He who desires nothing but God does not walk in darkness

"He who desires nothing but GOD does not walk in darkness, however blind and poor he may think himself to be. He that is not presumptuous, nor desires his own satisfaction has no need to falter or fret over anything. You are progressing well, remain in peace and joy. Who do you think you are to be anxious about yourself? You will only get yourself into a fine state!"


-- From the letters of St John of the Cross

It is internal silence that counts

"We are religious. We are different. So we cannot expect the world to accept silence and treasure it as we have done. We cannot expect traffic cops to throw away their whistles or bus drivers to disconnect their horns. We cannot expect merchants to haggle in low, subdued voices; or cab drivers to transport their fares beneath a cloud of deep, sepulchral quiet. We cannot expect any of these things. We do not expect them. We cannot hope that silence will subdue noise. We do not believe it is possible. But we do believe that if people said less, made less noise, they would be wiser. And with that wisdom would come the ability to cope more adequately with the complexities of living.

Noise and talk have not made us less human, but they have med us less wise. Because of it, we have sometimes crippled the growth of our culture and impeded the development of our knowledge. And the fact that some Americans have failed to adjust their mighty voices to their little worlds has turned them into some of the greatest bores on the face of the earth.

None of us should be too proud or too ashamed to admit that we have spoken too much and too often for our own good. And if some friend loves us enough to say, "shut your mouth," we should not condemn him for his insolence, but thank him for his advice. It is only too bad that God did not furnish zippers with every mouth He made. For if He had, we might more easily become intellectual giants. We might more easily become saints.

So when the five o'clock bell rings on these dark winter evenings, we go into our grand silence. We do this in an effort to achieve through external silence, the great prize, internal silence. For it is internal silence that counts; it is the internal silence that gives us the power to remain unruffled, ever calm, ever the master of our surroundings. And blessed is he who can remain unruffled before the wild antics of modern civilization."

-- Men in Sandals by Fr Richard Madden, ocd

In silence you can find rest

"After years of seasoning we would come to see the reason for it all. We would find that through silence we could begin to live in a world that would not be laid open to the penetrating wheeze of high pitched voices or the gruff cursings of the basso profundos. We would come to appreciate silence for the splendid opportunity it would give us to see all things in their true light. We would aways be grateful for the lesson it would teach us - that the less we say, the more effect and weight out words will carry when we do speak. And we would come to accept silence not as a form of capital punishment (as some would) but as a reprieve from the overpowering pressure of ordinary living. In silence we would find rest, not boredom. And what is more, we would actually come to enjoy it."

-- Men in Sandals by Fr Richard Madden, ocd

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I apologise for the posting delay. Our Internet connection has been intermittent for weeks now.

Learn to be at home in the darkness

"Central to all Carmelite teaching on contemplation is the haunting image of the dark night described by John of the Cross, taken from one of his most famous poems, called: ‘One Dark Night’. Most of his writing, in one way or another, is a commentary on this poem. John uses this powerful symbol of night to describe a time of great personal crisis in prayer and in one’s life in general.

Contemplation may be, as he has described it, ‘an inflow of God’s love into the heart’, but this inflow is as much a source of pain as it is of light. At a certain point on the journey, the lights go out, the spring runs dry, the engine grinds to a halt, the centre cannot hold, the honeymoon is over ... whatever image you wish to use. God is healing and freeing the soul; the light, which in itself is not painful, blinds the soul, causing darkness, pain and confusion.

John’s advice is clear and has a universal relevance: darkness is part of the human reality. We need to let go of our accustomed ways of seeing and doing, and enter into a different landscape; sometimes it takes darkness to bring us alive. The poet David Whyte captures this beautifully in his poem ‘Sweet Darkness’:

It is time to go into the dark
where the night has eyes to recognise its own;
there you can be sure
you will not be beyond love;
the night will give you horizons
further than your eyes can see.

Which is exactly what John of the Cross is saying: learn to be at home in the darkness, do not run away from it, do not fight it or even try to understand it, embrace it -‘the night has eyes’. A new and different world is being born, what seem to be death pangs are in fact birth pangs, the soul in darkness is being renewed and transfigured; a new and terrible beauty is born. Painful though it may be, there is in fact no other way except the way of trust and surrender, and ultimately of belief in the creative and transforming power of love. John’s invitation to accept ‘the dark ray of contemplation’ may not be easy, but there is no other way."

