious and painful” and to some people “discursive
reflection is an extremely difficult thing to practice” (Life 4: 8; also 8:7;
10: 2). Some don’t have the talent for discursive thought or for a profitable
use of the imagination. St. Teresa found little success in her own prayer life,
through this way of praying. If all these activities are done out of love, the
soul is gladdened and there flow tears of devotion – or are they tears of joy
or sorrow or repentance (Life 10: 2; 1: 13).
The minimum that one can do at prayer is
to read good books. But one requires to restrict to it only when one does not
follow the first two methods. The first is spending a good deal of time in
reading. It is more like spiritual reading. It is permissible since by oneself
one cannot get any idea, i.e. can’t make discursive meditation. This method may
be useful when one is exhausted and unable to concentrate. The second is to
read a little to get some idea or thought on which to make the discursive
meditation. Reading is very helpful for recollection and serves as a necessary
substitute. We should not spend all the time in reading except when unable to
practice mental prayer. Some have difficulty in concentrating without a book.
This is perhaps the most common method practiced. However, one should remember
that Prayer time is not for reading and study.
There are other ways of prayer methods
Teresa proposes which she found useful.
1. It could be looking at a statue of
wounded Christ (statue of Ecce Homo
which is still venerated in St. Joseph’s at Avila). It can remind us how we fail
to respond to his love (life 9:1)
2. Taking a model saints who was once a
great sinner like that of Mary Magdalene, sinner and her conversion (9: 2).
Teresa prayed to this saint to obtain pardon for her own sins.
3. Taking time after Holy Communion and
making oneself aware of the closeness of Jesus, present within us. We may pray
to Jesus to help us in our weakness and to guide us in our ways of loving him.
An image of Jesus, in whatever earthly scene, is a great help toward looking at
Jesus within. We can accompany Him where He is alone, make persistent petitions
with trust.
Another method that can help us to get
into the mood of prayer is to enjoy the nature the greatest manifestation of
the presence of the Lord. Enjoying looking at fields, or water, or flowers (12:
16) and thereby remembering the creator can be of great help in prayer, if we don’t
wish to use books (9: 5) However one should remember that creation can only be
a stepping stone to the Creator and therefore one should take care not to remain
only enjoying the creature.
The
Stages of Contemplative Prayer
One of the greatest contributions of
Teresa to Mystical Theology is her treatise on the grades of Prayer. Chapter 11
to 22 of her Book of Life exclusively dedicated for this treatise. A matured
experienced Teresa gives us in and through her own experience of life how to grow
in spiritual life and how to know where one has reached and consequence of this
growth.
Teresa begins the treatise of the
degrees of prayer by an allegory of watering. Our growth in life can be
compared to four types of watering the garden, a garden that the Lord himself
wishes to make in one’s life. In this allegory the water stands for our life of
prayer; the Garden for our spiritual life; Jesus himself is the master of the
Garden; the person who undertakes the spiritual journey is the gardener and the
plants are the virtues we desire to perfect. “The beginner must realize that in
order to give delight to the Lord he is starting to cultivate a garden on very
barren soil, full of abominable weeds. His majesty pills up the weeds and
plants good seeds. Now let us keep in mind that all of this already done by the
time a soul is determined to practice prayer and to begun to make use of it”
(Life 11:6b). For Teresa, the life of prayer begins when one responds to God’s
love in freedom. “Behold I come and knock at the door of your heart. If you
open the door to me, I will come and dine with you and you with me” (Rev.
3:20). “ Let us speak now,” she says, “of those who are beginning to be the
servants of love” (Life 11:1). The response to God’s unconditional love is done
in love where one allows the river of love to flow into one’s life. The goal of
prayer as she says, “…with the help of God we must strive like good gardener to
get these plants to grow and take pains to water them so that they do not
whither but come to bud and flower and give forth a most pleasant fragrance to
provide refreshment for this Lord of ours” (Life11: 6b). The growth of virtues
in order to bring forth in one’s life the original pristine purity of our
creativeness should be the only dream of our prayer life.
Teresa speaks about four types of
watering thereby dividing the spiritual growth of one’s life from beginning
stage to the spiritual union. The first stage of prayer i.e., the beginners
stage is compared to drawing water from the well; the well is deep and the bucket
is small which involves a lot of labour and the result being minimal. So too
for the beginner in spiritual life. It involves a lot of labour on their part.
