St. Teresa of Avila was proclaimed as the first woman Doctor of the Church by Pope Paul VI on 27 September 1970. The Pope selected one of her many titles as the basis for conferring that honor on her: Teresa of Avila, Teacher of Prayer. St. John Paul II, when as Pope he was writing to the Superior General of the Discalced Carmelite Friars to mark the fourth centenary of the death of Teresa, expressed the same sentiments. The Pope also encouraged us to learn to pray from the Doctors of the Church, St. John of the Cross and St. Teresa of Avila, both Carmelites saints.
The vocation and mission of St.Teresa was prayer. In all her major writings–The Life, The Way of Perfection, The Interior Castle—she teaches us how to pray. She was well-versed in the practice of prayer. Her teaching flows from her own experience and not from books on prayer as she began writing on prayer at the age of 47. However, she was inspired by the two authors: Francisco de Osuna, (The Third Spiritual Alphabet), and Bernardino de Laredo, (The Ascent of Mount Sion).
In the first two books (The Life and The Way of perfection), St. Teresa concentrates on the ascetical grades of prayer, but in (The Interior Castle), she describes the mystical grades of prayer. After realizing that all of us do not travel by the same path to perfection, and that God leads us by different paths, St. Teresa gives us different grades of prayers so that we can grow in relationship with the Almighty.
St. Teresa in her first book—The Life, explains the grades of prayer by using the symbol of the “four waters,” or more precisely, the four methods of watering a garden. The first method is by drawing water from a well by means of a bucket attached to a rope. This is the first stage of prayer and it includes vocal prayer and discursive meditation. The individual is active, exercising the faculties and getting the benefits he/she can through one’s own efforts.
The second method of watering a garden is by means of a waterwheel to which dippers are attached. St. Teresa explains that this stage, in which “the soul begins to recollect itself, borders on the supernatural. . . . This state is a recollecting of the faculties within the soul, so that its enjoyment of that contentment may provide greater delight” (The Life, chap. 13).
The third type of watering a garden is by irrigation by means of a running stream. It doesn’t call for human effort as in the two previous methods. Prayer at this stage is mystical; that is, all the faculties are centered on God. “This kind of prayer,” says St. Teresa, “is quite definitely a union of the entire soul with God” (The Life, chap. 17). The fourth and final method for watering a garden is by means of falling rain. This stage of prayer is totally mystical, meaning that it is infused by God and is not attained by human effort. It is called the prayer of union, and it admits of varying degrees.
