121: St Teresa of Avila's Message: Introduction 0/16

This year we celebrate the quincentenary of the birth of St Teresa of Avila (1515). The celebration lasts from the 15th of October 2014 to the 15th of October of the current year. The span of these twelve months will most assuredly see us blessed with many special graces.

Since I have had the grace of teaching St Teresa of Avila for more than twenty years now, a few months ago a number of people suggested I write something on her, in her honour. The present book is the result of my efforts and includes many pertinent points for today's Church. The following sixteen chapters constitute the outline of these points:

1- Is Mysticism for everybody?

2- St. Teresa's Conversion; the meaning of her life

3- Christ the Groom

4- The Way of Contemplative Prayer

5- The Particular Help of the Grace of God

6- The Supernatural

7- Finding the Correct Path in the Spiritual Life

8- Mapping Spiritual Life

9- The movement of Contemplative Prayer

10- The necessity of Mental Prayer

11- Humility

12- Detachment

13- Fraternal Charity

14- God's Entrepreneur

15- Evangelisation
16- Teresa's Heritage

I hope that reading the present offering to the literature on St. Teresa will whet the reader's appetite to go on to read her actual works – her Autobiography for instance. This I consider would fulfil a significant part of my purpose in writing the book.

Here, I would like to express my warmest and deepest gratitude to Francesca Crocker, who tirelessly and patiently worked to improve my written English in order to make it understandable and more elegant. Without her help this book would not have seen the light of day.

St Teresa of Avila's Important Dates

1515	0	Birth : 28 March
1528	13	Loses her Mother
1535	20	Entering the Incarnation Monastery 2Nov
1554	39	Conversion
1556	41	Spiritual Betrothal
1559	44	1st vision of Christ 29 June
1560	45	Transverberation: April Vision of Hell: Sept Project of Foundation. 1st Relation
1561	46	1st Reformed Monastery (S. José)
1562	47	Life Inauguration of the first Monastery: 24 August S José1 (from now on the small numbers indicate her foundations) Starting Way of Perfection 1 et 3
1563	48	Constitutions
1565	50	Finishes Life. Way of Perfection Val.
1566	51	1st Version of her Meditations on the Song of Songs
1567	52	Medina del Campo2. Meeting John of the Cross
1568	53	Malagon3 Valladolid4 Foundation of Duruelo 28 Nov (Carmelite brothers).
1569	54	Exclamations Toledo5 Pastrana6
1570	55	Salamanca7
1571	56	Alba de Tormes8 Prior at the Incarnation Starts 2nd version of the Meditations on the Song of Songs
1572	57	Spiritual Marriage
1573	58	Book of Foundations Book Way of Perfection Val. End
1574	59	Segovia9 2nd version of the Meditations on the Song of Songs Index of Valdès
1575	60	Beas10 Seville11
1576	61	Stopped in her Foundations.. Way to visit the monasteries. Caravaca12
1577	62	Interior Castle. Persecutions
1579	64	End of Persecutions
1580	65	Villanueva de la Jara13 Palencia14
1581	66	Soria15
1582	67	Granada16 Burgos17 Dies at Alba de Tormès 4 Oct at 9 pm
1614		Beatified
1622		Canonisation
1970		Paul VI Declares her 1st Woman Doctor of the Church

Her Books

St Teresa wrote four major books, namely, Autobiography, Way of Perfection, Interior Castle, Foundations, some minor books known as Relations, Constitutions, Comment on Song of Songs, How to Visit a Monastery, Poems,... and a full collection of Letters.

If what is sought for is her teaching on the Prayer of the Heart, this can be found in the three following books: Autobiography, Way of Perfection and Interior Castle, a brief outline of which follows.

1- In her Autobiography she describes four ways of doing the Prayer of the Heart, and offers a first-hand account of her life and particularly of her spiritual life.