“They must tire themselves in trying to recollect their senses. Since they are
accustomed to being distracted, the recollection requires much effort” (Life
11:9). The second stage prayer Teresa compares to drawing water through a
windlass that is by turning the crank of water wheel and by aqueducts, whereby
the gardener obtains more water with less efforts; and can rest without having
to work constantly. This stage is what Teresa calls the prayer of Quiet. The third stage of prayer is compared to watering
through a flowing river or spring; with much less labour although some labour
is required to direct the flow of water. Teresa calls this prayer as the prayer
of the sleep of the faculties. “The
Lord so desires to help the gardener here that He himself becomes practically
the gardener and the one who does everything” (Life 16: 1). And the fourth
stage of prayer is the imagery of the watering through heavy showers. This is
the prayer of union. Here the soul
enjoys the bliss of the heavy showers flowing from the unconditional love of
God. Here the prayer is experienced not as a work but as glory. The soul moves
out of the possession of its sense and rejoices in the abundance of love poured
out by the spirit.
Let us discuss each of these stages
briefly:
First
Degree of Prayer: Chapter 11-13 of the Book of Life deal with the first degree
of prayer what Teresa calls the prayer of the beginner. To begin to pray is to
be determined to be the servants of love. She exclaims: It “doesn’t seem to me to mean anything
else than to follow resolutely by means of this path of prayer Him who has
loved us so much”. It is “to leave all and occupy itself better in this divine
love”. "The perfect attainment of this true love of God
brings with it every blessing" (Life
11: 1). If heaven is to be in love with God, beginning to pray is "to be
servants of love". It is “to think of Him and love Him always” (Life 11: 15b). There is nothing on earth
with which we can “reach the summit of perfection” (Life 11: 4), nor will God
give His love "without paying a high price" (Life 11: 2).
Since human soul has a tendency to be immersed in the things of this
world to begin the art of prayer is the toughest thing possible. St. Teresa
advises the beginner to follow certain principles in order help to grow in
one’s resoluteness. First of all it is important to that we “avoid being
attached to earthly things” (Life 11:
2) and our care and concern should be for heavenly things. “We are paying God
the rent or giving Him the fruits and keeping for ourselves the ownership and
the root” (Life 11: 2), i.e. we are
not detached from things and possessions. Prayer demands a great poverty of
spirit. We should not be over-concerned about seeking friends who would provide
superfluities (Life 11: 2). If we are
filled with anything of ourselves and the world, the Lord cannot fill us with
himself. "Since we do not succeed in giving up everything at once, this
treasure, as a result, is not given to us all at once. May it please the Lord
that drop by drop He may give it to us, even though it cost us all the trials
in the world" (Life 11: 3). All
this is difficult. But the Lord in his mercy gives us grace and courage to
resolve to strive and persevere (Life 11: 4).
Since the love of God is specifically expressed in the life of Jesus who
bore the cross, the other important thing is to bear one’s crosses together
with Christ and “All who follow Christ … must walk along this path that He trod
(Life 11: 5). For this we need to
take up prayer with a strong determination (Life
11:1, 10b). We will have to bear many crosses. This cross may be in the form of
constant dryness and to just wait on the Lord, even if it be the whole of one’s
life. It is to be like Him. It is not only in the beginning, but in whatever
state one may be.
Like a mother gently forming her little child Teresa guides the beginners
in this form of prayer. These guidelines include: “Make many acts to awaken
love, many resolutions to render God much service, and other acts in order to
make the virtues grow.” “The soul can place itself in the presence of Christ
and grow accustomed to being inflamed with love for his sacred humanity. It can
keep him ever present and speak to Him asking for its needs and complaining for
its labour, being glad for Him in its enjoyment and not forgetting Him because
of them, trying to speak to Him not through written prayers but with words that
conform to its desires and needs” (Life 12:2) Thus keeping Jesus Christ present
before us, a method she teaches the beginners is most profound and effective.
The Second Degree of Prayer: This stage of prayer is called the prayer of Quiet. Anyone who is familiar with the classical stages
of prayer immediately comes to the understanding that we are no longer talking
here of any acquired or active stages of contemplation rather an infused stage
of grace. Teresa deals with this stage of Prayer in the 14and 15 chapter of
Life. This is a supernatural and one "in
no way acquire this prayer through any effort he/she may make" (14: 2).
