Status Updates From The Ways of Mental Prayer

Very presumptuous is he who believes himself to be inspired & presumes to lay down the law for himself & others! Very foolish he, who welcomes inspirations but little conformable to common sense & faith! "This person," says St. Teresa, speaking of herself, "never regulated her conduct by the inspirations she received in prayer; when her confessors told her to do the opposite, she obeyed w/o the least repugnance."

God communicates to the soul a most vivid knowledge of His amiable qualities; this light sharpens her desires & her torment. The pain is so great the body is tortured by it; but of this the soul has no perception at the moment, so much more poignant is this wound of the spirit.

Of Affective Prayer - To be acquainted with meditation alone, whose method we have just explained, would be regrettable. As time goes on, and we make progress, we shall feel drawn to a more simple form of prayer, in which the mind begins to be silent in order to let the heart speak.