2- In the Way of Perfection, we find explained the foundations of spiritual life, namely the three virtues of humility, love and detachment, as well as one of her best descriptions on how to practise Recollection (chapters 26, 28-31). It is the main book for formation in the spiritual life.

3- In the Interior Castle we find a more mature and structured book, where she takes us by hand and leads us from the initial stages in this process to the very last ones, the Spiritual Marriage. The book describes the journey of growth, taking the example of a Castle that symbolises the human being, the soul, and at its very centre the Groom's room is to be found.The aim of the entire journey is to reach this room.

As a simple piece of advice, I would like to recommend a start be made with her Autobiography when reading St Teresa. When St Benedict of the Cross (Edith Stein) read this book, she exclaimed: this is the Truth.

Another way of familiarising oneself with St Teresa, as Father Louis de Leon said, is to visit one of her monasteries and meet the nuns - one can almost see her alive and breathing in her nuns.

"Introduction to Spiritual Direction" Course Starting Saturday 13 June 2015

What topics does the course cover?

This introductory course covers three key areas:

- The first steps in the spiritual life: what are these steps, how should we understand them and how might we best accompany others in these stages. In particular, how can we discern what is helpful to support spiritual growth through understanding the person and the action of the grace of God.

- What is covered by the term spiritual direction: what it is and is not, the traditions and different schools of spiritual direction and how they have evolved, the levels and types of discernment and how the needs of the individual change as they grow spiritually.

Where does spiritual accompaniment and spiritual direction fit in: responsibility for our own spiritual life and the invitation to support others on the journey, how this serves growth and what, from a practical perspective, do we need to keep in mind.

This course will draw on the teachings of the Desert Monks and those of three doctors of the Church who wrote extensively on this topic - St John of the Cross, St Teresa of Avila and St Therese of Lisieux.

Please note that this introductory course lays the groundwork for the follow up course on Spiritual Direction which we hope to run later in 2015 and attendance is therefore a pre requisite for anyone wanting to do the follow up course.

Where and when is the course taking place?

The course will take place at St Mary of the Angels, Moorhouse Road, Bayswater, London, W2 5DJ on Saturday 13th, 20th and 27th June from 10am - 4:30pm.

The course will be taught by Jean Khoury, a theologian who has studied and taught Spiritual Life in the Church for over 20 years. As well as lecturing world-wide on spiritual life and meditation, Jean is the author of several books, articles and studies on spiritual life and the founder of the School of Mary, a 3 level formation in spiritual life (www.amorvincit.com). Jean obtained a degree in Philosophy and a Masters in Spiritual Theology from the Institut Catholique de Toulouse (France) and holds a Licence in Theology from the Teresianum (Rome). He is currently completing his PhD in Spiritual Theology at the Angelicum (Rome) with Monsignor François-Marie Léthel. Jean is based in the Archdiocese of Westminster, London, UK.

Costs

Fees: £75.00 for the full course. £50 deposit to book a place before the course starts with remaining balance to be paid on 13th June.

Any pre requisites?

In order to get the most from the course, participants will need to have a reasonable understanding of the goal and stages of the spiritual life. As such, the course is open to:

Participants who have already attended the School of Mary course on "Introduction to the Spiritual Life".

Participants whose background has given them a basic appreciation of the key concepts needed. If you are in this latter group, we will ask you to send us a short (1-2 paragraph) summary of what you would like to get out of the course and any previous experience you may have in accompanying others in the spiritual life so that we can make sure the course is a good fit for what you need.

How do I sign up?

As the venue can only accommodate 25 and we expect demand for this course to be high, participants will need to register and pay in advance:

Participants who have already attended the School of Mary course on "Introduction to the Spiritual Life" should register for this course by emailing schoolofmarylondon@gmail.com and we will be in touch to provide details on how to pay.

