When it comes to prayer and more specifically, contemplative prayer, there is no better teacher or devotee than Saint Teresa of Avila. She is quoted in the Catechism of the Catholic Church saying, “Contemplative prayer [oración mental] in my opinion is nothing else than a close sharing between friends; it means taking time frequently to be alone with him who we know loves us." [1]
TV SHOW – Boy Meets World
At the end of this episode Cory gives his teacher and neighbor a plant after he fell ill. After returning home, Mr. Feeny goes to place the plant in his garden. He tells Cory that with the right nurturing it can grow strong and healthy. Throughout her writings, she describes prayer as to watering a garden.
Her thoughts on prayer can be found throughout her autobiography. We will take a look at the four stages of prayer as described by her in her books: The Autobiography [2] and The Interior Castle.
First Stage: Mental Prayer
The first stage requires a person to contemplate and concentrate not on self, but on of Christ—to withdraw the soul into observance of Jesus. As mentioned earlier, mental prayer is nothing more than intimate sharing between close friends. “The important thing is not to think much but to love much and so do that which best stirs you to love. Love is not great delight but desire to please God in everything.”
How do we quiet our mind and heart to concentrate on God and not self? Saint Teresa looked to the Passion of Christ, which immediately bring to mind the great sacrifice and love of Jesus. Any meditation on Christ is good, perhaps the mysteries of the Rosary or divine reading from the Gospel. Many times we spend the day thinking and maybe worrying about ourselves or others; it therefore takes an intentional effort to think then of Jesus.
MOVIE – Into Great Silence Trailer
The movie is about an order of Carthusian monks who remain in great silence throughout most of their day in prayer and meditation. As the maker of the movie says, “Gröning, sans crew or artificial lighting, lived in the monks' quarters for six months—filming their daily prayers, tasks, rituals and rare outdoor excursions. This transcendent, closely observed film seeks to embody a monastery, rather than simply depict one—it has no score, no voiceover and no archival footage. What remains is stunningly elemental: time, space and light. One of the most mesmerizing and poetic chronicles of spirituality ever created, INTO GREAT SILENCE dissolves the border between screen and audience with a total immersion into the hush of monastic life. More meditation than documentary, it's a rare, transformative theatrical experience for all.”
Second Stage: Prayer of Quiet
The next stage of contemplative prayer is to begin by letting go of the human will and resting it within God. As we allow ourselves to give away more and more distractions of this world the more we allow God to replace it with his virtues and supernatural state. St. Teresa states that while repetitive prayers and writing can help with a partial distraction from the world, if we quiet our souls we can begin to go even deeper. We have to be patient, as both quietness and silence are not things we areare accustomed to. In fact, many times quietness or silence is awkward and instead of facing the silence, we break it.
Third Stage: Devotion of Union
This stage of prayer is both a supernatural and ecstatic state. When reached, the soul has a deep peace, a greater love of God, and ability to reach some of the higher faculties of the mind, body, and soul. The soul can feel God’s reason within it and become raptured by its love.
Fourth Stage: Devotion of Ecstasy
The final stage of contemplative prayer is the greatest because while in it, one completely disappears. Saint Paul speaks about it in 2 Corinthians 12:2, “I know someone in Christ who…was caught up to the third heaven.” The soul is in complete intoxication of God while both body and soul experience the terrifying and sweet ecstasy of God. It is terrifying because we sinful imperfect beings are getting just a tiny sliver of a taste of eternal bliss, and it is ecstasy because it is what our souls were created for and are destined for. St. Teresa said that the body is lifted in the air, but then soon let go of this rapture of love for a time to relax. After all this we will awake in tears because of this experience.
Can we ever really reach the fourth stage? Yes. The question should be: will we ever reach these stages? Of course that is completely up to God. Remember, Saint Teresa prayed for well over a decade and “felt” nothing through prayer. We have to will ourselves to prayer. We all know the many difficulties it is to just pray simple prayers, but we must also strive to reach all four stages. If we never reach all four stages that does not mean we are bad people or not close with God, nor does it mean we should stop trying. Think how amazing it would be to even reach stage three. We should take time and pray everyday especially to enter into these stages of prayer. It is important to remember that the stages of prayer are steps we must climb, starting with the first before we get to the second, then third and fourth. Similarly, we should not be obsessed with “devotion to ecstasy” if we are not even able to think of Jesus through mental prayer. How can we unite ourselves with Christ, if we are unable to meditate on Him?