-- Contemplative Prayer in the Carmelite Tradition by Fr Eugene McCaffrey, ocd

We belong to Mary

"Carmel is Marian. We belong to Mary. But if you notice, Our Lady of Mt. Carmel is always depicted as holding the Child Jesus. Carmelites love Mary and honour her as the one who introduces us to Jesus. Strangely Mary is never mentioned in The Rule of St. Albert, the document that initially defines Carmel and its spirituality. In fact, Mary is mentioned relatively rarely in the ancient documents of the Order until the Book of the Institution of the First Monks which was composed in the final quarter of the fourteenth century. Furthermore, Mary is mentioned surprisingly rarely in the writings of St. Teresa or St. John of the Cross. Even St. Thérèse of Lisieux or Blessed Elizabeth of the Trinity or St. Edith Stein mention her but rarely. Yet she is always present in the Carmelite tradition and her presence, though somewhat inconspicuous, is fundamental. When Mary is present in the Carmelite writings she is almost invariably eclipsed by her Son. It is a reminder that even though we cannot see the moon when the sun is shinning, the moon is always there, and it draws its light from the sun. In the same way, Carmelites remember that while our sight is focused on Jesus, Mary is still there. Like the moon she sheds not light of her own, but reflects the Light from her Divine Son."


-- Nine themes in carmelite spirituality by Patrick Thomas McMahon, OCarm


** Picture by Cofradía Pescadores

The Carmelite way of life is first and foremost about prayer

"The Carmelite way of life is first and foremost about prayer. Albert’s Way, as the Rule is sometimes called, is eminently a way of prayer. It does not simply ask us to pray, but rather it leads our lives to become prayer. In The Way of Perfection, St. Teresa does not just teach us how to pray, but shows us how to live a life of friendship and intimacy with the Lord that is far more than saying prayers. In the same way, the writings of St. John of the Cross are centred on how to arrive at union with God, not through prayer in the more narrow senses, but through various phases of life – “ascent” and “the experience of the nights”, “climbing the mountain of the Lord.” As the Carmelite matures in the spiritual life, prayer becomes not merely an activity in life, but the essence of who he or she is.

The Rule’s demand of the separate cell, the injunction to stay in one’s cell in solitude, its insistence on silence, the common life and the counsels, the law of work, the ascetical practices and liturgical worship, and the incessant pondering of the law of the Lord: all provide the basic framework for a life that is maturing into prayer. Availing oneself of these basic structures outlined in the Rule one finds that ultimately prayer becomes spontaneous; it continues; it encounters and liberates the deepest impulses of our nature and the hidden glorification of objects. It puts an end of Glory’s exile from the soul. This is because when the Spirit dwells in a person, from the moment in which that person not longer simply prays but has become prayer, the Spirit never leaves him/her, for the Spirit himself never ceases to pray in him/her. Whether the person is asleep or awake, prayer never from then on departs from his soul. Whether he is eating or drinking or sleeping or whatever else he is doing, even in deepest sleep, the fragrance of prayer rises without effort in his heart. Prayer never again deserts him. At every moment of his life, even when it appears to stop, it is secretly at work in him continuously."

-- Carmelite heritage speaks across cultures by Insun Joanne Lee

The spirit of Carmel

"In spite of the mystery of its beginnings, on this point no hesitation is possible. This spirit consists essentially in a longing for union with God.

It will be objected that all spiritual men know this longing. This is true. Nevertheless at Carmel this aspiration has a quality of immediacy, an insistence on prompt realization that distinguishes the Order's religious attitude. Carmel makes contemplation its proper end and to attain this end it practices absolute detachment in relation to all demands, or at least to all temporal contingencies. Eminently theocentric, Carmel refers itself wholly to the living God: "As the Lord liveth the God of Israel, in whose sight I stand" (3 Kgs. 17: 1).

From the earliest ages union with God has been its "raison d'etre" and its soul. No doubt it was "the anticipated dawn of the Savior's redemptive grace" that made this possible. No doubt, too, that it has benefited by the progress and development of revelation down the centuries. Nevertheless at Carmel from the beginning, union with God has been and continues to be central."

Characterized by an awareness of the presence within man's heart of the very being of God, the spirit of Carmel also includes a sense of the sacred and a thirst for things divine. Progress in the experience of God only serves to deepen and develop this basic and truly essential element. Without it neither the wise nor the simple could enter into and intensify their relations with God,

No matter how individual is this spirit and with what difficulty it is analyzed, this spirit is to be identified with the most authentic mysticism. At Carmel nothing imitative or esoteric is to be found and Carmelite tradition is singularly sober as to the content of spiritual experiences though their presence is frequently attested. Always objective, it merely affirms the possibility and the reality of direct contact with God and points out the necessity, if this is to be attained, of recourse to a particular kind of life--the eremitic life. It assigns no date to its first manifestations but instead states forcefully that, granted certain conditions, it is possible for man truly to live the divine life. For this it suffices for him to realize in himself the climate of the original desert, and after withdrawing into this interior solitude, "to hold himself in the presence of the living God". Than the light of truth will come to purify, enlighten and enkindle his soul.

