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What Sr. Jo Taught Me About Carmelite Prayer
Photo by James Coleman on Unsplash
By Fr. Alex Ezechukwu, OCD
I recently watched a video from our Wisdom Lectures series. A sudden insight came to me.
It happened while Sr. Jo Robson was explaining how the Carmelite approach to prayer does not follow one particular method.
“It’s not about making long imaginative reflections in one’s head,” she said, talking about the teachings of St. Teresa of Avila. “It’s more about ‘simple’ and ‘quiet’ and being with Christ.”
And then she added with a chuckle, “St. Teresa spends 25 lengthy warm-up chapters and then finally arrives at: ‘this is what you do.’”
The retreatants laughed, breaking up the tempo of the class.
It was the irony of it all and the way she said it. The perfect touch of comic relief.
Then it hit me – what a great advantage it was watching such a video, seeing and hearing the way the speaker emphasizes certain points…adding jokes…and summing up certain points.There was a sense that I was there.
In other words, you “catch it” – the content - in a way that you never could by poring over lengthy books…trying to understand certain nuances that might be lost in written text.
With a video, you nod your head and feel like you are participating in the retreat, sitting and enjoying the company of the others.
And after all, didn’t St. Paul say, “faith comes from what is heard, and what is heard comes by the preaching of Christ”?
The video that I described is from the course, “The Journey of Prayer,” by Sr. Jo Robson, a Carmelite nun. It’s just one example of the expert teaching on Carmelite spirituality and ambiance you will get with our new Wisdom Lectures series.
The Wisdom Lectures, just recently released, consists of an amazing one hundred videos, given by two dozen expert lecturers and masters of Carmelite spirituality. And new videos are being added every other week.
And now you can get them all for a monthly fee. Or subscribe annually and save money. When you subscribe you will have all of the videos at your fingertips. Listen to them while you take walks, drive, do housework, or exercise.
DecorCarmeli Media
These videos have been produced by the newly-formed DecorCarmeli Media, a service of the Order of the Discalced Carmelites in the United Kingdom.
Monthly and annual subscriptions to the video platform will soon be available. We will let you know – simply sign up for our mailing list: DecorCarmeli Media, at https://vocationpromotion.com/discalced-carmelites/notify-me.html
Have you thought that God may be calling you to become a Discalced Carmelite friar?
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About the Author
Kevin J. Banet is a journalist and publicist. He provides marketing for religious communities, non-profits and healthcare services. Kevin and his family live in the Chicago area. His website is VocationPromotion.com.