Those who would like to attend but who have not completed the "Introduction to the Spiritual Life" course should email schoolofmarylondon@gmail.com with a short (1-2 paragraph) summary of what you would like to get out of the course and any previous experience accompanying others in the spiritual life so that we can make sure the course is a good fit for what you need, answer any specific questions you may have and, if appropriate, register you for the course.

Contact : Should you have any questions about the course then please contact schoolofmarylondon@gmail.com or call Fiona on 07702 37 17 57.

Second Level Course: Initiation into Spiritual Life

London, UK, 2015, Lent Easter. 8 Saturdays, each 6 hours.

The Course explains the necessary teaching regarding a central transition in Spiritual Life: the crossing over of the proficient into a mature spiritual age.

Course Topics 

- General Advice on Topics Linked with the Previous Course: Generosity. Order. Perseverance. Reading. Spiritual Direction. Belonging to the Church. “Union of will” according to St Teresa of Avila (5th Mansions).

- "When God puts his hand"/(When God intervenes): The new stage, its meaning, its parts. "Human mode, divine mode” in the soul. Deep purification.

- The Transition. The Gospel First Witness of the Transition. The Transition in the Old Testament.

- The Transition Described by St John of the Cross. Dark Night of the spirit.

- St Therese of the Child Jesus's Description of the Transition.

- Exponential Growth of our “passion of love” for Jesus.

- “Spiritual Childhood”. “Surrender”. A New Synergy with the Holy Spirit. Role of “Hope” during this stage.

- “Our Lady” in the Dark Night. How do we pray during the Dark Night?

- What is “Contemplation”. God's true Face. Fruits of the Deep Purification: Humility and Obedience.

Here are the videos of Day one:

1/4

2/4

3/4

4/4

If you need any information about this Course, please don't hesitate to contact us.

St Teresa of Avila Centenary (15th October 2014 - 15th October 2015)

Dear Friends,

 

As you know, this year (15th October 2014 - 15th October 2015) is a very special year, filled with many amazing graces. It is the 5th Centenary of the birth of St Teresa of Avila (28th March 1515).We have just started the preparatory Novena leading to her Feast Day on 15th October.

 

St Teresa of Avila has a very important place in the School of Mary. She is the main Master who helps us to learn and experience Prayer of the Heart. The richness of her teaching and the understanding she has of human weakness makes her a very close friend, and even a spiritual mother, to each one of us. We would be wise to remember this saying: “he who follows St Teresa will never go astray”.

 

I am drawing your attention to this because you belong to the School of Mary. Since St Teresa of Avila has a very special place in it, you are then supposed to receive special graces throughout the year. Her Feast is approaching and we are starting the novena that prepares us to receive the special Grace of her Feast. God put in her, for the entire Church, so many treasures of teaching!

 

I entrust the School of Mary in a special way this year to St Teresa, knowing that she already takes great care of each member. Please do not hesitate to plan your readings throughout this special year. You may concentrate on her three main books: "Autobiography", "Way of Perfection" and "Interior Castle". It is in her books, and also during the Prayer of the heart, that you will find and encounter her.

 

This is a very special year of renewal and progress for the School of Mary. Amen.

 

I gratefully count on your prayers

 

Faithfully, in Mary

 

Jean

107: Hearing Jesus' call

Jesus calls all humanity

Jesus wants to call people to follow him from close up. In a more formal way it can also be termed, the “call for Holiness”. Traditionally it is called as well the “second conversion”, in the sense that one can well be a Christian, but lead a sort of a good reasonable life, good moral life, faithful to the weekly Mass, but from the Grace of God's point of view it is a lukewarm spiritual life: the relationship with Jesus has come to a halt. What does Jesus want us to do in order to awaken the grace of God in our brother's life? Jesus invites us to “facilitate the encounter”, acting like a catalyst, witnessing to Jesus (telling others what he did to us).

