I just finished reading "The Way of Perfection" by St. Theresa of Avila, and that's what I must do.I was asked to read "The Way of Perfection" as part of my formation as a Secular Discalced Carmelite. It was pointed out to me that there are numerous connections between "The Way of Perfection" and the fourth section of the Catechism which is on prayer. Not only does the Catechism borrow quotes, it even shares much of the same structure and terminology. (Although, there are subtle differences in how each of the two texts define that terminology.)I had already read another one of St. Theresa's books, "The Interior Castle." Whereas "The Interior Castle" mostly focuses on the mystical aspects (i.e. those things that God can choose to do) of a soul's life as it moves toward spiritual marriage with the Lord, "The Way of Perfection" focuses more on the human aspects. It covers perfect vocal prayer, what is meant by "mental" prayer, "contemplation", etc. It's very down to earth. The second half of the book is a detailed commentary on the Lord's prayer. The introduction says this is one of St. Theresa's "most easily comprehensible" books [Location 120 of 3040] which certainly seems to be the case.I enjoyed St. Theresa's explanation of "mental prayer". It's quite simple. "Mental prayer" is when you pay attention to who you are, who you're praying to, and what you're asking. How often do we pray the Lord's prayer and forget these things?It's important to keep in mind St. Theresa's audience. The first version of her book was written specifically for her sisters. A later version of the book has a bunch of edits and a little bit of re-organization; it was meant for a wider audience. As I read her book, it was important for me to ask the question, "Is this just for her sisters, or does it generalize to me as well?" That's a typical question that seculars must face.St. Theresa's writing style—well, you'll either love it or hate it. I'm not so sure she spends much time planning what she's going to write. She just sits down when she gets a moment and writes in a very linear fashion. She has a very ornate style, and she goes off on lots of tangents (which are either very human or very divine in origin). As she says, "I have digressed a great deal" [Location 651 of 3040]. It's clear that her edits are somewhat cursory. It's clear that she was writing with a plume and not with a word processor. After all, this was written in the 1500s!Although I found her writing style to be a little weird, it was okay for me. However, when I tried to read it to my wife, her brain would shut down in less than a page. Hence, this book is definitely not for everyone, but I thought it was certainly worth reading.Note: I had to submit this from my wife's account instead of my own account I apparently haven't bought enough things using my account.