Christ's Faithful People
Conclusion |
It is my fervent hope that we will be able to take our
experience of prayer and perfect it by employing the Teresian principles of meditation in
the context of lectio divina, the traditional Christian practice of praying over the
Scriptures. To be Carmelites, and to be Christians, is to pray out of the past into the
ever-evolving present and future. The history of prayer and its development in our own
times are essential elements of our prayer methodology. We are traditional souls
stretching into the future. We have a long and beautiful heritage that continues to
develop and grow. May St. Teresa's breadth of mind and soul become ours and lead us to the
renewal of prayer in Carmel and in the Church! For modern presentations of lectio divina see Thelma Hall, Too Deep for Words: Rediscovering Lectio Divina (New York, NY: Paulist Press, 1988); Jean Leclercq, Lectio Divina, Worship 58 (May, 1984), pp. 239 248; Jean Leclercq, The Love of Learning and the Desire for God: A Study of Monastic Culture (New York, NY: Fordham University Press, 1974), chaps. 1 and 5; Susan Muto, A Practical Guide to Spiritual Reading (Denville, NJ: Dimension Books, 1976); and Susan Muto, The Journey Homeward (Denville, NJ: Dimension Books, 1977). One of the best practical guides to lectio divina can be found in Chapter X of Don t You Belong to Me? by a Monk of New Clairvaux (New York, NY: Paulist Press, 1979). |