However, as in the method of getting water from the well by turning the crank
wheel (or the hand pump) so some labor is involved in this stage of prayer (14:
2). This "prayer does not tire one" (14: 4), and consolations
automatically follow (14: 4, 6a). The soul is conscious of the closeness of God
(14: 6) and the way He communicates with it (14: 5a). The joy and consolations
during this prayer are consistent and you simply cannot get it at will by
penances, prayers or sending messengers[11] of good works, etc. (cf.
14: 5b).
"This
prayer is a little spark of the Lord’s true love which He begins to enkindle in
the soul … this spark cannot be acquired" (15: 4). The water is closer and
less effort is needed (14: 2). Even though this prayer is only "a little
spark" still it will be noticed no matter how small it may be. It is clear
that this prayer is not in any way a fullness of prayer.
It is more a
"letting God" do what He wishes. It is to be a voluntary captive.
"It merely consents to God allowing Him to imprison it as one who well
knows how to be the captive of its lover". The soul surrenders freely and
so becomes a slave in love (14: 2b). The soul knows: "that there is no
diligence that suffices if God takes away the water of grace: and it should
place no value on self. We are nothing and less than nothing” (14: 9). It is
simply attached to the Lord and cannot love anything else. The intellect and
memory are unhelpful; it is beyond understanding.
Despite the
state the soul has reached there is a "mature trusting fear" of
offending the good God and this fear is not because of the ‘infernal punishments’
(15: 15).
The
Third Degree of Prayer: Teresa calls this stage of Prayer as
the sleep of the faculties; a stage
similar to that of the ecstatic union of the classical stage. The allegory of
watering the garden by diverting the water from a river is the most fitting
one. Chapter 16 and 17 deal with this stage of prayer. One of the unique
features of this prayer is that “the consolation, the sweetness, and the
delight are incomparably greater than that experienced in the previous prayer”.
It is something like being in heaven with the Lord. It is “an almost complete
death to all earthly things and an enjoyment of God…This prayer is a glorious
foolishness, a heavenly madness[12]
where the true wisdom is learned; and it is for the soul a most delightful way
of enjoying” (16: 1).
It is “not a complete union of all the
faculties and it is more excellent than the previous one” (16: 2). “The virtues
are now stronger than in the previous prayer of quiet” (17: 3) and so it is
with the virtue of humility (17: 3). “The
faculties neither fail entirely to function nor understand how they function”
(16: 1b). Yet “the faculties are almost totally united with God but not so
absorbed as not to function” (16:2). In this prayer the work of the person
becomes so limited, that it is almost like the Lord himself being the Gardener
and the “one who does everything”. The Lord wants the soul to rest (17: 1).
"This kind of prayer is a very apparent union of the whole soul with
God" (17: 3b). "The faculties have only the ability to be occupied
completely with God"(16: 3). It is an experience that the Lord
"possesses it" (16: 4). It is not the soul that prays, but “the Lord
often gave me this prayer in abundance” (16: 2).
Using her figure of watering Teresa
explains it as follows: "The garden is irrigated with much less labor,
although some labor is required to direct the flow of the water" from the
spring or the river. "The flowers are blossoming; they are beginning to
spread their fragrance" (16: 3). It is a lofty prayer (17: 2).
There is a great sense of detachment:
Life whether long or short, heaven or hell is all the same (17: 2; 16: 3). The
detachment is such it is a living martyrdom because the soul is
"inebriated in love" (16: 3). The soul feels no attachment to the
world at this stage (16: 4).
There is a spontaneous, delightful
disquiet and of the praises of God (16: 3). The soul experiences a pain of joy,
pain of seeing oneself without God fully (16: 4). Any pain and suffering that
it has to bear is a joy. Such was the situation of the martyrs. It has pain
that it has to come to the everyday ordinary life, where it will not be so
absorbed in God. To love means to live for another. The soul is all
exclamations out of love for God. She hopes and uses all chances to encourage
all to prepare them to this prayer.
On the other hand, “nothing can compare
with the delight the Lord desires a soul to enjoy in this exile” (16: 4b). This
is a state of all joy, buoyancy and praise. It is full of a "holy,
heavenly madness" (16: 4b, cf. 1c, 6). The soul sings and composes songs
out of joy, but not with the use of intellect.
The faculties that were distracted or
occupied in their own way in the second water now neither "fail entirely
to function nor understand how they function" (16: 1). “The faculties have
only the ability to be occupied completely with God” (16: 3). It has to strain
to distract itself. It is like being at the threshold of heaven with great
consolations and sweetness (16: 1b, 17: 1). The person has a sense that it has
this state of union with God (17: 3b, 4).