Foundations are thus laid for a personal experience of God and the intimate relations that a creature may have with Him. Going back through the ages Carmel will never hesitate to recognize itself in the first hermit whom the Bible describes for us and to model its life on that of men vowed to the contemplation of divine things in silence and solitude."

-- Carmelite Spirituality  by Paul Marie de la Croix, ocd

A divine darkness covers the soul so well prepared for pure contemplation

"May the Holy Spirit be served in granting his aid, and whatever is said here be for the glory of the same God.

This Lord says, that in the beginning when God made the heaven and the earth there was darkness over the abysses, and the spirit of the Lord walked over the waters. When his Divine Majesty wants to grant favor to a soul, He makes it remain in nothing and empty of all, remaining so broken-down and lost from itself as if it weren't , that it may truly receive his divine spirit, having completely gotten rid of all affections and appetites, conquered and beaten all passions, erased from itself all the images and forms that could disturb it. Being as it were a flat and smooth board, without a smudge, and without anything that in itself that would remove or disturb the new paint for which it is disposed, then, to this soul so well prepared, a divine darkness covers its deep abysses of its capacity, in the immensity of God; because this is a pure contemplation in which the soul receives communication from God himself in its very substance. And because the immensity of light of this divine being of God excels so much at the sight of the soul, this divine light becomes for it darkness in terms of what it can receive from him; that the blinder it is and He with immensity in himself is brighter, the darker it seems; and the more it receives from him (the greater the brightness that it receives from him), that greater clarity leaves it blinder in terms of itself and its natural operations."

-- Transformación del alma en Dios, 1 by Cecilia del Nacimiento, ocd
translated by ocdsister

Exercise care: do not become attached to temporal goods

“Spiritual persons must exercise care that in their heart and joy they do not become attached to temporal goods. They must fear lest, through a gradual increase, their small attachments become great… what is small in the beginning can be immense in the end… And they should never assure themselves that, since their attachment is small, they will break away from it in the future even if they do not do so immediately. If they do not have the courage to uproot it when it is small and in its first stage, how do they think and presume they will have the ability to do so when it becomes greater and more deeply rooted?”

-- The Ascent of Mount Carmel by St John of the Cross

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"Love is at the heart of the spirituality of St. John of the Cross. Oftentimes, however, peo ple read his writings and become frightened by the absolute, stark, and radical language he uses, such as: all or nothing, self-denial, mortification, emptiness, renunciation, nakedness, contempt for self and creatures, and detachment. All these terms form a rich vocabulary to express the theme of negation and can appear repellent and inhuman if not understood correctly. They recur throughout John's works and are often the source of misinterpretation and fear that have distorted the beauty, depth, and humanness of his person and doctrine."

"To begin with, the starting point for approaching John's negation spirituality is the expe rience of being loved by God a God who desires to enter into a personal relationship of love with human beings and our response to that love. Any notion of self-denial, detach ment, renunciation, or emptiness that is not born of an experience of God's personal love makes no sense to John of the Cross. God always takes the initiative. "We love because he first loved us" (1 Jn 4:19). In the beginning of the Spiritual Canticle , which sings of and recounts the Christian journey toward union with God in terms of love, John writes that the soul is only able to begin the journey of love in search for union with God because she first had an experience of God's love, and as a fruit of that experience, came to an aware ness that love is the purpose of existence (C, 1, 1). It is this experience of God's love that ignites the fire of love within a person so that one can begin the journey towards union with God through love."

"The final element of negation as a form of love and union with God is that the more one's love grows the more one's heart becomes concentrated on the Beloved, and as a natural corollary, whatever impedes the growth of love or attention to the Beloved, or whatever is superfluous to this love, simply falls away. In this sense, detachment in St. John of the Cross is a natural outcome of an ever deepening and concentrated love of God. Negation has nothing to do with a depreciation of material or spiritual goods, other relationships, having fun, or created reality. It is about a relationship of love, of making an option for Jesus Christ the Beloved. John of the Cross was an ardent lover of God and his whole message is to make God the love and the center of our lives because we exist for Love, for God, who is the fulfillment of all human existence and who offers us the fullness of life, love, and happiness. He maintains that the more we are "won over to love," the more we concentrate our love and attention on God and God's reign, the more our attachments, selfishness, useless desires, and even very good but superfluous things, will fall away as a result. This is the mystery of Love that by its very nature transforms and frees us."

