St. Teresa of Avila was proclaimed the first woman Doctor of the Church by Pope Paul VI on September 27, 1970. The Pope chose one of her many titles as the foundation for this recognition: “Teresa of Avila, Teacher of Prayer.” Later, St. John Paul II, writing to the Superior General of the Discalced Carmelite Friars on the fourth centenary of St. Teresa’s death, expressed similar sentiments. He encouraged the faithful to learn the art of prayer from two great Doctors of the Church, St. John of the Cross and St. Teresa of Avila, both Carmelite saints.
The vocation and mission of St. Teresa was prayer. In all her major writings, The Life, The Way of Perfection, and The Interior Castle, she teaches us how to pray. Her teaching came not from theory or textbooks, but from her own lived experience of prayer. She began writing at the age of 47, drawing inspiration from two authors who deeply influenced her: Francisco de Osuna (The Third Spiritual Alphabet) and Bernardino de Laredo (The Ascent of Mount Sion).
In The Life and The Way of Perfection, St. Teresa focuses on the ascetical grades of prayer, while in The Interior Castle, she turns to the mystical grades of prayer. Realizing that not all souls travel the same path to perfection and that God leads each person differently, she outlined several stages of prayer to help believers grow in their relationship with God.
In her first book, The Life, St. Teresa explains the grades of prayer using the symbol of “four waters”, or four ways of watering a garden:
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The first water is drawn manually from a well with a bucket and rope. This represents the initial stage of prayer, which includes vocal prayer and meditation. Here, the person is active, using effort and discipline to pray.
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The second water is drawn using a waterwheel with dippers. This stage marks the beginning of supernatural prayer, where the soul starts to recollect itself. “The soul begins to recollect itself, bordering on the supernatural… a recollecting of the faculties within the soul so that its enjoyment may provide greater delight.”
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The third water is irrigation by a flowing stream. This no longer depends on human effort. Prayer becomes mystical, centered entirely on God. “This kind of prayer,” says St. Teresa, “is quite definitely a union of the entire soul with God.”
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The fourth water comes from falling rain. This symbolizes the prayer of union, a completely mystical and infused gift from God that cannot be attained by human means.
In The Way of Perfection, St. Teresa distinguishes between active recollection and infused recollection. Recalling the words of St. Augustine, who said he searched for God everywhere and finally found Him within, she writes: “However quietly we speak, He is so near that He will hear us. We need no wings to go in search of Him, but have only to find a place where we can be alone and look upon Him present within us.”
What St. Teresa first called the prayer of infused recollection, she later termed the “prayer of quiet.” Its main characteristics are peace and joy, as the will is fully captivated by divine love. The intellect and memory may still wander, but one should not be anxious about their distractions; attending to them only disturbs the soul’s quiet.
In The Interior Castle, St. Teresa uses the image of a castle with seven mansions to describe the stages of prayer and spiritual growth. The first three mansions represent the ascetical stages, while the last four (from the fourth to the seventh) correspond to the mystical stages of prayer. These include the prayer of infused recollection, the prayer of simple union, spiritual betrothal (mystical espousal), and finally the transforming union or mystical marriage, the highest form of prayer attainable on earth.
Through her profound teaching and personal witness, St. Teresa of Avila remains for all time a true teacher of prayer, guiding souls toward deeper intimacy and union with God.