How do the stages that St. Teresa suggests compare to the practice of lectio divina (spiritual reading)? The stages of lectio divina are to read, meditate, pray, and contemplate.
Read – Mental Prayer
To read, we must look at the words and concentrate not only on the thoughts in our heads, but also on the text. In the first stage of prayer St. Teresa says that we must focus on Jesus intently and not on our own thoughts concerns, etc.
Meditate – Quietness and Stillness
St. Teresa says the second stage is to enter into the quietness and stillness. In lectio divina, we patiently wait after the reading and allow God to reveal to us, in the silence, what He intends to reveal to us. The tendency is to rush God, but we must remember that God is always ready to reveal, but He waits for the stillness of our hearts. If a bridge is swaying, it would not be wise to walk across the bridge; we must wait until the bridge is calmed and then we cross. The captain of the boat would wait until the storm subsides prior to crossing a lake and for fear of risking the loss of both ship and men. Meditation is the calmness needed to cross from reading to prayer.
Prayer – Devotion to Union
After we have looked at God (first stage) and listened to God (second stage), what is our response? Do we desire to be united to Him? Do we want communion? It is one thing to look and listen to another, but our heart should desire to take the next step and respond. God desires us to respond. We must look and listen so that we know what it is that we are responding too. After we have seen God and listened to God, it’s our turn to speak from our hearts. Psalm 130 expressed this prayer or devotion to union perfectly, “Out of the depths I cry to You O Lord”.
Contemplation – Devotion of Ecstasy
Once we have experienced union with God, we can cherish the relationship. We can long for that union again. We can be at peace with the relationship and enter deeper into it. At this stage we “behold” what we first looked at, listened to, and then responded to.
In the first stage we perceive, the second we receive, and the third we respond. After we have perceived, received, and responded, we now behold that which we have encountered.
How do these four stages of our relationship with God, mirror human relationships? We usually see a person first (we look at them, they look at us). We then desire to listen to them, to see what they have to say. After we have seen and listened, if we have the desire to be in union with them, to meet them in a more intimate way, more than looks or words, we put forth the effort to meet them, to spend time with them, to respond. Many times at this stage a relationship is based on events or experiences, short moments in time that can be identified and recorded. For example a couple that is dating experiences the short moments and experiences as they get to know each other, but this moves into engagement, and then into marriage, the final stage in which two become one flesh.
How does Marriage and the Church parallel to the final stage in prayer? Marriage is parallel to the final stage in prayer when we become one with God. This is the desire of God. Isaiah 54 speaks about God marrying His people Israel, this come to fulfillment in the person of Jesus Christ, who lays down His life for His Bride, the Church. This is why during the Mass the priest says, “Behold the Lamb of God, behold him who takes away the sins of the world. Blessed are those called to the supper of the Lamb.” [3] We are called to Heaven. Mass is a foretaste of the heavenly liturgy, the supper of the Lamb in Heaven.
Search: Seven Words (Part 1)
Search: Seven Words (Part 2)
The Seven Words Lesson also help us to see how through Jesus Christ we come to union with God and share in the Divine Life. The Seven Words are centered on Jesus Christ. The Cross of Christ – Name of Christ – Words of Christ – Prayer of Christ – Works of Christ – Body of Christ – Life of Christ.
What are the difficulties in praying? The greatest difficulty in prayer comes from within. We can blame our lack of prayer on outside forces, but ultimately it is up to each and every person to find time to pray. The Catechism of the Catholic Church says it best, “Finally, our battle has to confront what we experience as failure in prayer: discouragement during periods of dryness; sadness that, because we have ‘great possessions,’ we have not given all to the Lord; disappointment over not being heard according to our own will; wounded pride, stiffened by the indignity that is ours as sinners; our resistance to the idea that prayer is a free and unmerited gift; and so forth. The conclusion is always the same: what good does it do to pray? To overcome these obstacles, we must battle to gain humility, trust, and perseverance.” [4]
Search: Pray without ceasing
Search: Prayer and Liturgy: The Deserted Place
Search: Prayer: Spoken and Unspoken
[1] CCC 2709
[2] Cf. chapters 10-22
[3] The Order of the Mass
[4] CCC 2728