The subtitle of the present volume (which was originally published in 1955), Elements of Contemplation, captures the book’s overarching purpose: exploration of the theological presuppositions of contemplative prayer. This exploration focuses in particular on the reciprocal relationship between “light” and “image,” two terms that connect Adrienne von Speyr’s account of contemplation with Aquinas’ aesthetics, which is also governed by the interplay between lumen and species, or luminosity and form.