Lectio Divina and the Practice of Teresian Prayer

by Sam Anthony Morello

St. Teresa of Jesus is the Church's great teacher of prayer, and lectio divina, the ancient Christian approach to praying over the Scriptures, is among the Church's most venerable prayer methods. In this booklet, noted Carmelite retreat director Sam Anthony Morello shows how the tradition of lectio can assist us in following the Teresian way of prayer, and how in turn Teresa's insights and attitudes can enrich our contemporary practice of lectio. In clear and practical language, the author explains the fundamental ingredients of Teresian prayer, and relates them to lectio (reading), meditatio (meditation), oratio (prayer), and contemplatio (contemplation), the four traditional elements of lectio divina. A closing series of reflection questions make this an ideal introduction to Teresian prayer for both group discussion and individual study.

Genres: Christianity, Prayer, Catholic, Spirituality, Religion, Nonfiction, Scripture

Paperback

First published January 1, 1995

Reviews

[booklady · Rating 5 out of 5]

May 19, 2022: Reread in anticipation of formation class this Saturday.

Morello has synthesized and condensed hundreds of pages of Teresa’s writings on prayer into a 26-page pamphlet. The gist of all prayer: dwell rather than dig. This is the heart of Teresa’s message and purpose of affective prayer. The Doctor of Prayer wants us to understand that we pray in response to a love already shown us by the God of revelation. We do not need to win His favor but to answer that love. Teresa insists on attention in all our prayer and yet the “important thing” is not to think much but to love much. Her primary principle is to, “Do what best stirs you to love.” The goal of all Teresian prayer is union with God. Methods include: vocal prayer; reading; recollection; images; imaginative representations; reflection, intuition and self-knowledge.

Morello quotes from a twelfth century monastic letter by Guido II, The Ladder of Monks, on the contemplative life where lectio, meditatio, ratio, and contemplatio are presented as four rungs leading from earth to heaven. The four rungs and what they mean are:

“Reading seeks;
meditation finds;
prayer asks;
contemplation tastes. OR,

Reading, so to speak, puts food solid in the mouth,
meditation chews and breaks it,
prayer attains its savor,
contemplation is itself the sweetness that rejoices and refreshes. OR,

Reading concerns the surface,
meditation concerns the depth
prayer concerns request for what is desired,
contemplation concerns delight in discovered sweetness.”

There is no single way to pray. We pray as we can, not as we ought, yet it is good to remember that Christ most frequently speaks through His own words in Scripture. We pray to, in and through Him. He is not somewhere else, but here now with me (you).

Although this was required reading for me as a Carmelite secular, I would recommend it to anyone interested in Teresian studies or wanting a deeper prayer life.

This is not a neat, step-by-step, this is how you pray checklist because prayer is not something you order up from a menu. Prayer is a journey, a discovery process, something which happens over the course of our usually messy lives. Teresa is the Doctor of Prayer because she understood and wrote about this so well. We have to be patient with ourselves, life, others and God as He is with us and prayer will come. There is no seizing it.

However, as one of the other writers here on Goodreads wrote, take this with you to Adoration, open it and let the Almighty speak to you. You will be glad you did! 😇🙏

[April · Rating 1 out of 5]

This book / pamphlet contains some good information. However, it's a bit disorganized in places, and it repeated itself, never fully achieving the "so what" in several areas. Reading it was like traveling along a spiral, hearing the same thing over and over, but with slightly different foci. I didn't like the style it was written in, at all. Let's put it that way.

My main issue with it however, is its offering of non-Catholic theology and philosophy under guise of authentic, "rediscovered" Catholicism. Though the author never mentioned "centering prayer" a la Fr. Thomas Keating outright, the author refers to "centering" many times, discusses techniques which are part of "centering prayer", and references Thomas Keating, so it seems obvious that the author is either quietly trying to push "centering prayer", or is assuming that all readers will already be on board with it.

Centering prayer is NOT Catholic! Centering prayer is something that Fr. Keating created after his study of eastern religions. Choosing a word, phrase, or etc. is choosing a mantra to focus on. Choosing a mantra, and returning to it when you become distracted is not something St. Teresa, or any other Catholic before Vatican II ever taught. This is Buddhist meditation. Modern "Mindfulness Meditation" is also a takeoff on Buddhist meditation. If you're familiar with mindfulness meditation, you'll easily recognize "centering prayer" as a repackaged eastern modality.

