"Prayer is not thinking much but loving much."
- St. Teresa of Avila

The spirituality of Fr. Masmitjá, a Third Order Carmelite, encourages us, his spiritual daughters in the study of St. Teresa of Avila, the Spanish mystic. As part of each IHM's formation, the works of St. Teresa of Avila and St. Thérèse of Lisieux as well as other contemplative writers are studied. This is so that the aim of the Constitutions can be attained: "By frequent prayer, by listening to the word of God, by studying the life of Jesus Christ, a Sister follows the Blessed Virgin Mary who pondered his words and his works, and by the imitation of his life advanced in her pilgrimage of faith. With her a Sister seeks to persevere in openness to the Holy Spirit" (#41).

The contemplative life is not divorced from the apostolic life, nor is the apostolic life a hindrance to a truly contemplative life. The life of prayer and the life of service are wedded in the life of the IHM Sister.

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