Ask the Lord of the harvest

One very important task we have is to answer Jesus' request to: “Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field." (Matthew 9:38). At times that task can look frustrating. But this request remains a key request. Paradoxically (if you read the previous post) we seem not only to have a part to play in the “Call for Holiness”, in the planning of it, but it is a totally different part from what we can think of: asking, in prayer, fervently, Jesus to send workers into his harvest field.

Having a personal relationship with Jesus, experiencing his love makes us burn with the desire to make him deeply known to the entire world. Would we just wait and watch things unfolding? Don't we have a role to play in Jesus' plan? Are we completely absent from Jesus' plan since : “it depends not upon man's will or exertion, but upon God's mercy.” (Romans 9:16)? Oh no... we have to play our part in Jesus' plan, like Our Lady, and ask and pray fervently to obtain that Grace of Jesus' Calling to others. He asked us to do so.

Let us be united with Mary, like in Advent time, and pray and ask fervently for the Grace of God's mercy to reveal his son to many. It is a grace, it can be obtained, we just need to discover the most powerful way to obtain it. Contemplating the one who, in her prayer, obtained for us the Messiah remains, in God's mind and plan the most powerful leaver.

Let us repeat with Mary, her prayer: send us oh Lord the Messiah, i.e. make many people discover Jesus, make Jesus knock at the door of many persons, giving them the grace of being enthused by spiritual life, by wanting to discover who is Jesus, have a relationship with Him, and embark on the journey with him. Mary's prayer, and Fire are so powerful. Let us unite with her. “Pray for us oh Mother of God”... obtain from Jesus for many many the grace of following him.

Easing the way for Jesus

Another aspect shouldn't be overlooked: People are not always ready to hear Jesus' call.

We are invited to take part in the Plan, as Jesus friends, like John the Baptist. We open the way for Jesus, facilitating for people the hearing of his call. Often his voice is so gentle, that the noise of our busy life won't allow us to hear him. The thick layer of all our desires, personal plans, work, family, does not allow us to hear his personal voice in our heart. Our lack of commitment and endeavour to many issues is not opening the way to Jesus to be heard.

At the end of the day we are faced with this truth: Jesus doesn't land on any soil. God always prepares the soil. We can take part in this preparation, and invite others to take part in it.

Abraham's three thresholds

Abraham is a good example of how God prepares the way in order for us to receive his precious gifts. Jesus' call is the most precious gift a human being can receive. Are you aware of that? But in order to value it, in order to receive it properly and make it bear fruit, the soil has to be prepared. God wanted to give Abraham the Promised land. The real Promised land for us is Jesus himself, to possess him, to be loved by him and love him, and serve him.

God could have given Abraham directly and immediately the promised land, but in fact he opened the way, ploughing the soil with powerful blades, so the soil can open in order to receive the Pearl of all pearls: the Promised land. He made Abraham go through 3 different thresholds.

1^st Threshold: the freedom from my own land/tribe: He asks him to leave his land and go.

2^nd Threshold: the freedom from the blood ties (son, parents, husband/wife): give me the most precious tie you have, give me your son Isaac. Do you prefer me, Jesus, above your mother, father, son, daughter, wife?

3^rd Threshold: the freedom and growth: you will go to Egypt, will work, grow, and take the goods (result of that effort). His descendants spent 430  years in Egypt, in order to cross that threshold.

It is only after these three thresholds that Abraham (Abraham descendants), would start the journey to the Holy Land, by Moses.

This example from the old testament, read in the Light of Jesus, helps us understand the role of John the Baptist, or better said: the first three thresholds that prepare the way for Jesus' call to-follow-him-from-close-up to be heard.

The three thresholds in the Gospel

We see that behaviour in Jesus with the Young Rich man. When he asks Jesus what he is supposed to do in order to reach Eternal life, Jesus doesn't start by saying: ok, good, excellent, I love you, come and follow me. On the contrary, Jesus checks the thresholds: have you been faithful to Moses' commandments?

