Wednesday April 27, 2005 The Way of Perfection
The Way of Perfection - St. Teresa of Avila (c.1565)
***** (out of 5)
The Way of Perfection was written by St Teresa of Avila as a guide for the nuns belonging to the Carmelite Order, the order for which she was prioress when the book was written. This book, a blessed classic, discusses the attributes of a prayerful life leading to a more intimate relationship with God. In the first section of the book, St. Teresa provides instruction, based on practical personal experience, in attaining the three essential characteristics for attaining spiritual perfection: fraternal love, detachment from worldly things, and true humility. She discusses the subjects of mental and vocal prayer and contemplation in this section as well. The second section of the book contains St. Teresa's profound and inspirational commentaries on the Pater noster (Our Father), or The Lord's Prayer. In this section, the Saint shows how everything discussed in the previous section of the book becomes manifest in this most perfect of prayers. She discusses each part of the prayer in detail - from the awesome implications of "Our Father" to the importance of earnestly entreating God to "deliver us from evil".
The Way of Perfection was written over 400 years ago for a small group of cloistered nuns. As with other works of tremendous genius, however, St. Teresa's instructions and commentaries are timeless and universal. Making The Way of Perfection even more remarkable is the simple way in which the deeply profound concepts are presented by St. Teresa. Also, her conversational style adds a true sense of intimacy to this sublimely beautiful work.
While Catholics will find this book particularly rewarding, its relevance is by no mean limited to adherents of Catholicism. I highly recommend this book for anyone interested in achieving a deeper sense of spirituality through an intimate prayer-filled relationship with God.
Also Recommended:
- The Imitation of Christ - Thomas a Kempis (1418)
- The Practice of the Presence of God - Brother Lawrence (1693)
( Apr 27 2005, 12:46:57 AM PDT ) Permalink Comments [3]
“Good God, how much reverence can you have for a Supreme Being who finds it necessary to include such phenomena as phlegm and tooth-decay in His divine system of creation?”
-- Joseph Heller
Posted by 219.110.145.189 on May 01, 2005 at 03:31 AM PDT #
You write: "While Catholics will find this book particularly rewarding, its relevance is by no mean limited to adherents of Catholicism. I highly recommend this book for anyone interested in achieving a deeper sense of spirituality through an intimate prayer-filled relationship with God."
Why do those who follow one religious path always assume that the esoterica of their faith is bound to be relevant to those of others, or none? From my memory of these "instructions" (revealing word), their relevance to the average Baptist, Lutheran, Jew, Quaker, Muslim, Hindu or Ba'hai is, roughly, zero. (And how much time do Catholics spend contemplating the writings of those faiths? Never seen any quoted in a Catholic blog...)
In my blog yesterday, I commented on the mayor of Lebanon, TN, who invited people to "regardless of religion, sing and pray together calling upon God to intervene and forgive our sin and heal our land. For one hour, surely we can leave the signs on the buildings and come together as Christians", without a trace of irony.
Of course to put it all into real perspective we need to take the long view....
Posted by Geoff Arnold on May 01, 2005 at 05:16 AM PDT #
I have found that contemplating works associated with many different belief systems has helped me to form, clarify, and strengthen my own belief system. The Upanishads, the Bhagavad Gita, the Koran, the Analects of Confucius, and the Tao Te Ching have all proven rewarding reading for me. This has led to my conviction that the classics of Catholicism can prove rewarding in similar ways to non-Catholics.
Posted by Brandon E Taylor on May 01, 2005 at 02:45 PM PDT #