St. Teresa of Avila and the Universal Call to Holiness

What would you say if someone told you that you could scale the heights of contemplative prayer and attain union with God? After your initial, “huh?” would you believe them? Most of us cannot claim to be a mystic. In fact, most Christians believe that advanced contemplative prayer (mystical prayer) is something that only an elite few can attain, and those few are most likely to be priests and consecrated religious. We feel that God only calls a select number of people to that degree of holiness, that we don't deserve it, or that the best we can do is to try to live a “good life” since mystical prayer is not attainable for the ordinary lay person. However, the Spanish nun St. Teresa of Avila (1515-1582), who is honored by the Church with the title Doctor of Prayer, teaches us a different message. St. Teresa of Avila taught that higher prayer is not only possible for those who care enough to strive for it, but that all are actually called to it. Sure, St. Teresa was a nun and a mystic. And yes, she received unique spiritual gifts from God such as levitation that we can’t expect to experience, nor should we desire them since they are not necessary for our spiritual growth (though it would make for awesome water cooler conversation). But St. Teresa of Avila, like all saints, was a real person with very real struggles and temptations of her own. Together with fellow friend and mystic St. John of the Cross, St. Teresa reformed the Carmelite Order, and this was met with great persecution. St. Teresa also knew all too well what it was like to be distracted in prayer, likening the thoughts in her head to wild horses pulling the mind in different directions. “I was more occupied in wishing my hour of prayer were over and in listening whenever the clock struck, than in thinking of things that were good.” So, just how did St. Teresa of Avila expect us to advance into deeper levels of prayer and holiness? In her book The Interior Castle, St. Teresa takes us on a detailed journey of the spiritual life—speaking from her own experience—likening it to a castle in which there are concentric mansions with God at the center. Advancement through each mansion means that the soul reaches a deeper sanctity, a deeper communion with Our Lord, evidenced by the practice of virtue. St. Teresa of Avila gives us an idea of what to expect in each of the seven mansions, encouraging us to persevere when it’s difficult, and takes us all the way to the final mansion of transforming union with God. Yes, union with God. After all, isn't that the deepest longing of our hearts? Isn't that what we've been created for? It may seem paradoxical that we can’t turn ourselves into mystics, yet St. Teresa was insistent that we are invited to the level of prayer in which one becomes a mystic. However, St. Teresa explains that union with God is open to us if we desire it enough to do our part, if we are willing to prepare ourselves to receive the spiritual gifts. If we are sincere in our prayer life and do all in our power to practice virtue and do God’s will, then He Himself, beyond our understanding, will take over and bring our prayer to greater depths. In talking about devout lay people, St. Teresa of Avila said that there is “no reason why they should be denied entrance into the very last of the mansions; nor will the Lord deny them this if they desire it.” In her own time, in fact, St. Teresa guided her married brother Lorenzo to mystical prayer. It may help to consider that St. Teresa’s message of prayer is nothing new. It is nothing less than the Gospel message that we are all called to perfect holiness. As Fr. Thomas Dubay says in Fire Within, “We are all therefore called to the heights of prayer that alone make this heroic virtue possible.” This is great news for all of us ordinary people who desire that loving and intimate union with Jesus our Friend! God invites all of us to union with Him for He loves all. Let us learn from St. Teresa of Avila how to pray so as to do all in our power to attain the intimacy with Christ that we yearn for. For more literatures like this please visit Now You Know Media to download mp3 audio and video catholic religious programs and audio video courses.