Part II; A case for the existence of God through the miracles and spirituality of St Theresa of Avilla; A book review of “Conversations with Christ”

In this second installment, we will delve deeper into this inner voice through the mystical experiences and miracles of St Theresa of Avilla, building our case for the existence of God by His supernatural communication.

To fully grasp the impact of St Theresa and other mystics on the history of the Catholic Church, we should first consider the era in which she lived. Born in Spain in 1515, her own vowed religious life began in a convent much in need of a return to prayer. Not finding the closeness to God that she hoped for among the sisters, she left and founded a new order, the Discalced Carmelites. Her reform of the Carmelites and her interior prayer life are wonderful snapshots of the reforms which happened in the Church as God worked through the religious orders to renew His grace in the world. All of this took place in Spain, just at the beginning of the reformation, as part of a larger renewal of monastic rites in Europe; a decisive turning point in Church History and a key part of the reformation. 2

What sets St Theresa of Avilla apart among the monastics is captured in Peter Rohrbach’s book about her interior prayer life, Conversations with Christ. It is not so much a biographical sketch as it is a sharing of her methods of meditation. Her intimacy with Christ through prayer was what made the Discalced Carmelites so attractive to discerning young women of her day, and it is what continues to draw people to her even today. Conversations With Christ not only involves mental prayer as part of this intimate friendship, St Theresa made a point to place equal emphasis on liturgical prayer. This particular book, however, primarily focuses on meditation, which she preferred to call mental prayer.To further build our case for the existence of God, we will have to limit our survey of the supernatural to those experiences reported on in this one particular book about St Theresa, understanding all the while that there are so many more things that God does in our lives that if they were all reported, the world itself could not contain the books that would be written. 3

In St Theresa’s own words, “Mental prayer is nothing more than an intimate friendship, a frequent heart to heart conversation with Him by whom we know ourselves to be loved”. 4

In another passage she cautions against neglect of mental prayer, “He who neglects mental prayer need not a devil to carry him to hell, but he brings himself there with his own hands.” 5

While St Theresa was literate, she wrote in the common vernacular of her day and presented her simple but effective method in a way that ordinary people could grasp and adopt for themselves.

St Theresa’s method is quite simple, and involves both the intellect, which supplies material for the conversation with Christ, and the will, which carries out the conversation. She admonishes us to picture Our Lord in one of His mysteries and to speak with him about the day’s meditation. She encourages us to consider various facets of the image which our imagination presents. Were we initially standing close to Christ? Were we some distance away? Why is that? Do we really feel distanced from Him or were we simply trying to take in the bigger picture around Him before approaching more closely and engaging in conversation with him?

“But there are also many other things which Jesus did; were every one of them to be written, I suppose that the world itself could not contain the books that would be written”. (John 21:25)

For times when it is more difficult to concentrate, St Theresa offers the following simple outline for meditation.6  The purpose is still to hold loving conversation with Christ.
1.       Preparation -Place oneself in the presence of Christ
2.       Selection of the material-Read; or study a picture of Christ.

3.   Consideration -Reflect upon the material. Ask oneself the questions: who, what,                        why and for what reason?

4.  Conversation (Core of the Meditation)-Converse with Our Lord about the                                       material. Employ the affections of love, adoration, thanksgiving, sorrow, petition.

5.  Conclusion - Gratitude to Christ for favors received. Examination of faults during                          meditation, and resolution of further effort in succeeding meditations.

Conversations with Christ presents a full explanation of each of these five steps, but for purposes of supporting our belief in the existence of God, let us focus on the conversation. Conversation is, by it’s very nature, a two-way form of communication. Through St Theresa’s method we not only reach out to Christ with our thoughts, feelings and petitions, but we listen attentively for His voice within our hearts. He does not often speak using cell-phones, text messages or emails. More often than not, as St Theresa points out, when Christ speaks to us, His voice is inaudible and is sensed more than heard.

As St Theresa shares with us, when we reach out to God, He most certainly most certainly speaks with us, usually through graces of light and love which we detect in our souls; sweet touches of the heart, tokens of forgiveness, experiences of peaceful feelings, and loving close embraces.

In my own experience, God has often spoken his soft reassurances to me through the sudden and unexpected appearances of beauty in nature; whitetail deer, birds, flowers and rainbows are but just a few of the examples God seems to have used to communicate with me.

A doe stops to encourage my studies at Franciscan University of Steubenville

Another alternative method presented in Conversations With Christ involves the meditative recitation of a common prayer. Mentally and slowly expressing only two or three words at a time, using a prayer such as the Our Father, pausing and reflecting deeply on their meaning, for example, is one such alternative method of meditative prayer.

In the latter chapters of the book, Conversations with Christ addresses some of the difficulties sometimes encountered when attempting meditative prayer and ways to overcome them. It is not uncommon, for example, to experience extended periods of time in which our prayer life seems dry and arid. It is often during these arid times when God is most close to us, testing our resolve, though we do not sense His presence the way we do at other times. He answers individuals differently, each according to our needs and according to His will.

The persuasive power of conscience discussed in Part I, and miracles such as the actual voice or physical actions of God Himself in response to our prayers in Part II should be all the proof one needs to believe that He really does exist. Conversations With Christ, then, while it is not intended to prove that God exists, makes a very compelling case for His existence. After all, there’s nothing like a direct reassurance from God Himself to prove that He is real.

