Blog Archives

Prayer and Meditation Simplified

Posted on January 15, 2023 by Dave Small — Leave a comment

Meditation centers our mind. If Christian meditation is new or elusive to you, here are three suggestions to get you started. This can be done in 15 minutes a day. Breathing: Close your eyes and breathe through your nose and…

Tagged with: 500, Ascetic Prayer, Breathing, Breathing Meditation, Christian formation, Christian Mysticism, Christianity, Dave Small, Dave_Small, Interior Castle, Lord's Prayer, Luke 11.1-4, Mystical Prayer, Our Father, Prayer and Meditation, Silence, Spain, spiritual formation, St John of the Cross, Teresa of Avila, Teresa of Avila Turns 500, The Interior Castle, Theresa of Avila, Vanderbilt Divinity Library;
Posted in Revised Posts

Silkworms and Butterflies: Part Two

Posted on July 12, 2014 by Dave Small — Leave a comment

And now let us see what becomes of this silkworm, for all that I have been saying about it is leading up to this. When it is in this state of prayer, and quite dead to the world, it comes…

Tagged with: 500, Ascetic Prayer, Christian formation, Christian Mysticism, Christianity, Dave Small, Dave_Small, Discipline, Divine Favors, Fifth Mansions, I Corinthians 9, Interior Castle, Mystical Prayer, Perseverance, Prayer of Union, reconciliation, Silence, Sin, Spiritual Desert, Spiritual Direction, Spiritual Favors, spiritual formation, Teresa of Avila, Teresa of Avila Turns 500, The Interior Castle, Theresa of Avila Turns 500
Posted in 5th Mansions - Chapter 2, Stories and Parables

Prayer of Recollection: Part Four

Posted on February 22, 2014 by Dave Small — 1 Comment

It is a form of recollection that also seems to me supernatural for it does not involve remaining in the dark, or closing the eyes, nor is it dependent upon anything exterior. A person involuntarily closes his eyes and desires…

Tagged with: 500, Christian formation, Christian Mysticism, Christianity, Dave Small, Dave_Small, Inner voice, Interior Castle, Silence, Solitude, Spain, spiritual formation, St John of the Cross, Teresa of Avila, Teresa of Avila Turns 500, The Interior Castle, Theresa of Avila, Theresa of Avila Turns 500
Posted in 4th Mansions - Chapter 3

Getting Your Hammer Back

Posted on October 2, 2013 by Dave Small — 2 Comments

What hope can we have of being able to rest in other people’s homes if we cannot rest in our own? For none of our friends and relatives are as near to us as our faculties, with which we have always…

Tagged with: 500, Christian formation, Christian Mysticism, Christianity, Dave Small, Dave_Small, Faculties, Interior Castle, Leadership, Silence, Solitude, Spain, spiritual formation, St John of the Cross, Teresa of Avila, Teresa of Avila Turns 500, The Interior Castle, Theresa of Avila, Theresa of Avila Turns 500
Posted in 2nd Mansions

A Black Dog, a Cheerful Priest, and an Unresponsive Walker

Posted on May 16, 2013 by Dave Small — 9 Comments

Prayer and Meditation Part II When I go to my place of solitude I regularly see the same man walking his black dog. I drive slowly and carefully because, at dawn, his dog is hard to see. As I pass…

Tagged with: 500, Christian formation, Christian Mysticism, Christianity, Dave Small, Dave_Small, Interior Castle, Prayer and Meditation, Silence, Spain, spiritual formation, St John of the Cross, Teresa of Avila, Teresa of Avila Turns 500, The Interior Castle, Theresa of Avila, Theresa of Avila Turns 500
Posted in 1st Mansions - Chapter 1, Stories and Parables

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