Orthodox critique of imaginative prayer

[Sirach2]

Sirach, that passage from St. Teresa is wonderful. That’s the kind of information I was hoping to find. Thank you.

I’m actually not needing to respond to anyone in particular. I just occasionally come across this argument in Internet searches that imagination leads to spiritual delusion.

You’re welcome, Jared. I’m glad it helped you. It seems St. Teresa was very active during the celebration of her feast day.

Oh, I thought maybe you needed it for discussion purposes, but I’m glad you asked anyway. It was a real good question. This chapter was one of her most excellent arguments, especially since it was based on her own experience. She used this argument to warn her prioresses to correct the sisters who fell prey to false absorptions in her book of Foundations.

 

[Mintaka]

There’s also the point that a lot of people just don’t visualize things as much as they grow older, whereas many younger people use visualization as a natural way to learn. Grace builds on nature, so there’s bound to be similarities between natural changes in humans and the way prayer lives tend to progress.