← [[session-05-asp|Basic Understanding and Practice of Prayer in the Teresian Tradition]] | [[aspirancy-handbook|Table of Contents]] | [[session-07-asp|Understanding the Carmelite Charism of Prayer]] → # Other Forms of Prayer in the Teresian Tradition Required Reading: Lectio Divina, Sam Anthony Morello, OCD. ICS Publications. Additional Reading: Conversation with Christ, Peter Thomas Rohrbach. Explanatory Note: There are different forms of prayer that one could follow in our Carmelite tradition. However, these forms are not in any way suggested as a prescribed method or steps. Rather, these forms of prayer create an atmosphere to search for God in silence and solitude. Prayer is to be understood, not so much as an exercise, but as being present to God. This absence of any imposed form of prayer has characterized Carmel from the beginning. The Holy Spirit draws the person into deeper prayer. Essential points to discuss: • Understanding and practicing lectio divina with greater emphasis on reading, listening and prayer. • Interior/mental prayer – set a side certain times for prayer – 10, 15, 20 minutes and eventually increasing to half an hour daily (Const. art 20). • Examination of conscience: One can grow more sensitive to one’s own spirit - its longings, its powers, its sources - and you will develop an openness to receive the supports of the Holy Spirit. • Contemplation as understood in the Carmelite Order. For the Formators: Read chapter 3 of Temptation and Discernment: The Demons of Prayer. 11 --- **Source:** Secular Order of Discalced Carmelites, *Aspirancy Handbook: A Journey in Carmel* (US National Formation Program, 2024).