St Teresa of Avila on Prayer

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St Teresa of Avila on Prayer

Where to begin

In chapter 26 of the Way of Perfection, St. Teresa sets about teaching prayer.
  • First, she tells us to begin with the Sign of the Cross. This brings us face to face with God’s mercy and compassion, His relentless search for us.
  • Next, she tells us to say the ‘I confess’ or the Confiteor. This reminds us of who we are before God.
  • Then she says we need a companion – and the Lord Jesus is the very best one to have. So we should picture Him standing beside us lovingly teaching us to say the prayer He gave us, the Our Father. She keeps on telling us to get into the habit of keeping Him close to us. She tells us just to look at Him with eyes of Faith until His presence becomes a part of our prayer and of our lives.
Full story, visit carmelite-seremban.org/Spirituality/article3.html
 
Thanks for posting this. She is not the Doctor of Prayer for nothing! 🙂
 
Dear Sister,

Welcome to the Forum! God bless you and your sisters in Malaysia. It’s beautiful to see the spread of the Teresian Carmels.
 
I am enjoying reading the writings of St. Teresa of Avila that you have on your site. You site is very beautiful and peaceful to go to. The music sets a prayerful mood there.

Thank you so much for sharing with us.

Bless you
 
Beautiful website! Thank you for sharing it, and welcome to the forums, Sister.:harp:
 
thistle said:
Interior Castle is pretty hard to understand though.
Click to expand...
Here’s a short version:
Exploring the Castle of the Soul
carmelite-seremban.org/Spirituality/Castle1.pdf

There’s also a booklet, a summary of the Interior Castle. Let me get you the details of the publisher by tomorrow.

**AND to all the warm responses to my posting, THANK YOU! **Please help spread the news about our new website and literally share the GOOD NEWS! 🙂

Love and God bless
 
Nice website Sister. Thank you for sharing it. My prayers for the inauguration of the new monastery.
 
thistle said:
Interior Castle is pretty hard to understand though.
Click to expand...
It may be you’re not ready for it yet. I’m not saying this to say you’re not on a spiritually mature level, but rather, what she writes of in the Interior Castle, unless experienced, can be meaningless.

Many years ago, I picked up a copy of the “Way of Perfection.”

I couldn’t get through the first chapter. I had no meaning for me.

15 years later, I returned to it, and I couldn’t put it down.

Its the Lord Jesus who feeds us through His various ways. When we try to force feed ourselves, we more often than not, fail.

Peace
Jim
 
JimR-OCDS said:
It may be you’re not ready for it yet. I’m not saying this to say you’re not on a spiritually mature level, but rather, what she writes of in the Interior Castle, unless experienced, can be meaningless.

Many years ago, I picked up a copy of the “Way of Perfection.”

I couldn’t get through the first chapter. I had no meaning for me.

15 years later, I returned to it, and I couldn’t put it down.

Its the Lord Jesus who feeds us through His various ways. When we try to force feed ourselves, we more often than not, fail.

Peace
Jim
Click to expand...
You might well be right. My wife on the other hand is really into the book and often quotes from it to me. She seems to think its easy to understand.
 
Ah, my beloved St Teresa!! 🙂 No one like her, she is the best. I read her over & over, & she never ever runs dry.👍 👍
My favorite saint of all time…

Thank you for posting, Sister!
 
carmelitesister said:
St Teresa of Avila on Prayer

Where to begin

In chapter 26 of the Way of Perfection, St. Teresa sets about teaching prayer.
  • First, she tells us to begin with the Sign of the Cross. This brings us face to face with God’s mercy and compassion, His relentless search for us.
  • Next, she tells us to say the ‘I confess’ or the Confiteor. This reminds us of who we are before God.
  • Then she says we need a companion – and the Lord Jesus is the very best one to have. So we should picture Him standing beside us lovingly teaching us to say the prayer He gave us, the Our Father. She keeps on telling us to get into the habit of keeping Him close to us. She tells us just to look at Him with eyes of Faith until His presence becomes a part of our prayer and of our lives.
Full story, visit carmelite-seremban.org/Spirituality/article3.html
Click to expand...
she should also be called the saint of the holy spirit.

i read her autobiography earlier this year and realized she was really talking about the holy spirit…

the reason she is hard to understand is because she had to be roundabout and sound uninformed in order to avoid getting herself sent up for an inquisition. st john of the cross was sent up for inquisition and while imprisoned for a year he composed his poem dark night of the soul…which is again about experiencing the holy spirit.

his poem reminds me of the movie shawshank redemption, when the prisoner breaks out of prison and sees the light at the end of the tunnel.

st john’s poem is pretty much the same feeling of exhilartion. and is actually what happened the night he escaped from jail.
 
I love St. Teresa. She was that rarest of people, a mystic with her feet planted firmly on the earth. I love her sense of humor - I think it would have been a joy to talk to to her.
 
Thanks for the link to the website. I love the music. Just curious, who is singing the Peace Prayer by St. Francis?
 
thistle said:
You might well be right. My wife on the other hand is really into the book and often quotes from it to me. She seems to think its easy to understand.
Click to expand...
Well the same thing happens with my wife and myself, on St. Theresa of Lisieux. She’s a big fan of St Theresa. I struggled through her book, “Story of a Soul.” On the inverse, I love St. John of the Cross, but she says she can use his works to treat amnesia. 🙂

Jim
 
carmelitesister said:
There’s also a booklet, a summary of the Interior Castle. Let me get you the details of the publisher by tomorrow.
Click to expand...
It’s called “The Interior Castle - The Way Series”
simplified version by Fr. J V. Smith, available in Singapore.
It’s a private print. Will get more details soon.
 
Biblioassistant said:
I love St. Teresa. She was that rarest of people, a mystic with her feet planted firmly on the earth. I love her sense of humor - I think it would have been a joy to talk to to her.
Click to expand...
Indeed. Here’s a couple that cracks me up all the time…

“How is it, Lord, that we are cowards in everything save in opposing thee?” 😃

"Those watching from the river bank saw the carriage she was in swaying on the brink of the torrent. She jumped out awkwardly, up to her knees in water, and hurt herself in the process. Wryly, she complained. “So much to put up with and you send me this!” Jesus replied, “Teresa, that’s how I treat my friends.” She was not lost for an answer: “Small wonder you have so few!”

“From silly devotions and from sour-faced saints, good Lord, deliver us.”

😃
 
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