Climbing Mount Carmel

Saint Teresa of Avila proposes one particular method of prayer that she found to be most helpful in her own life: the prayer of recollection. In this episode we discuss this practice of prayer as it is understood in the Carmelite Tradition. We also look briefly at Saint Teresa's famous analogy of prayer: the Four Waters.

Most of us are familiar with various ways of praying, some of these methods taught to us from our youth.  These types of prayer are not only for beginners but continue to be helpful aids as we grow in our relationship with God. In this episode we will look more closely at four different methods, or modes, of prayer which are highly revered in the Carmelite tradition: vocal prayer, liturgical prayer, meditative reading, and discursive meditation.

Whether you’ve been praying for many years, or if you are just beginning, we all have one thing in common: the need for conversion. Lent is a season specifically set aside by the Church to focus on repentance and conversion. In this episode we explore what the Carmelite tradition has to teach us about living lives of continual conversion from the teachings of Saints Teresa of Avila and John of the Cross.

This is the essence of Carmel. This is the purpose of the entire spiritual life. This is the reason why the whole world was created. And this is the very reason why you were made...

Today, February 4, is the memorial of our newest beatified friar, Bl. Marie-Eugene of the Child Jesus. As a diocesan priest who entered Carmel five years after my ordination, I received much guidance from the writings and example of this great man who shared with me a common path...