-- Free to love: Negation in the doctrine of John of the Cross by Daniel Chowning, ocd

The soul must strive to keep its gaze fixed with love upon Our Lord

"St Teresa speaks also of special types of souls. These are, first of all, persons who do not know how to engage in discursive prayer and whose is imagination is not very lively, so that they cannot represent a subject to themselves. Their way is difficult, for if the will is not very firm and their love not fervent, they are exposed to many distractions and to dryness. They need a greater purity of conscience than do others, as well as patience to bear the struggle and dryness. Nevertheless, the soul must strive to keep its gaze fixed with love upon Our Lord, begging Him for His help. St Teresa urgently recommends that such persons use a book during the time of meditation. If they are faithful and generous, despite the dryness they experience, they will arrive even sooner than others at contemplation.

Some persons can practise only vocal prayer, or vocal prayer mixed with a few reflections; or they cannot keep their minds fixed on one subject. They need not be disturbed over this. Our Lord knows what is suited to them and what He thinks best. If they are humble and detached, they will receive as much as the others and perhaps more. They must be humble and persevering.

Other persons suffer from a state of dryness. Aridity, the inability to engage in discursive prayer, may come from a poor state of health. One must then avoid tiring the mind by thought. A few acts, the offering of one's condtion or one's illness, will be enough. Sometimes it would be better to take some rest, or to occupy oneself with active work. Aridity may also be merely a trial, accompanied even by frivolous or evil thoughts. We must then remember that prayer must mean giving something to God, not simply receiving, and that we engage in it to please Him, not to gain satisfaction for ourselves. We must try to be content with what He does. He knows what is useful to us. Just as He can make flowers grow without water, so He can also make our virtues increase without watering them with consolations. At such times we must think of what Jesus suffered for us. If we are faithful, He will reward us at the proper time."

-- The Spirit and Prayer of Carmel by Fr François Jamart, ocd

Meditation remains an excellent and very safe way

"...[I]t can be seen that between discursive prayer and infused contemplation there is a state of prayer which consists in keeping a loving, confused, and general attention on God, and in giving Our Lord a glance that is full of love, but not distinct or particular. Spiritual writers have called this prayer by various names: the prayer of recollection; the prayer of simplicity or the simple glance at God. They also call it active or acquired contemplation.

This type of prayer is already a form of contemplation, but it is not of the mystical or supernatural type, in the sense given to this word by St Teresa. We can acquire it by our own generous efforts, aided by God's grace. There is already to be found in it the influence of the gifts of the Holy Ghost, although these are hardly perceptible yet. This type of contemplation rewards the efforts of generous and faithful souls fairly soon, especially those who are in the religious life.

However, we ought not to try to attain to this type of prayer before the time for it has arrived; otherwise, we risk daydreaming and accomplish nothing. St John of the Cross indicates three signs by which we can recognize whether a soul enjoys this kind of contemplation:

First, one finds it impossible to meditate, as formerly, and finds only dryness in this kind of prayer instead of the satisfaction which one used to get from it, or instead of the activity which made it possible.

Second, one does not feel inclined to think about other things, either external or internal.

Third, one feels attracted to God and wishes to occupy oneself with Him in calmness and silence, without making any effort at reasoning.

When these three signs are found together, then the soul must leave meditation for contemplation. This does not mean that we must never go back to discursive prayer. For at the beginning the soul is not yet established in perfect contemplation. If sometimes it finds itself favored by this contemplation as soon as it places itself in the presence of God, it will at other times be unable to enter into this state except with the aid of some considerations.

Besides, this initial contemplation is not always of long duration; and as soon as the loving attention to God slackens, one must revive it by considerations. It can even happen that contemplation needs to be initiated by means of some brief considerations. Then we must at once take up discursive prayer. To maintain that we can no longer return to it because we have enjoyed the beginnings of contemplation, even supernatural contemplation, would be the result of pride and would lead to idleness.

Meditation remains an 'excellent and very safe way, until Our Lord raises us to other supernatural things.' It is a form of prayer which is within the reach of all souls. As St Teresa says: 'all that is necessary is the habitual practice of love. For God will always give us the opportunity to practice it if we desire it.'

Over and above this prayer of recollection or active contemplation come the different kinds of infused prayer. These are a gratuitous gift of God; none of our own efforts can procure them for us, and one must not try to attempt the on one's own. According to St Teresa, a soul which God has not elevated to this degree of prayer will do well not to try to undertake it of its own accord. It could only suffer harm and risk falling into deception."

