Vojtěch of St. Hedwig, OCD
The following text is an attempt to synthesize the basic ideas of St. Teresa of Jesus on prayer. It likely does not contain any new informative insights for the reader, but rather familiar concepts, often understated. Therefore, it should be read with this awareness – as simple lines concealing a profound message that is not suitable for "intellectual enjoyment"; they can, however, be nourishment for moments of silence before God.
On September 27, 1970, when St. Teresa of Avila was proclaimed a Doctor of the Church, Pope Paul VI said: “We want her, adorned with this teaching title, to have greater influence in fulfilling her mission within her religious family, in the Church, and in the world, with her enduring and contemporary message: the message of prayer.”1
St. Teresa is thus primarily a teacher of prayer. Prayer guided her throughout her life; she wrote about prayer and taught about prayer. Therefore, this theme in her doctrine is very broad and extensive, and it can be discussed from many perspectives and various viewpoints: the practice of prayer, its stages and development, prerequisites, characteristics, individual experiences…
Let us now focus solely on one thing – the essence of Teresian prayer.
The first and fundamental message of the saint is the truth that prayer and life belong together. This reality is proclaimed not only by her words but by her entire life, her entire being. The experience of prayer as Teresa lives it is closely tied to her life, starting from the time she lives in, the environment she moves in, and her specific decisions.
St. Teresa lives at a time when Spain is at its peak in political, social, cultural, and religious life. The Catholic reform here preceded the decisions of the Council of Trent: the "golden age," as the sixteenth century on the Iberian Peninsula is called, is a period of great renewal in religious life (Franciscan, Benedictine, and Dominican reform, the work of St. Ignatius of Loyola), of great figures from the diocesan clergy (St. John of Avila), of a significant production of quality spiritual literature, and strong spiritual currents of both foreign and domestic origin (devotio moderna, Savonarolanism, Erasmism).2 It is clear that in such an environment there are also deformities and extremes. Here arises a dispute between the so-called letrados (learned) and espirituales (spiritual) regarding the justification of inner prayer and mysticism (hence the index of forbidden books, etc.).
Her teachings reflect this dispute. Firstly: the central theme of her works is prayer, which is in line with the overall focus of spiritual literature of that time. Secondly: in her life, she chose inner prayer, even though she also submits to the measures of the letrados.
“When it was forbidden to read many books in the vernacular, I was very saddened, for some brought me great refreshment, and I would have nothing left to read, as the permitted ones were in Latin. But the Lord said to me: ‘Do not be troubled, for I will give you a living book.’3 Her subsequent steps reveal that she deeply experienced the conflicts of her time: she stands for inner prayer in her books.4 Yet she remains herself and does not identify with either side; she emphasizes the need for both inner prayer and vocal prayer, both experience and knowledge.5
However, the most important evidence of the connection between life and prayer in St. Teresa is her “method.” The saint lives in a time when many popular “instructions for inner prayer” are proliferating, which derive from the experiences of individuals and entire “schools,” although they reach their peak only later.6 Teresa draws from the experiences of all she is able to come into contact with, but she does not identify with any “method” nor does she develop one herself.7 She prays as life teaches her,8 and lives as prayer teaches her, for prayer and life are for her correlative concepts. “Everything lives from prayer, and prayer lives from everything.”9 From this arises a second essential insight: prayer must correspond to the person; it must be an authentic expression of temperament, life circumstances, time…
From this dual insight of Teresa sprang words that are a gem of spiritual literature and are justly considered one of the best “definitions of prayer”: “The prayer of the mind10 is nothing else, in my opinion, but a relationship of friendship, frequent solitude with Him whom we know loves us.” (Life 8,5)11
Although it might seem from the context that this is a random definition, a deeper analysis rather suggests that it is a well and thoroughly thought-out characteristic, which the saint used more frequently and presented at the moment of writing the eighth chapter of her autobiography. And although it could be analyzed in detail without exaggeration, focusing on each word,12 let us focus only on two areas: tratar de amistad (which I translate as “relationship of friendship”) and God’s initiative in prayer (the words: “whom we know loves us”).
Teresa was always a good friend13 and, after a divine intervention14 seeks to utilize this ability in relation to God. Therefore, for her, prayer is friendship with God, a friendship distinct from human,15 but fully personal, in which the Friend,16 at its center, can be loved.17
This friendship is not just a verbal conversation limited to a certain time of day, as we often understand it, but it is a tratar – a relationship, sharing, experiencing a relationship in a total way. Thus, it is not merely speaking, but any contact or simply existing relationship, and it is not just about moments of prayer but about the whole life, everything we experience.18
And I can experience this relationship of friendship because God is the first who initiates the relationship leading to deep intimacy. Rightly do we reflect on the words of the saint: “relationship of friendship… with Him whom we know loves us.”19 Our prayer is nothing other than a response to God’s initiative. Because we know from Him that He loves us, we can dare to act with Him as our friend, and we can also be assured that He leads us to converse with Him, even though it may sometimes seem quite different.
As St. John of the Cross says: “First of all, it should be known that if the soul seeks God, the Beloved seeks her much more.”20
St. Teresa teaches us that prayer and life belong together, that prayer must be an authentic expression of ourselves, and therefore it should respond to our mentality, temperament, but also to our momentary life circumstances. It is a relationship of friendship with God encompassing the whole life and expressed in every possible form. Above all, however, it is our response to the One who “loved us and gave Himself up for us” (cf. Eph 5:2).