Although the soul goes on in its
routine, it has a constant and tangible awareness of God’s nearness. The whole
day is a preparation. It is special when you are at prayer, in solitude. "God
takes to himself the will and even the intellect… so that it might not engage
in discourse but be occupied with rejoicing in Him" (17: 5c). Memory and
imagination could be free and be a disturbance. Since will and intellect are
united, memory and imagination can’t do any harm but they can annoy the person.
The
Fourth Degree of Prayer: This is the prayer of union. It is the realization
of the destiny of the soul in its creative ideology that is to reach complete
union with the Lord as made possible by God in this earthly life. The four
chapters of the Book of life namely 18-21 speak about this prayer. Through the
allegory of the shower by rain Teresa explains this stage of prayer.
It is very
difficult to explain this prayer of the fourth water which certainly is better
than third water. Here the soul is as if dead to self and to all things of the
world, though not fully ignorant of the world. There is the sense of solitude.
In the earlier states of passive prayer, the gardener had to do some work; and
now "prayer is not experienced as work but glory". In this fourth
prayer the soul enjoys and rejoices in some incomprehensible good. All the
faculties are occupied in this joy. The joy is such that it "would never
want to abandon this prayer". Though the soul understands that it rejoices,
still it is not explicable how it rejoices. It is not possible to communicate
with others or be occupied in a way that would distract you, when in this
prayer of union. "The soul isn't in possession of its senses (18: 1b), i.
e. it does not feel anything sensible. Neither can it express the joy it gets
in prayer (18: 1c).
Teresa calls this
stage as the prayer of Union. Union means “two separate things becoming
one". We have so much to praise God for such favors, given even to those
who are not good. He gives according to the measure of His infinite largess.
One could exclaim and say to God: “don’t let your love be so great, eternal
King, as to place in risk such precious jewels”. The soul can praise the Lord
only after coming out from this prayer of union. At the same time the Lord does
not bestow on a soul grandeurs and favors like these unless for the profit of
many. This is a treasure for the sinner (18: 4, 8). The Lord can give his
favors to anyone. To consider oneself a sinner and a wretched one, and so unfit
to receive such favor is foolishness and lack of humility (18: 5).
It may be hard to
distinguish between the many analogous terms that are used to explain this stage
of Prayer. Here the person experiences the elevation of the spirit or joining
heavenly love. But union and elevation are not the same; this is different
according to the way the Lord works (18: 7). It produces effects with great
speed and intensity.
It is also called
the flight of the spirit and rapture (18: cf. 20:1), and "is seen by a
much greater increase in detachment from creatures". Union is like small
fire and flight of the spirit is a big blazing fire; yet both are fire (18: 7).
Teresa says that this
water is like rain, saturating and soaking the soul to its depth. It comes
after much effort, but not at our will as long as we are on earth. It is the
effort of the intellect and will "to see God and please Him … even in this
life". The Lord holds the tiny little bird [the soul] in His hands to
place it in its nest [in Himself] and give it repose and rest. When the soul
seeks God with all its energy it may enter into “swoon in which breathing and
all the bodily energies gradually fail”. All the senses do not work in their
normal way. Even if the eyes are open, one may not be able to see anything.
Since we are in
the earthly situation and in a human body which is conditioned by the natures
of this earth this prayer cannot not last very long; at best, it would be for
half an hour. The will stays quiet longer, even hours, than the other faculties
(18: 12; cf. 20:19). Though the suspension may not last very long, the sense of
stupor may last for hours, and all the faculties, will, intellect and memory
rejoice. Even in the routine of life, the will is attached to God, while intellect
and memory enjoy only partially (18: 13). The soul "detaches itself from
everything … so as to abide more in the Lord. It is no longer the soul that
lives but God” (18:14b). Since it cannot comprehend what it understands, there
is an understanding by not understanding" (18: 14). "What happens is
so obscure, it can't be explained more clearly. I can only say that the soul
appears to be joined to God". Memory is dead and "the will is fully
occupied in loving", and the intellect, "if it understands, doesn't
understand how it understands" (18: 14c). It is the infusion of knowledge
of the presence of God in everything, through this prayer. “It doesn’t seem to
me that it understands, because, as I say, it doesn’t understand – I really
can’t understand this!”