Eastern religions and philosophies teach monism and non-dualism. Essentially, they teach that God and man are one, or there is no real or substantial difference between the two. They state that we are the same essence, energy, source, etc. This is not compatible with Christianity. Fr. Keating, unfortunately, was seduced away from his own religion and ended up teaching this too. He viewed the grass as greener on the other side. Oddly, rather than leave the Catholic Church, he decided to introduce incompatible philosophy and theology and taint the wellspring of millennia of Catholic prayer. I can't understand for the life of me why the beauty and history of his patrimony was not good enough for him. And, I daresay St. Teresa would've had some choice words for him.

The author of this book essentially states that Teresa did not teach Lectio Divina. What it doesn't admit is that centering prayer has nothing to do with Lectio Divina. This author even unashamedly attributes things to Guigo II who wrote The Ladder of Monks Ladder of Monks and Twelve Meditations (Volume 48) in 1188 that simply are not there! Read it for yourself. Guigo II's description of reading has nothing to do with choosing a mantra, centering oneself with it, or coming back to it over and again. Instead, it defines reading as "The careful study of the Scriptures, concentrating all ones powers on it." Guigo II is very specific in his descriptions of the 4 rungs of the ladder: reading, meditation, prayer, and contemplation.

If you want to learn true "Lectio Divina" read The Ladder of Monks by Guigo II. This is the supposed forgotten discipline of the monks from the middle ages. The centering prayer infused modern version of it is NOT authentic. It's centering prayer hidden in a donut. Toss the centering prayer and keep the donut! Authentic "Lectio Divina" is wonderful and quite helpful. Guigo II's book is a gem.

Nonetheless - whether or not Lectio is helpful, as the book admits, there is no evidence that it's what Teresa taught. If it is, she certainly taught Guigo II's method. NOT Thomas Keating's version. Keating taught that God and self are one. This is in NO WAY Catholic.

Quote from Fr. Keating:

"God and our true self are not separate. Though we are not God, God and our true self are the same thing."

The idea in the quote above is eastern philosophy as well as "New Thought" - which we hear about frequently now, with all the business about manifesting your desires through quantum physics and the power of thought. These teach that who I am is God who is having an (human) experience, through me. Thus, I am not God, but He is Me. [There are many supposed Christian churches who teach this now - for example Center for Spiritual Living, which is "Science of Mind".]

Further reading on this topic:

Is Centering Prayer Catholic?: Fr. Thomas Keating Meets Teresa of Avila and the CDF

https://www.catholic.com/magazine/pri...

https://www.catholic.com/magazine/onl...

[Karina · Rating 5 out of 5]

I took it to Adoration and when I couldn't focus on praying read this. This is a very little book, but very deep. I feel like I should be sitting with pen and paper and taking notes like I'm in school. And I might just do that, so I can remember the details better.

I don't have much experience with Lectio Divina, but this book makes me want to try it. It highly recommends doing this with the Gospels, more than other scripture. And it does make a certain amount of sense. I take all these different books to Adoration sometimes, but not the Bible!

Things to keep in mind: there is no one specific method of Teresian prayer, and we "pray as we can not as we ought".

[Frank · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lectio Divina means Divine Reading. This is a nice little book that helps get the idea what the famous way of praying with a book in your hand is all about. For those who love books this is a important way to pray.

[Harry Allagree · Rating 4 out of 5]

Morello's short explanation of how to go about praying effectively, i.e., by way of "lectio divina", "divine reading", using the prayer-principles of St. Teresa of Avila, is a marvelous & helpful handbook. The freshness & simplicity of how Teresa practiced prayer -- and it wasn't automatic or easy even for one so great as she was -- & how Morello puts it together with ancient practice will be exceedingly helpful to anyone serious in maturing in a relationship with Christ.

[Stephanie Kay · Rating 5 out of 5]

Really appreciated the practical clarity of this guide and, as someone who’s been very interested in St. Teresa, this was a great primer on her work and perspective!

[Maria Almaguer · Rating 2 out of 5]

A fast read--it's really more of a pamphlet. I was already familiar with lectio divina however, it was recommended to me as part of Carmelite aspirancy. That being said, it was much more dense than necessary to get its points across. It truly had the flavor of being written by Teresa of Avila's Interior Castle, a very dense read as well. But perhaps that's more of a context thing, where it's more the style of the times?

[Andrew · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a pretty good synthesis of St. Teresa's works on prayer, tied in with the practice of lectio divina. If you've read a lot on St. Teresa of Avila, this might seem redundant, but again, it's a solid, helpful summary.