-- The Spirit and Prayer of Carmel by Fr François Jamart, ocd

Spiritual journey: the stages of spiritual growth

"...[T]he purgative stage or way includes the initial phases of the spiritual life, including coming to conversion, turning away from sin, bringing one's life into conformity with the moral law, initiating the habit of prayer and the practices of piety, and maintaining a relatively stable life in the Church. (The first three mansions of Teresa [of Avila] deal with issues connected with the purgative stage.)

The illuminative stage is one of continuing growth. It is characterized by deeper prayer, growth in the virtues, deepening love of neighbor, greater moral stability, more complete surrender to the lordship of Christ, greater detachment from all that is not God, and increasing desire for full union. It is accompanied by various kinds of trials and purifications and sometimes be great consolations and blessings, including what are commonly referred to as 'mystical phenomena.' (Teresa's fourth, fifth, and sixth mansions deal with issues connected with this stage.)

The unitive stage is one of deep, habitual union with God, characterized by deep joy, profound humility, freedom from fears of suffering or trials, great desire to serve God, and apostolic fruitfulness. The experience of the presence of God is almost continual; great insight into the things of God is experienced; and while not without suffering, suffering now becomes primarily the grace of sharing in the redeeming suffering of Christ rather than the suffering of purification. This deep, habitual union is variously described as a 'spiritual marriage' or 'transforming union.' (Teresa describes the unitive stage in the seventh mansion.)

This three-stage division is a useful way of broadly characterizing the different aspects of the spiritual journey...

...[I]t's important to bear in mind that in practice no one's life perfectly matches any of the stages described... [D]ifferent aspects of these stages can be present in one's life simultaneously, although the direction of our lives, if we are making progress, should increasingly mirror the characteristics the saints point out as indicators of spiritual progress. As Catherine [of Siena] puts it, 'These are three stages for which many have the capacity, and all three can be present in one and the same person.'"

-- The Fulfillment of All Desire by Ralph Martin

Consider by a simple glance the mysteries of Christ and His love

"In [Interior Castle], St Teresa treats of persons who, having been raised to higher levels of prayer, cannot meditate as they did formerly. When once the understanding has enjoyed God, the soul can no longer seek Him as it formerly did by meditation. However, as the will is not always enflamed with love, the activity of the understanding is sometimes necessary to revive the flame. But there will be no need to have recourse to reasoning or other considerations, because the soul is no longer capable of these. It will be enough for the memory to recall the mysteries of Christ and His love, which the soul will consider by a simple glance, and this alone will be enough to enflame the will. In the same work, she speaks also of another type of prayer of recollection, in which the soul is passive and makes no further progress other than that which may properly be called mystic.

St John of the Cross also knew about this intermediary state between ordinary meditation and contemplation properly so called, or infused contemplation. He deals with it in his Ascent of Mount Carmel. What he writes there can be summarized by saying that after the soul has actively practiced meditation and has thus acquired an enlightened knowledge of the Most Blessed Trinity, its love is therefore increased; it derives from this form of prayer all the benefits to be found there, and it acquires the habit of recollection. Then, 'as soon as the soul puts itself into the presence of God, it finds itself plunged into a confused and loving knowledge of God, full of peace and calm,' without anything distinct or particular in this knowledge. Henceforth meditation becomes tasteless and impossible. If, nevertheless, the soul wanted to return to the practice of meditation, out of fear of idleness or from a desire to enjoy the sensible consolation to be found in it, the soul would only experience dryness and would lose the fruits of contemplation without obtaining those of discursive prayer.

'The soul must then be content to raise its attention with love to God, without making any particular acts. It must conduct itself passively, without making the least effort (of reasoning), applying itself to God with loving attention, simple and pure, as one does when one opens one's eyes to look on someone with love.'"

-- The Spirit and Prayer of Carmel by Fr François Jamart, ocd

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You may be wondering about my choice of a planetary nebula for today's excerpt. I've always been fascinated by galaxies, nebulae, etc, so much so that my favorite class in undergrad was astronomy. You'd be surprised at how many contemplatives I've met that are fascinated by the universe. If a picture like this is awe inspiring, just try to imagine what the Annunciation or the Resurrection, or any other mystery, were like. And that's why St Teresa stressed considering the mysteries of Christ's humanity regardless of how advanced we may be in the spiritual life; and St John of the Cross, in his Living Flame of Love, speaks of the soul "applying itself to God with loving attention, simple and pure..."

He will make His presence felt and give Himself to the soul

"In the prayer of recollection, [St Teresa of Avila] says, one withdraws from all created things, recollects all one's powers, withdraws into oneself, and there contemplates God, the Three Persons of the Blessed Trinity, or Christ the Son. The soul represents Our Lord to itself in some one of His states which it prefers, and speaks familiarly to Him, now as a Father, now as a Brother or a Spouse, or as to its divine Master.