In this stage the
person has a clear grasp of the omnipresence of God, not merely by grace but by
essence: “I didn’t know that God was in all things, and though He seemed so
present to me, I thought this omnipresence was impossible … I understood almost
clearly that He was there by His very presence” [13] (18: 15).
Fruits of this Watering: Teresa speaks at length regards the fruits of this degree of prayer. There
is inexplicable tenderness. The explanation of this water is gibberish, but
this stage of prayer is filled with joyous tears; it is a great reality of
delight, joy and glory. There is pure conviction that it is an absolute gift.
It comes and goes so fast. “The water came forth so forcefully and quickly and
… seemingly poured from that heavenly cloud”. It is covered with the presence
of God.
It “is a source of
heroic promises, of resolutions, and of ardent desires”. There is great
improvement and greater contempt for the world, a clear perception of the
vanities of world’s vanity, more courage, more virtue, more humility, no
vainglory, etc. There is the conviction of one’s unworthiness because of the
closeness of God. “The door of all the senses was closed to it that it might be
better able to enjoy the Lord”. The soul "remains alone with Him" (19:
2), consumed with His praises. These effects result from no diligence of the
soul. It does not require more knowledge, because it is given everything.
Given the
conviction that its greatness is a sheer gift, the heavenly treasure is not for
keeping and so it spontaneously distributes them to others, so that more will
be rich with His gifts. The good works proceed spontaneously, almost without
its knowing it (19: 3).
There is the pain
of closeness; and then there is the experience of darkness. The “soil is well
cultivated by trials, persecutions, criticisms, and illnesses … and is softened
by living in great detachment from self-interest” and so the garden is almost
never dry. The Lord may stop the rain, if the soul grows careless. But one
should not get discouraged. It is true if one turns back from prayer there will
be great harm, but “prayer will bring him to the harbour of light”. The
temptations of the devil will be great because his loss from this soul is
great. It makes a great leap forward in the Lord’s service (19: 4).
Why do holy
persons suffer? Teresa takes up this theme and explains in detail. Though the
goodness of persons of prayer is noticed, that may not be always the case.
There are a lot of criticism and rash judgments both from the intimate people
and others. Holiness is not always seen externally. It may not take time for
people to recognize goodness in those whom they condemned. The soul accepts
them with serenity. Humility is very great in this state (19: 8). Our life
should be one of strong faith that the Lord is just and powerful and takes care
of us.
The devil can also
tempt one to give up sincere prayer even at this stage. This is a temptation of
'proud humility'. One can be satisfied with "obligatory vocal
prayers". One can ask oneself if one could go to prayer when one did not
even recite vocal prayers well. One should think of one's non-genuineness in
prayer, but should never give it up (19: l0). It is not correct to give up
prayer due to your sinfulness and "during the time in which I was without
prayer my life was much worse" (19: 11).
[Vocal] prayer,
spiritual reading, petitions to God are aids for prayer. without them and with
many occasions of sin, one may go on offending God and be on the road to hell.
Communion is also a remedy for our sins and so we should not miss to receive it
for the mere fact that we are sinners. Whatever be the state of one’s prayer,
the soul “should not trust in itself; it can fall”. There are more temptations
of the devil for those “who are not advanced in the virtues, or mortified, or
detached no matter how great their desires and resolutions. This doctrine is
excellent, and it is not mine, but taught by God”.
What we get from
prayer is heavenly and not comparable to the earthly pleasure. We need to note
that. “Believing that it has no longer anything to fear from itself … the soul
places itself in dangers and begins with splendid zeal to give away fruit
without measure. It doesn’t do this with pride; it well understands that of
itself it can do nothing. It does it with great confidence in God, but without
discretion since it doesn’t observe that it is still a fledgling. It can leave
the nest, and God takes it out; but it is still not ready to fly. The virtues
are not yet strong, nor does it have the experience to recognize dangers, nor
does it know the harm done by relying upon oneself” (19: 14).
Teresa has given
us a detailed exposition of the different stages of soul in it’s ascending to
God in prayer. How the Lord purifies the soul, floods it with graces, allows it
to perceive His divine presence, hear His voice, penetrate the mysterious abyss
of His Trinitarian life, and come into contact with the most varied realities
of the supernatural world. Throughout the pages of her book a steady series of
rare and wonderful things is set before our minds: ecstasies, visions, locutions from God,
transverberation of the soul, infused love of the purest and strongest kind,
new wisdom, the flowering of sturdy virtues, premonitions of a probable death of
love, and foretastes of beatific life. Teresa deals with all these experiences
in detail in the last section of her book that is chapters 23 to 31. She calls
this stage of her life "new book
from here on … a new life … one God lived in me".