The same thing happens in John's Gospel: we have a total of 6 steps in order to reach “opened heaven” (Jesus' side opened) i.e. God's Glory revealed in Jesus on the Cross. These 6 steps are 6 signs that John put, as steps, thresholds, in order to be purified, and become ready to enter the face to face with Jesus' Glory on the Cross, accessing heaven (i.e. his opened side). These signs could be divided into two lots: the first 3 and the following. What divides them is this second stage in Jesus' follower: crossing the sea, heading toward God himself, Holiness.

In this sense, the first three thresholds or signs mentioned by John are equivalent to Abraham's ones. Cana, the son of the military officer, the paralysed man.

Teresa of Avila's thresholds

Now, you might ask: do we have any proof in the Church's Spiritual Living Tradition of these thresholds?

- Of course yes. If we look at St Teresa of Avila's masterpiece “The Interior Castle” we find the following: she paves the journey to “Union with Jesus” offering 7 different stages of growth; she calls them “Mansions”. The surprising thing is that the “second conversion” happens only at the 4^th Mansion. Entering into the living relationship with Jesus, the supernatural, starts only at that stage. One can neglect all what comes before. But in fact, the three mansions that precede are very important.

1- First, she invites the reader who is closer to Jesus and more especially the reader who reached that union with Jesus (see Seventh Mansion) never to forget to pray for the persons who are in the first mansions. She considers it as a very important act of Mercy not to forget the persons stuck in these stages.

2- Also, we need to study these three first mansions in order to understand the three different thresholds that the human being is called to cross. The most striking comment she makes, not only in my eyes, but in the eyes of a great man, Fr Marie Eugène (soon to become Blessed) is how she describes the Christian life of a person in the third mansion (i.e. right before discovering Jesus' personal call): she says that they lead a very reasonable life; you would say: they are “good catholics”. They have a good morality, they go to Church, they do good things, they help others,... All is there, but strangely, Jesus - the living Jesus - is not there! That note of hers, stressed again by Fr Marie Eugene in his masterpiece “I want to see God”, should be enough to revolutionise the Church, people who think they are awake but in fact are perfectly dormant.

Summing up we can say:

1- it is very important to understand that Jesus' call is a grace, and even if a Grace of God can't be planned, controlled, we are strongly invited to pray to Jesus to give his grace. We need to obtain this grace. Acknowledging that it is a grace doesn't mean that we are helpless, it only means that we know our place: God's initiative is sovereign. Asking Mary to obtain that Grace is really the most powerful starting point.

2- Like John the Baptist, we need to prepare for our brothers the way for Jesus' call to be heard (bring them to Jesus' audio range). There are things to be done in order to be ready to hear. We will still have our freedom to say yes or no, but we will be more ready. See the three thresholds that Abraham and his descendants had to undergo in order to start their real journey to the Promised Land.

102: Lectio divina in daily life 3: The greatest love

(continuation of "Spirituality 94")

b) The greatest love

Our growing responsibility

The more we advance in lectio, the more we are transformed into God and the more we realize that lectio’s aim is not to tell us what to do nor to answer precise questions. In a certain way, it has the function of revealing divine love to us and telling us how much Jesus loves us and thirsts for us. The question then arises: What should we do? And the answer is simple: Offer ourselves to him each day, by doing what we do with love and in search of the absolute. The most important thing is to love Jesus.

We all go through the process of discerning God’s will and trying to understand what we are to make of our lives. But, once again, we do not do lectio in the same way as someone would consult an oracle to find hopeful indicators for the future. We need to understand that our heart has its home in heaven whilst we are still dealing with human instruments. And it is right for us to seek His will; he loves us for doing so. However, he wants us to act and to make decisions freely. The Almighty draws on all men to spread his love, but he leaves each person free to act according to his/her capacity and decisions. He is calling us to Glory! We are responsible for our actions. If we want to serve him, let us do so by taking stock of our capacities and using them wisely.

