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Conclusion

It is my fervent hope that we will be able to take our experience of prayer and perfect it by employing the Teresian principles of meditation in the context of lectio divina, the traditional Christian practice of praying over the Scriptures. To be Carmelites, and to be Christians, is to pray out of the past into the ever-evolving present and future. The history of prayer and its development in our own times are essential elements of our prayer methodology. We are traditional souls stretching into the future. We have a long and beautiful heritage that continues to develop and grow. May St. Teresa's breadth of mind and soul become ours and lead us to the renewal of prayer in Carmel and in the Church!

For modern presentations of lectio divina see Thelma Hall, Too Deep for Words: Rediscovering Lectio Divina (New York, NY: Paulist Press, 1988); Jean Leclercq, Lectio Divina, Worship 58 (May, 1984), pp. 239 248; Jean Leclercq, The Love of Learning and the Desire for God: A Study of Monastic Culture (New York, NY: Fordham University Press, 1974), chaps. 1 and 5; Susan Muto, A Practical Guide to Spiritual Reading (Denville, NJ: Dimension Books, 1976); and Susan Muto, The Journey Homeward (Denville, NJ: Dimension Books, 1977).

One of the best practical guides to lectio divina can be found in Chapter X of Don t You Belong to Me? by a Monk of New Clairvaux (New York, NY: Paulist Press, 1979).

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