In this stage of
Life Teresa was more encaptured by God that life encaptured her. Recalling her
life she writes, “When the heart is filled with the love of God then there is
no need of impositions. Good is done out of love, in freedom (24: 1).
Renunciation becomes a part of life. Prayer and receiving favors from the Lord
has nothing to do with our seclusion, posture or even our effort. It is not our
doing. "The more I strove to distract myself, the more the Lord enveloped
me in that sweetness and glory, which
seemed to surround me so completely that there was no place to escape …
The Lord was more careful in granting me favors and in revealing Himself to
me", nor could she resist the favors (24: 2a). "I started again to
love the most sacred humanity. Prayer began to take shape as an edifice that
now had a foundation" (24: 2b). We should be earnest in obeying the
confessor in doing mortifications, giving up the superfluous things, and in
praying a great deal, "that the Lord might keep me in His hands … not allow
me to turn back" (24: 2b).
Conclusion
It is Meister Eckhart who said, “God is
at home; it is we who have gone for a walk.” The entire human life is a journey
back home; it is a process of homecoming. The journey back home is a tedious
one but not a lonely one because the God who is ever at home in the inner most
crevasses of our soul is a constant companion. “When God is with us, one needs
not to fear evil, because His protective hand is always there to hold and
protect. That makes the journey back home a celebration; a celebration of
divine intimacy. The life journey of Teresa is an excellent indication of this
celebration of Divine intimacy. Through her life we are guided to follow the
path of our own divine intimacy, unto our Spiritual marriage where like the
wise virgins we are able to meet our beloved “at home” and be one with Him in
the celebration of our Divine Intimacy.
Bibliography
John Paul II, Novo Millennio Ineunte,
Mumbai: Pauline Publications, 2001.
John Cassian, The Conferences, trans. Boniface Ramsey New York: Paulist Press,
1977
Kees Waaijiman, The Mystical Space of Carmel: A Commentary on the Carmelite Rule,
trans. John Vriend, Leuven: Peeters, 1999.
Keith J. Egan, “Contemplative
Meditiation: A Challenge from Tradition,” Handbook
of Spirituality for Ministers, vol. 2, ed. Robert Wicks New York: Paulist
press, 2000.
Sequeira John, “Prayer: A Relationship
of Personal Intimacy” in Dhyana: Journal
of Religion and Spirituality, vol.1, no.1, 2002.
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[1] John Paul II, Novo
Millennio Ineunte, (Mumbai: Pauline
Publications, 2001), 31, 32 & 33b.
[2] Kees Waaijiman, The Mystical Space of Carmel: A Commentary
on the Carmelite Rule, trans. John Vriend (Leuven: Peeters, 1999), 98 – 99.
[3] John Cassian, The Conferences,
trans. Boniface Ramsey (New York: Paulist Press, 1977), 340, 345. Ninth
Conference, XVIII, I and XXV, I.
[4] Philip Ribot, Institutio
Primorum Monachorum, Critical translation by Paul Chandler. This translation is
from this translation as given to us by Keith J. Egan in The solitude of the
Carmelite prayer, 47.
[5] John Cassian, Conferences, 14
[6] Keith J. Egan, “Contemplative
Meditiation: A Challenge from Tradition,” Handbook of Spirituality for
Ministers, vol. 2, ed. Robert Wicks (New York: Paulist press, 2000), 445-46.
[7] Kees Waaijiman, The Mystical Space of Carmel: A Commentary
on the Carmelite Rule, trans. John Vriend (Leuven: Peeters, 1999), 93.
[8] William Johnston, Mystical
Theology: The Science of Love (New York: Orbis Books, 2000), 55.
[9] Most of these ideas are
taken from the Introduction to The
Collected Works of St. Teresa, vol. I, trans. Kieran Kavanaugh OCD and
Otilio Rodriguez OCD (Trivendrum: Carmel International Publishing House, 2010),
1-30.
[10] The humanity of
Christ is not an easy concept. Fr. Thomas Merton writes about it extensively in
The Monastic Journey, Sheldon Press, 1977, 87ff.
[11] Cf. St. John
[12] More of it in Meditations on
the Song of Songs, chs 4f.
[13] Cf. Life 8: 2b, Sp. Testimonies 65: 9, Sp.
Canticle 11:3.
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