How much energy are we prepared to spend in fighting for what we want? Would we go to the ends of the earth to obtain it? Does the Lord not inspire us with thoughts, dreams and desires? And what do we do with them? We have been baptized in Him and this new life gives us the right to believe that our thoughts and desires are immersed in Him. We often blame ourselves for our desires. But the more we desire, the more we will receive¹.

Childhood is past. We must now act like adults, by doing what we can and by doing it well. This means having self-confidence, using our capacities and will, giving assent and love. May our “yes” be “yes” and our “no” truly “no”. God will not make our decisions for us!

Let us see how the saints lived this kind of relationship with God; they will help us to understand what we may henceforth expect from lectio.

In a well-known passage from the Way of Perfection St. Teresa of Jesus reveals a surprising aspect of God to us: “He begins to make such a friend of the soul that not only does He restore its will to it but He gives it His own also. For, now that He is making a friend of it, He is glad to allow it to rule with Him, as we say, turn and turn about. So He does what the soul asks of Him, just as the soul does what He commands” (The Way of Perfection 32, 12).

In the writings of St. Thérèse of the Child Jesus we read these words: “‘whatsoever you shall ask of my Father in my name, he will give it to you!’ I am therefore certain that you will fulfil my desires, I am certain of this, O my God! The more you want to give, the more you stimulate desire” (Prayers 6:2). Elsewhere she says: “He has always given me what I have desired, or rather he made me desire what he wanted to give me” (Manuscript C 31^b). We find this same kind of dynamic in the writings of St. John of the Cross: “The more a soul hopes for, the more it obtains” (Ascent II 7:2) and “the more He wants to give, the more he makes us desire” (Letter 15, 8 July 1589).

We are justified in asking whether, having reached an advanced stage in communion with God, we might not well find ourselves in a blind alley. That is to say: at the beginning we have the impression that lectio will give us precise indications for our lives; yet, the more we advance, the more we come to realize that we are left with the responsibility of making our own choices! So we seem to be in the dark, or at least this is what we think. And our thinking is both right and wrong. Our sense of responsibility grows, as we have said, and our experience is that God has made us his friends. Now, He says everything to His friends, who are henceforth the extension of his Body on earth, and who, as such, must chose and make the necessary decisions. He is no longer next to them to tell them what to do; but he is living and working in them, in such an imperceptible way that leaves one with the impression of being abandoned without any outside help coming from the Word of God in the form of indications as to what should be done. The Lord’s friend knows this, and he or she must henceforth act in his own name without being afraid to do so. He knows his friend, he was formed in his school; now the disciple is like his Master, and it is time for him to set out and walk on the water.

What is lectio’s contribution at this stage? Above all, it reminds us that Salvation depends on us. The Salvation obtained and accomplished on the cross is waiting for our collaboration so that it may be transmitted to others. Lectio always shows the piercing manner in which we were saved by Jesus’ human will and that this was decisive: “You gave me a body, and I said: Here I am, Lord, I am coming to do your will”. In the same way the disciple who receives the Word each day perceives that he is integrated into Christ’s humanity and has the duty of continuing his action for Salvation. Then lectio, without being an oracle of what should be done, continues to instruct the disciple, to enlighten him, confirming him along the way and above all reveals what is essential: the flame of Love and the Gift of self. Lectio is not a barrier that keeps the disciple from making mistakes, but it encourages him to make an offering of his life and to live in humility. The Gift of self and total offering: this is the fundamental aim. Lectio calls us to do this each and every day. It does not however promise infallibility; it always leads us back to humility and the recognition of the relativity of the human condition. It constantly refers to trust and abandonment. Total love then integrates itself in this flow of trust and abandonment, which permit the disciple to continually advance by way of new beginnings.

“No greater Love”

Love unequivocally leads the disciple to the summit of sharing in the Passion. The Word awakens him every morning, just as it does all the saints, serving to remind him of the heights of charity.