The senses, both interior and exterior, experience the effect of this recollection; the eyes close of themselves; and the soul, entirely occupied with Him whom it loves,  is enflamed with divine love. It is then on the right road to receive the gift of infused contemplation. Once the soul has freed itself from all created things and given itself entirely to God so that He can dispose of it as He pleases, He will make His presence felt and also give Himself to the soul. The better prepared oneself for this, St Teresa advises that recollection be prolonged during the day or at least that contact with God be renewed from time to time."

-- The Spirit and Prayer of Carmel by Fr François Jamart, ocd

II. Reading for prayer

"After thus evoking the dispositions necessary for prayer and entering into contact with God, the soul completes its preparation by choosing a subject for meditation. At the beginning of the spiritual life this can be taken from a book, because the mind is not yet sufficiently conversant with the things of God. St Teresa recommends this. Later, the need to have recourse to reading will be less great; one will easily find in one's mind ideas upon which to meditate. Reading will, however, always be useful to suggest new subjects, because our ideas too easily turn back on the same themes, and then they have less power to move us. The Sacred Scriptures and the spiritual writers can always provide abundant and varied material.

Generally, St Teresa leaves one full latitude in the choice of subjects. Here are some of them:

• God and His divine Perfections
• The things of Heaven
• The Person, life and mysteries of Christ
• The Holy Eucharist
• The Words of the Gospels
• The Blessed Virgin and the Saints
• The divine Perfections as manifested in creation and the beauty of creatures
• Self-knowledge and consideration of our faults
• The ugliness of sin and its malice. Death, hell.

However, she advises that we should preferably choose subjects which best accord with our temperament and the disposition of the soul at the time, and from which we can hope to profit most, taking into account also the liturgy of the season. She also recommends taking the advice of an experienced director.

St Teresa insists that we meditate especially on the love shown by God in giving us His Son; on the love of Jesus Himself, on His life, His mysteries, and especially His passion and death, 'through which,' she says, 'all good things have come to us and still come.' In this she is in agreement with St John of the Cross and with the Instruction for Novices cited above. This is because Christ is the way, the truth, and the life. No one can come to the Father except by Him. Further, He is the head; we are His members; and He is our sanctifier. God has deposited in Him all the graces which are to be given to us. And, finally, He is our model. Christ wished to live our way of life so that we could have before our eyes a concrete example of the life of a child of God.

This contemplation of Christ and His mysteries in faith and loves makes us share in the dispositions of His own soul and communicates to us that virtus Christi which emanates from His Person and enables us to live His life. The contemplation of the Humanity of Christ is pure Carmelite doctrine. Some spiritual writers, mentioned by Teresa, believed that the Sacred Humanity of Christ could be an obstacle for souls who already enjoy infused contemplation. St Teresa undertook to refute them. She declared on the basis of the Gospels that the contemplation of the Sacred Humanity is suited to every moment of the spiritual life; she even added that many souls, after arriving at union with God, advance no further because they neglect this. Carmelite spirituality is therefore centered in Christ.

The reading must be done deliberately and attentively in order to grasp the full meaning of the sentences read and to furnish the mind with clear and precise ideas. When the person who is meditating feels that he is sufficiently enlightened and instructed, he stops reading. To prolong it would be mere curiosity and study. If after the reading is finished a person feels inclined to meditate or to contemplate some other subject, then the first subject can be dropped. The Spirit breathes where He wills."

-- The Spirit and Prayer of Carmel by Fr François Jamart, ocd

I. Preparation for prayer

"By this we mean the immediate preparation. But to enter into contact with God by means of prayer, it is not enough to dispose oneself merely at the moment when one wishes to speak to Him more intimately. In several places St Teresa develops at length the need to prepare oneself by the practice of virtue. She demands from souls who wish to find God in prayer a great purity of conscience, a complete detachment from created things, true humility, recollection of soul, fervent desires, confidence that one will succeed, and a great generosity. This is easy to understand: 'God does not force our will; He only takes what we give to Him. But He does not give Himself to us entirely unless we give ourselves to Him without reserve.'

As for the immediate preparation, this consists in purifying ourselves, being recollected, and becoming aware of the infinite greatness of Him with whom we are about to hold converse. The Majesty of God, as well as our position as creatures and sinners, makes this a duty for us. On the other hand, the more conscious we are of the infinity of God's Being, the greater will be the reverence with which we keep ourselves in His presence. It is true that God is also our Father and we are His children. But we do not always behave as real children of the Heavenly Father should, by being docile and eager to please Him in everything. That is why, before speaking more intimately with Him, the soul prostrates itself before God and adores Him. It confesses before Him its nothingness, its misery, and its faults, and implores His pardon."

