Teresian Prayer
Prayer is the focal point of our lives and the heart of our service for God.
The woman who follows a call to Carmel has a deep desire for intimacy with her God, in Jesus Christ. Saint Teresa of Avila was such a woman herself, and in founding her way of Carmel for her Nuns she answered their plea for instructions by writing THE WAY OF PERFECTION in order to inspire her daughters to seek Jesus in prayer, with all their hearts.
PRAYER IS NOTHING ELSE BUT AN INTIMATE SHARING BETWEEN FRIENDS; IT MEANS TAKING TIME FREQUENTLY TO BE ALONE WITH HIM WHO WE KNOW LOVES US.
ST. TERESA
In her LIFE she declared: “Mental prayer in my opinion is nothing else than an intimate sharing between friends; it means taking time frequently to be alone with Him who we know loves us.
Prayer is the focal point of our lives and the heart of our service for God. Nothing is more beautiful and delightful than speaking with Jesus and being with Him as His intimate friend. So mental prayer is really a personal relationship; it is a commitment to friendship with Jesus and the willingness to share time and life with Him. Clearly it is God who has initiated the friendship; thus our prayer is a response to a God whose love for us is assured.
In another place St. Teresa says, “Prayer is simply being alone with Him, looking at Him, sharing His friendship, loving Him and allowing oneself to be loved”. This being alone with Him is not so much a matter of physical isolation as it is of having the mind and heart set on Him, who is always present within us.
Saint Teresa says, “The important thing is not to think much but to love much… I am not asking you to think of Him or . . . to make long meditations with your understanding. I am asking you only to look at Him.” To look at Him does not mean to form a mental picture but to turn our attention in faith and love to Him whose attention never leaves us for a moment. We need only to withdraw our thoughts and desires from absorption in other concerns in order to stay beneath the gaze of God.
The spirit of prayer, which is the very essence of the Carmelite ideal of perfection, still attracts souls to Carmel. It is the spirit of loving contemplation that permeates and lends its perfumes to every other activity of our life.
“To contemplate and to love, in order to immerse oneself in God in the quest of His will” – such prayer, Saint Teresa teaches, is the door through which the Lord passes
– Blessed Pope John Paul XXIII
Teresian Prayer is:
Attentive
Since prayer is a friendly conversation with God, we give Him our attention. “I am not asking you to do more than look at Him. For who can keep you from turning the eyes of your soul toward this Lord, even if you do so for a moment?”
Affective
Teresian Prayer is essentially affective, and the essence of affectivity is the desire for God, which opens the way for communion and union. That is why St. Teresa insists: “in prayer the important thing is not to think much but to love much.”
Contemplative
Teresian Prayer is contemplative, in that it desires contemplation and is open to contemplation. Contemplation is supernatural prayer; it cannot be produced by our effort; it is completely gratuitous. When we pray in the Teresian spirit, we dispose ourselves for contemplation.
Apostolic
Even for St. Teresa, intimacy with Christ doesn’t just stop there! “The friend of Christ” wants more friends for Christ! This is the root and heart of the apostolic element of the Teresian prayer that she wants for her daughters and sons.