The Way of Perfection

That’s a daunting proposition. An unattainable goal? Perhaps, but St. Teresa of Avila (1515 – 1582) thought that even if we couldn’t be perfect, it didn’t mean we shouldn’t try. And it didn’t mean we shouldn’t continue to try even if we failed – a lot. All Christians are called to be saints. We just have to work at it every day. The best way to work at being a saint is prayer.  

St. Teresa wrote The Way of Perfection at the behest of her superiors and much of the first part of the book is addressed to the sisters in her convent. She advises them of keeping the rules of the order so that they can prepare themselves for contemplative prayer and achieving true spiritual union with God. To do this, one must practice self-sacrifice, detachment from worldly things, and humility. Success at these things leads to virtue.

To us it may seem as though the road to contemplative or mental prayer can only be traveled by those cloistered in a convent or monastery. Our lives are much too busy for this kind of prayer. St. Teresa says, “You are right to say that what we have described is mental prayer; but I assure you that I cannot distinguish it from vocal prayer faithfully recited with a realization of Who it is we are addressing.” The prayers that you say every day – the Lord’s Prayer for example – said well, with knowledge of and love for the Father, just as Jesus has, can bring us closer to the Father and the Son who taught us this prayer.

The last section of the book, Chapters 27 – 42, delves into the meaning of each part of the Paternoster (the Lord’s Prayer). This, for me, was the meat of the book. If you read only this part, you will still take away a greater knowledge and love of prayer. And even if you only have five or ten minutes to yourself a day, saying the Lord’s Prayer and really thinking about what each line means, you will be one step closer to a more meaningful relationship with God. To be closer to God is the way of perfection.