A ray of light from the heavens falls on the
image of the Sacred Heart of Jesus
on Divine Mercy Sunday
in front of the Holy Door,
St Mary's Church, Geenville, SC.
(image courtesy of Fr D. Longenecker)

In addition to the two-way communication with God described in Conversations with Christ, there are at least three miracles (that we know about) associated with St Theresa of Avilla, and these should help to address any remaining doubts about whether God exists. When she was deep in prayer, St Theresa was observed actually rising up off the ground and into the air. Reportedly this became so common that her fellow sisters got used to it, and began to prepare for it by taking up positions on each side of her to hold her down so that she would not be injured. St Theresa of Avilla is also credited with the complete healing of a little boy who was crushed in a building collapse and presumed dead for three days until she prayed over him, and he completely recovered. As if these miracles were not convincing enough, her earthly body, though dead for almost five hundred years, has not decayed. 7

In his Handbook of Apologetics, Dr Peter Kreeft, a noted Catholic Apologist and Boston University Professor of Philosophy, makes the case for God’s existence using twenty well – reasoned, logical arguments. Of these, I’ve thus far focused on two arguments for God’s existence which the common, non- religious teenager of today would likely find most compelling; the argument from conscience which young Ben considered with me during Part I, and the argument from miracles here in Part II. 8

With this book review, placed within the context recent Church History, I’ve tried to present miracles in a way which can help the casual reader appreciate, and perhaps even to experience more fully, the rich spirituality, history and grace available to us through a more intimate experience with Christ through His One, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic Church. Having close, personal conversations with Christ through meditative prayer in the manner described by St Theresa in this book is an awesome way to do this.

Since I've mentioned what could be miracles, it is important to pause for a moment and recall that the Catholic Church uses a rigorous process to test the veracity of claims of miracles, visions and other reportedly supernatural occurrences. As established in the Council of Trent (1545-63), the local bishop is the first and main authority in apparition cases, which can be defined as instances of private revelation. For a vision to withstand the process and be considered worthy, it must survive the following questions by a Bishop, and approval by the Pope. 9
    

1. The facts in the case are free of error.
2. The person(s) receiving the messages is/are psychologically balanced, honest, moral, sincere and respectful of church authority.
3. Doctrinal errors are not attributed to God, Our Lady or to a saint.
4. Theological and spiritual doctrines presented are free of error.
5. Moneymaking is not a motive involved in the events.
6. Healthy religious devotion and spiritual fruits result, with no evidence of collective hysteria.

While the miracles attributed to St Theresa in the book Conversations with Christ have undergone this process and have been affirmed by the Church as authentic miracles, my own experiences with what could possibly be miracles have not been evaluated by the Church. They are shared here with the intent of sharing a personal witness to the delightful graces I've enjoyed with my own practice of Lectio Devina. I do not claim that the beautiful events I've shared are in fact miracles. They could be, but I simply do not know. I am content to simply accept their beauty as an example of God's grace.

What St Theresa presents us with, is known by the proper name, Lectio Devina. The practice of Lectio Devina is not unique to St Theresa, but her delightfully simple method of engaging in it makes this devout prayer accessible to common folk. To fully appreciate the context of Church History in which St Theresa's Conversations with Christ and the proven miracles which took place in her life, we present at least a brief overview of the practice of Lectio Devina.

Lectio Devina began with the people of Israel, and is referred to in the Old Testament books of Deuteronomy and in Nehemiah, which reads in chapter 8:8;  "And they read from the book, from the law of God, clearly; and they gave the sense, so that the people understood the reading." 10

Deuteronomy 30:14 refers to the practice; "But the word is very near you; it is in your mouth and in your heart, so that you can do it."

Lectio Devina was an ancient practice of the Jews, and was carried on by Christians through Sacred Tradition. The New Testament refers to the practice most clearly in 2 Timothy 3:14-16; " But as for you, continue in what you have learned and have firmly believed, knowing from whom you learned it and how from childhood you have been acquainted with the sacred writings which are able to instruct you for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. All scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness."

All of the early Church Fathers practiced Lectio Devina, though the name for the practice did not appear at first. The practice was later widely implemented in the monasteries and made it's way into wide practice among the laity.

The devout meditative prayer life which was practiced by St Theresa of Avilla, numerous other saints, and most monasteries and convents was instrumental in restoring the Church from within. The gates of the netherworld indeed have not prevailed against Holy Mother the Church, and through devout prayer and faith, they never will.

Finally, I will leave you with this audio recording of my own personal experience following my own deeply meditative prayer. I had been reading Conversations with Christ, and the very scene I meditated upon seemed to come to life right before my eyes. Click here to listen.

May the Good Lord richly bless you and your family.

Tom

1 John. The Holy Bible, Revised Standard Version. Second Catholic Ed. San Francisco: Ignatius, 2001. Print.

2 "Saint Teresa of Avila." Saint Teresa of Avila. Eternal World Television Network, n.d. Web. 21 Apr. 2016.

3 Rohrbach, Peter Thomas. Conversation with Christ: An Introduction to Mental Prayer. Charlotte NC: TAN, 2012. Print.

4 Rohrbach ibid

5 Rohrbach ibid

6 Rohrbach ibid

7 EWTN ibid

8 Kreeft, Peter, Ph.D. Handbook of Apologetics. San Francisco: Ignatius, 1994. Print.
9 "Discernment of Miracle Claims." The Miracle Hunter : Discernment of Apparitions. Ed. Michael O'Neill. Miraclehunter.com, n.d. Web. 23 Apr. 2016.
10. Nehemiah 8:8. The Holy Bible, Revised Standard Version. Second Catholic Ed. San Francisco: Ignatius, 2001. Print.
11. Deuteronomy 30:14. The Holy Bible, Revised Standard Version. Second Catholic Ed. San Francisco: Ignatius, 2001. Print.

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