-- The Spirit and Prayer of Carmel by Fr François Jamart, ocd

Carmelite method of prayer

"Prayer is a characteristic of Carmelite life. The aim of Carmelite spirituality is, indeed, contemplation, and the proper means to arrive at this goal is prayer. For this reason prayer will be the chief occupation of the Carmelite, and ought, so far as possible, to be continuous and to animate every act of the Carmelite. The Carmelite Rule and Constitutions prescribe this life of prayer, and the Holy Founders of the Order insist on it.

Each day, morning and evening, Carmelite religious devote one hour exclusively to prayer. They prolong this prayer through the whole day by remaining in contact with Christ who lives in them. If occasionally there are free moments in their occupations, they are employed in holding conversation with Christ and in recollecting themselves in God. Their is truly a life of prayer.

Beginners must ordinarily be instructed how to pray, first because they do not know how to go about it, and in the next place, because the method of prayer varies with the aims pursued by the different Orders. Thus most Orders have a method of prayer adapted to their purpose.

The method of prayer characteristic of Carmelite spirituality is affective and designed to lead to contemplation. It is a conversation with God and consists above all in loving Him. It might seem that no special method is needed for this kind of prayer. However, to hold proper converse with God and to draw from it all the profit that it can bring, a method is necessary. Beginners must be instructed in prayer, because in the beginning prayer is ordinarily discursive.

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Whether one wishes it or not, a prayer well made is composed of acts which in themselves conform to the Carmelite method prayer.

First, there is the preparation. One cannot pass suddenly from noise to meditation. One cannot approach God without suitable preparation.

Then there is reading. So long as one is not familiar with the practice of prayer, one will find in suitable reading matter a subject capable of inspiring thoughts which will enlighten, instruct, enkindle love and guide our conduct.

The meditation itself: the intellect reflects on some chosen subject; the imagination represents the subject to itself, if this is possible; the memory retains it and associates with it that which will complete the idea. The operations of these last two faculties are not, however, indispensable.

Finally, the will, influenced by these considerations, expresses itself in affective acts. These can be more or less numerous and varied. They end in loving, silent contemplation.

Prayer is concluded with a resolution, because prayer has also a practical purpose. It is not merely establishing contact with God; nor a conversation with Him which would run the danger of producing little practical fruit. Its aim is to transform our life, to share the sentiments of Christ and to model our life on His, to unite ourselves with God.

It is clear that these acts are usually to be found in every well-ordered prayer, and it is these precisely which form the method recommended by St Teresa, St John of the Cross and other Carmelite writers. One may note, indeed, that this method is very similar to that practised in antiquity. While it is claimed that the ancients did not have any method and, of course, one will not find them practising the same order as that followed in modern methods, yet their prayer included: reading, meditation, affectionate colloquy and contemplation. A disciple of St John of the Cross relates that he sometimes analyzed prayer into these same elements. It seems, therefore, that there is no reason to condemn a method of this kind, especially if it is not employed any longer than is necessary. The soul will reduce the complexity of the method in the measure that it makes progress.

However, for a soul which seeks God, prayer is not limited to this passing exercise. This latter is rather a more intense phase in a life devoted wholly to prayer. The soul must strive to keep itself united with Christ all day long, to live in God by an habitual act of loving faith, in order to reproduce in itself the life of Jesus so far as it can."

-- The Spirit and Prayer of Carmel by Fr François Jamart, ocd

Genuine practice of Carmelite asceticism requires the practice of the love of God

"[T]o remain true to the Carmelite spirit it would be preferable to make use of considerations inspired by love. Then every compromise with created things will appear as an infidelity to the love of God. Any satisfaction taken in created things will be an ingratitude towards Him who sacrificed Himself for us. From our meditation on what He has done for us, we can draw courage to bear up under our burdens, courage for the struggle facing us.

Referring to the testimony of Fr Eliseo de los Mártires, we have thus far considered only the struggle against temptations, the disorderly attractions of the senses, or the manifestations of some vice or defect. But it is clear that the method recommended by St John of the Cross can be applied just as reasonably and efficaciously in the struggle against useless thoughts, vain imaginations, idle memories, affections for others, futile worries; in a word, all that can distract one from God and hinder our union with Him. God alone and what can unite us to Him must be all-important to us. As soon as any other object begins to take hold of our faculties, we must brush it aside and continue going towards God by loving Him alone.

