Lectio Divina and the Practice of Teresian Prayer by Morello OCD Sam Anthony

Author:Morello OCD, Sam Anthony [Anthony, Morello OCD, Sam]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Spiritual & Religion
Publisher: ICS Publications
Published: 2013-01-09T05:00:00+00:00

Affective Prayer and Resolutions. Affective activity is characteristic of Teresian meditation, as we have seen. In the Teresian system, affective prayer is meditation, and all meditation feeds affectivity. Teresa wants the will to desire God, to resolve to serve him, to move toward union with him. Together with "ready-made prayers," she wants us to learn to freely express ourselves with words "that come from—our own heart" (Way, 26, 6). Stronger and stronger becomes Teresa’s emphasis on affective prayer as she outlines the spiritual journey. For those in the first three dwelling-places she writes: "They would be right if they engaged for a while in making acts of love, praising God, rejoicing in His goodness, that He is who He is, and in desiring His honor and glory. These acts—are great awakeners of the will" and are more important than just following one’s "usual meditation" (see Castle, 4, 1, 6).

Teresa wants us to move progressively toward affective simplicity because it best prepares for contemplation. (And since in the Interior Castle we find no warning about the "passive night of the senses," it may be that Teresian simple affectivity cuts through into initial contemplation without the great adjustment treated by St. John of the Cross.) Teresian affectivity is one of the greatest strengths of her doctrine on meditation.

Let us not neglect resolutions as we construct our list of Teresian "methods." Resolutions are very clearly meditative acts that she highly valued. Though Carmelites sometimes spurn this seemingly more "Ignatian" emphasis, Teresa herself is a woman of will. She wants a "very determined determination" to keep on praying all of one’s years (see Way, 13). And she wants as strong a resolve to grow and pursue virtue as we can manage. We need to cultivate "great desires" for God, and a strong will, a will that will not give up prayer for absolutely anything and that will pursue virtue at all costs. Certainly, Teresian prayer does not require a resolution at each prayer session. But we need to realize that resolutions are a dimension of Teresian affectivity that very concretely relate prayer to real life.

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