St. Teresa of Avila made an enormous contribution to Christians' understanding of contemplative prayer. She discovered silent, non-verbal prayer after being brought up to believe prayer required words. St. Teresa wrote many books on contemplative prayer, including The Interior Castle where she used the metaphor of a castle with many rooms to explain the different stages of contemplative prayer. The castle represented a person's interior prayer life and their journey to the innermost room where the soul can be united with God. Through her writings and metaphor of the castle, St. Teresa helped many in Christianity comprehend the nature of non-verbal contemplative prayer.

1. Third Year Religion : Plan for 2011 Section 5 Question 5 (pgs 450, 451 of Text to help you)
Profile the contribution made to the understanding of prayer by one person associated with the
spiritual tradition of a major world religion that you have studied.
Introduction
St. Teres a of Avila is a very important person in the prayer tradition of Christianity. In my
view she has made an enormous contribution to Christian’s understanding of contemplative
prayer. In Christianity we have verbal and non-verbal prayer. Verbal prayers
include___________________. Examples of non—verbal types of prayer
are________________________________. St Teresa came up with a great metaphor to
help Christians take part in contemplative prayer which can be difficult to take part in . In
my essay I will discuss the life of St. Teresa of Avila and explore her metaphor of the castle
which she used explain contemplative prayer.
1, Prayer had central place in the life of St. Teresa from an early age. Talk about her
founding the order of Carmelite nuns .
2, St . Teresa’s view of prayer changed through out her life. Talk about how she had been
brought up to think of verbal or vocal prayer. She then discovered silent prayer.
3, St. Teresa wrote many books on contemplative prayer and has helped many in the
spiritual tradition of Christianity to understand this type of non-verbal prayer. Talk here
about her writing. Mention the Interior Castle.
4, In this book The Interior Castle, St. Teresa compared a Christian’s interior prayer life to a
castle with many rooms. Explain how she used the image of the castle here.
5, St . Teresa believes that God is in each one of us . Describe St. Teresa’s way of Prayer.
6, Short conclusion summing up the points you have made about St. Teresa of Avila’s
contribution to prayer in the Christian Tradition.