St Teresa does not distinguish explicitly between these two methods of combating obstacles of spiritual progress. But she nevertheless teaches both of them. Indeed, she sometimes recommends considerations such as those which we have just given, and counsels that one should make acts of the virtue opposed to the evil tendency against which we are struggling. At other times, she makes an appeal to our love of God 'of which it is characteristic to be always active in all things.' Love is the method she prefers. Although she develops it less clearly, her teaching is the same as that of St John of the Cross and reflects the essential principle of Carmelite spirituality which gives the first place to love. It follows that the genuine practice of Carmelite asceticism requires the practice of the love of God."

-- The Spirit and Prayer of Carmel by Fr François Jamart, ocd

Your heart communicates directly with the Heart of Christ in the blissful adoration of simple regard

"We cannot see Christ and remain as we are. We cannot exchange a look with Christ and not be overcome with a total conversion.

This is what I would like to help you to do: to lead you to Christ so that you might, in the silence of retreat, exchange that glance with Christ; a true, living, and real contact that is not the fruit of the imagination, but rather reaches the heart of things as they are. Christ is a living being who is here, there, and everywhere. To see Christ, we must become poor. Riches drag down the soul. One has to become small in stature, that is, detached from the goods of this world, for such riches foster earthly desires. As you are well aware, Saint john of the Cross warns: ”Whether one is attached to earth by a silken thread or a old cable, the result is the same: one cannot soar to the heights.” One attachment, however small, that violates obedience, poverty, or chastity, and draws us away from God, may be nothing by worldly standards. Nonetheless, that attachment comes between God and ourselves and impedes our ascent toward sanctity.

Christ is all in all. Through him, all is made; through him all comes to us. Therefore, we must see Christ. I stress this point; we must truly see Christ. I sometimes think that we should define the term Christian as “Someone who has seen Christ.” There are only a few genuine Christians, because only a few souls have seen Christ. Countless baptized persons, including even ordained priests and professed religious, remain lukewarm in spirit. Such tepid souls do not pulsate with life nor are they enthusiastic enough to give their life for Christ. They have never seen Christ. Their knowledge of the Lord is verbal, not vital. However, we must strive to love Christ passionately and prepare to see him face to face when we die. The soul that neither misses Christ now nor longs to see him at life’s end does not honestly love him. To make such a claim would be a lie. When we love someone, we long to see that person, even at the risk of death. All the more so, given him limitless love, we want to long to see Christ face to face.

Let us now turn our attention to Saint John of the Cross. In his splendid writings, he explains how the person who loves God gradually pierces the veil that keeps us from seeing the Lord. Eventually, the moment comes, when that veil is totally sundered and the person goes forth to our beloved God.

When I speak of seeing Christ, I mean the mysterious, misty vision of faith, which is the fruit of the prayer of simple regard and not the result of any activity on our part. I mean the experience of being “swept up” by Christ himself. When we have diligently devoted ourselves to charity, obedience, service, and self-control, and when Christ has seen the constancy of our commitment, then he himself comes to us. On that day, we become enveloped in the divine being and ecstatically discover the presence of God himself. We know that the Lord is there. He speaks to us, but not in words. The human heart communicates directly with the heart of Christ in the blissful adoration of simple regard. This heartfelt vision of Christ compels the soul so to love Christ and so to make him loved that nothing else on earth can inspire greater love than the Lord. Wealth then is as nothing and poverty is prized precisely because is allows us greater intimacy with Christ. No other comfort, no other countenance and no other solace suffices. Christ alone provides satisfaction.

How glorious is this intimacy with Christ!"

-- Listen to the Silence: A Retreat with Père Jaques edited by Francis J Murphy

There is no better way of living Christ's life than to imitate Mary

"From the earliest beginnings of the Order, the Carmelites have cultivated devotion to Mary, the Mother of God. They took her for their patron and tried to model their life on hers. The Carmelites were hermit solitaries, like Elias [Elijah], and were related through him to the tradition of the Old Testament. They participated in the spirit of the New Testament through Mary and tried to imitate her interior life. They knew that there is no better way of living Christ's life than to imitate Mary, because Mary is all for Jesus, as Jesus is all for God.

Carmelite friars and nuns, therefore, strive to live in intimate union with Mary. They have recourse to her in all their activities, begging her to enlighten and direct them. They take care to remain under her guidance, so that she may protect and defend them. They entrust themselves to her in all their needs of body and soul, and they especially take her as a guide in the way of contemplation. In short, they expect from her that she will form Christ in them."

-- The Spirit and Prayer of Carmel by François Jamart, ocd