He fills the void, thus turning loneliness into solitude and access to God. Furthermore, the Christ of Scripture is the model of all the virtues that we desire to learn. After all, Christian perfection lies in the virtues. We need Christ to train us in the theological and cardinal virtues. And since charity and humility give birth to all the other virtues, we desperately need the living model of Jesus Christ, the humble one, to show us the way.
Teresian prayer is oriented toward contemplation.
This is another essential quality to appreciate. We can dispose ourselves for it by the virtues and by praying in a very simplified affective way. But contemplation is an infused experience of the presence of God that gives light to the soul and warmth to the heart. Nonetheless we can say in a certain sense that all Teresian prayer is contemplative. What we mean is that Teresa always has her mind s eye on contemplation even if she is giving the very first lessons in the attentive recitation of vocal prayer.