Toward the end of her life, St. Thérèse of the Child Jesus said that the Lord had revealed to her a totally new way of living in charity. Does this mean that she never practised it? No, of course not; but there are degrees and she tells us about her personal experience while always putting it in the light of the Word of God.

The science of charity, or of mankind’s salvation, is of a profound order into which the disciple is introduced. Since from this point on, he is oriented by Christ’s humanity, he is called to do what Christ did. Of, course, he remains a creature, and still differs greatly from the incarnate Word, however there is nevertheless a mystery into which the disciple is introduced. In the footsteps of his Master, and like him, and like St. Paul, he apportions the things lacking in the Passion of Christ in his flesh.

Lectio opens up new and unexpected depths in the Word of God. Let us take an example from the Gospel of John. This gospel draws us into a much deeper reading, in that of the first person, the Son of Man. Now, the reader, instead of meditating on the signs accomplished by Jesus to manifest his divinity, enters into the role of one to whom the mission is entrusted and who is called to follow his example. The depth is extraordinary, as is the responsibility in the face of the salvation of others.

Lectio, like the Holy Spirit, sends the one who listens to others, just as Jesus was sent for their salvation. “No man has greater love than this, to lay down his soul for those he loves²” (Jn 15:13).

(To be continued...)

________________

1 This is an idea dear to St. John of the Cross and St. Thérèse of the Child Jesus; we will develop this further later on.

2 Here “lay down” implies total gift, a mysterious receptiveness of the soul under the influence of the Holy Spirit in view of a saving action. There is another very similar expression: “to be given over into the hands of sinners” (Mk 14:41). One may gloss: “into the hands of sin”, since it is “his soul” that is being layed down and because sin primarily affects the soul! Likewise, the Spirit gives the Apostle to others like bread: “someone else will gird you, and take you where you do not want to go” (Jn 21:18).

95: Understanding the spiritual crisis in the Church

Today hardly anybody would speak about a “spiritual crisis” in the Church (while in fact there is one). Why? Because many new movements have blossomed in the Church and Pope Benedict has spoken a lot about spiritual life and Lectio divina.

To put it plainly one needs to understand that in order to have a flourishing spiritual life in the church, one has first to have two things at least:
 1- Spiritual Formation and 2- Intellectual Formation (Philosophical, Theological and Mystical (Spiritual Theology)). Spiritual formation is based on the intellectual formation. So if the latter is not done properly, the first won’t be done properly either and won't bear the expected fruits.

So: lack of Intellectual Formation leads to --> a lack of Spiritual Formation, leads to --> a weak, random, amateurish, DIY Spiritual Life. 

Today, we live in an amazing state in the Church. On one hand, we have people who are fervent, who are willing to do a lot, people who are already trying  many different things, but on the other hand we still don’t have proper Spiritual Formation. So people and pastors (Priests and Leaders) are left alone, having to improvise - in a DIY way - some “spiritual teaching”. “DIY” is amateurish of course, and spiritual life is such a serious vital, eternal matter that can’t be left to random or material preparation (it is supposed to lead us to holiness, to God himself, to the Union with Him, and this is not a superficial issue). But it is not their fault: there is no solid teaching in “Spiritual Theology” in the Catholic Universities today. So, to sum it up, there is a huge gap between the thirst/effort amongst God’s People and the poor formation offered.

Again, spiritual life can’t be dealt with in an amateurish way. It is the most important part of Theology, it is the Queen topic in Theology, and has a huge responsibility in the Church. But for years, it has been a very neglected side and weak topic. Spiritual Theology is still very much in its deep Crisis, and this has been so since the end of the 1940s.

