Contemplation & Meditation Lies: Peter of Alcantara, Teresa of Avila
In 1577, St. Teresa of Avila completed what is heralded as her seminal work on mental prayer, meditation, and contemplation in the Interior Castle. This
In 1577, St. Teresa of Avila completed what is heralded as her seminal work on mental prayer, meditation, and contemplation in the Interior Castle. This
Editor’s Note: As we approach the Memorial of Our Lady of Mount Carmel this coming week, it is appropriate to consider a Carmelite prayer. Our
Dryness in Prayer – God’s Part in the Struggle (Part III of III) Editor’s Note: In Part I, we talked about what is going on
Dear Father John, in the first part of your book, The Better Part, you mention something about preparing for tomorrow’s meditation the night before. I
At the end of his treatise on contemplation (also known as his treatise On Consideration), Saint Bernard of Clairvaux observes the dimensions of Christian mental
Dear Saint Teresa, I have read a number of books on prayer that advocate methods of suppressing, shutting down, or eliminating thinking altogether during prayer.
MENTAL PRAYER: The form of prayer in which the sentiments expressed are one’s own and not those of another person, and the expression of these
MEDITATION: Reflective prayer. It is that form of mental prayer in which the mind, in God’s presence, thinks about God and divine things. While the
…a reader asks: Dear Father John, I’ve heard that the prayer of simplicity is a kind of a bridge from meditation to contemplation. Can you
Prayer of Simplicity: What is it? (Part I of III) Dear Father John, I’ve heard that the prayer of simplicity is a kind of a