My friends and I attended a A Day of Recollection (a retreat) today. Fr. Nott talked about St. Teresa of Avila and her writings about meditative prayer.
He said that the purpose of meditation is to have a conversation with Christ. He talked about preparing oneself for prayer time, selecting readings, reflecting on the reading material, having the conversation, and ending your prayer session.
He suggested reading two books about meditation: Peter Thomas Rohrback, Conversation with Christ: The Teaching of St. Teresa of Avila about Personal Prayer 1956, 1980; TAN Books, 1982 and a Catholic edition of the Introduction to the Devout Life by St. Francis DeSales.
St. Teresa is a Doctor of the Church. Her life was fascinating and I suggest reading her biography.
