St Teresa of Avila, the great Carmelite reformer and Doctor of the Church, offers one of the most profound descriptions of the soul’s growth in prayer through her doctrine of the four waters. In her autobiography (Chapters 11-22), she likens prayer to the watering of a garden, in which the soul is the soil, virtues are the plants and God’s grace is the life-giving water that nourishes them. Teresa’s metaphor unfolds across four stages, each representing a deepening relationship with God and an increasing surrender of the soul to divine love.
- The First Water is drawn by manual labour, when one must exert effort to draw water from a well. This is the prayer of beginners and depends largely on human effort. It consists of active (discursive) meditation, intellectual effort and discipline, often accompanied by dryness and distraction.
- The Second Water comes from a water wheel, where God begins to aid the soul’s effort. Here, prayer becomes more affective and spontaneous; the will moves easily toward God, and the intellect gives way to love. God grants the soul a greater ease in recollection, leading to the Prayer of Quiet, where the will rests peacefully in God with less struggle.
- The Third Water flows like a flowing stream or river that soaks the garden. This is the Prayer of Union, a passive, mystical gift where the soul becomes more passive as its faculties are captivated by God.
- The Fourth Water is a gentle rain that God pours directly upon the garden; it symbolizes the Prayer of Transforming Union, where the soul’s will and God’s will are one. There is no labour here, only surrender and love.
We can use Teresa’s image of the Four Waters as a guide for a prayerful self-examination, asking the Holy Spirit to illuminate the state of our own garden.
The First Water
- Do I consistently set aside time for prayer, or do I allow it to be the first thing sacrificed to a busy schedule? Do I merely intend to pray, or do I actually show up at the well?
- In prayer, do I make an effort to engage my mind and heart? Do I use Scripture, spiritual reading or the events of my day as a starting point for a conversation with God? Or do I simply wait for a feeling to carry me?
- When my mind wanders (as it inevitably will), how do I respond? Do I gently, patiently return to the Lord, or do I grow frustrated and give up, believing the entire effort is a failure?
- When prayer feels dry, laborious and devoid of consolation, what is my reaction? Do I persevere in faith, trusting that the act of showing up is itself a prayer of love? Or do I conclude that God is absent and my efforts are worthless?
The Second Water
- Have I experienced moments where settling into prayer becomes easier, where the noise of the world fades more quickly and a simple, peaceful awareness of God’s presence emerges?
- In those quieter moments, am I able to move from thinking about God to simply resting in His presence? Can I be content to be with Him without words, without urgent petitions and without active mental imagery?
- Do I recognise these moments of quiet consolation as pure gifts from God? Do I receive them with gratitude without trying to possess them or make them happen again by my own force?
- Does time spent in this quieter prayer leave a lingering sense of peace, patience or charity in my daily life? Is the “water” from this source more abundant and refreshing than what I draw by sheer force of will?
The Third and Fourth Waters
- As I read about the deeper states of union described by St Teresa, what is the response in my heart? Is it a holy longing and a hopeful curiosity for the depth of relationship God offers? Or is it a self-seeking desire for spiritual experiences?
- Recognising that the Third and Fourth Waters are free gifts from God, do I focus on preparing the soil of my soul to receive them? This means honestly asking: Am I cooperating with grace to uproot weeds of sin and attachment? Am I growing in charity, humility and obedience in my daily life? The garden must be cleared and made ready for the river or the rain.
- Does my prayer include a sincere offering of my will to God? Do I ask for the grace to desire what He desires, even if it means remaining at the well in faithful labour if that is what best serves His plan for me?
- After honestly examining my prayer life through Teresa’s framework of the Four Waters, what is the one concrete step God seems to be inviting me to take? Greater faithfulness, deeper surrender, more patient acceptance or simply continuing to water the garden day by day?
St Teresa of Avila,
you who journeyed through the challenging terrain of prayer with honesty and courage,
intercede for me as I continue to water my small garden.
Help me to be faithful in the labour of the first water without becoming discouraged.
Teach me to receive the consolations of grace with gratitude and detachment.
Grant me your perseverance through seasons of dryness
and your wisdom to see God’s work even when I perceive only dust.
Most of all, dear Teresa,
help me to desire God Himself more than any experience of God,
and to trust that He is forming me even in the darkness.
Amen.
Tomas Alvarez teaches us how to prayer like Teresa in his beautiful book “Prayer: Journeying to God with St Teresa”.