The crisis originated in the existing distance between the “logical language” of studies (majorly at that time Thomistic), and the “bio-logic reality” of the human being (who is implementing the teaching). The church had an amazing renewal in Thomistic Studies (reviving the study of St Thomas Aquinas in Philosophy and Theology) and in Spiritual Theology in the 1920s and on. The Thomistic way is perfect for great sharp minds, in order to analyse, categorise and understand. In my humble opinion, the core elements (philosophical and theological) of Thomas Aquinas should be the background of any professor in Spiritual Theology (I know many won’t agree). Otherwise one can't understand the Master of all Mystics: St John of the Cross. (Many try today to understand St John of the Cross, without the Thomistic background! This still surprises me a lot, because it is like wanting to see a cell without a microscope.)

St Teresa of Avila, the most "bio-logical" mind

But normal humans wouldn't benefit (i.e. understand, grasp) from this language and mental structure. It has sadly proved unproductive (counterproductive) from the 1920s through to the end of the 1940s: Spiritual Theology problems remained very theoretical with hardly any contact or implication with the real human being. This is the reason why since the 1950s we don't have anything new (i.e. a complete synthesis/presentation/manual of Spiritual Theology) in that field in the Church to help people grow spiritually. Since, then there have been efforts, of course, but they always lack something. One must not forget the intellectual abyss the Church went through at the end of the 1960s and the 1970s. We haven't come out of it yet...

To explain the intellectual theological and philosophical crisis in the Church one can say: The difficulty is that we have to go to Thomas Aquinas (at least in the core elements), otherwise we might be speaking simple rubbish. Many alleged "theologians" have abandoned St Thomas and would laugh at you if you say so. St Thomas is for powerful sharp metaphysical minds, and not just any person can afford understanding him. So we dove crazily into the abyss (mid 1960s), by abandoning him. The rare ones today who still stick to him (or go back to him), are not necessarily grasping the problem (and the practical unproductiveness of his language if it is not translated into plain English). Plus, they might slowly be isolating themselves from the rest of we human beings. Why? Because it is as if you learned Latin, and nobody around you spoke it. So you meet with a few who learned it and that's it! This is not "working for the salvation of people" but working for hailing the past and not being able to translate it in to the present, as the Holy Spirit, through Vatican II, asked us to do.
What should be done is: after having digested St Thomas and St John of the Cross, we need to keep them at the back of our minds, and try (in our language and contents) to find simplicity, a simplicity that doesn't water down the substance, but conveys it.

This is one of the most difficult challenges that a human mind can face: study St Thomas Aquinas' Philosophy, and Theology, the Fathers of the Church, and the Spiritual Masters, the Mystics, and integrate them, digest them, having them become alive in you (with discernment and led by real spiritual masters), and then, having the charity to form concepts, words, examples, symbols and drawings that are in "plain English". Jesus spoke "plain English"... not intellectual Rabbinic Hebrew; He was able to do so, but he didn't. He is the Saviour, not a Dominican Brain.

People are still tempted today to go back to the Thomistic structure (which is "logical", not "bio-logical"). Who wouldn't ! It is the most solid and sound thing we have. But in the end, you should nourish people with something given in "plain English". The core question is: Is "Spiritual Life" (Spiritual Theology) translatable into plain English yes or no? Jesus' answer is a very powerful "YES". (This is the challenge we have been facing for years.) It is very easy for a professor today to use mysterious and non understandable words/expressions. But is this helping people? This is having a poor mind, incapable of making yourself understood.
Can't we find words that are more accessible and be at the level of people and stop insulting them? It is indeed insulting them. Jesus never insulted us, and he is our role model. He used very simple and easy symbols and examples, but still, he is the most profound teacher in Spiritual Life. We should impose on ourselves that discipline of respecting people, i.e. learning the most difficult concepts of philosophy, theology, and mysticism, but in the end, we need to spend the same amount of time to find the right "plain English" words and examples, in order to talk to our brothers, fellow human beings... not to an intellectual rare elite that can understand Thomas Aquinas.

This is why I felt impelled to "build" an entire formation, given in “Plain English”: the School of Mary.