Contemplative Outreach,Ltd.
and Centering Prayer

Contemplative Prayer
Contemplative Prayer is the opening of the mind and heart, our whole being to God, the Ultimate Mystery, beyond thoughts, words and emotions, whom we know by faith is within us, closer than breathing, thinking, feeling, and choosing; even closer than consciousness itself.

The root of prayer is interior silence. Though we may think of prayer as thoughts or feelings expressed in words, this is only one expression. Contemplative Prayer is a prayer of silence, an experience of God's presence as the ground in which our being is rooted, the Source from whom our life emerges at every moment.

For the Church's first sixteen centuries, Contemplative Prayer was the goal of Christian spirituality. After the Reformation, this living tradition was virtually lost. Today, with cross cultural dialogue and historical research, the recovery of the Christian contemplative tradition has begun. The method of Centering Prayer, in the tradition of Lectio Divina (praying the scriptures) is contributing to this renewal.

Centering Prayer
Centering Prayer is a method of prayer which prepares us to receive the gift of contemplative prayer. Centering Prayer consists of responding to the Spirit of Christ by consenting to God's presence and action within. It furthers this development of contemplative prayer by preparing our faculties to cooperate with this gift.

Centering Prayer facilitates a movement from more active modes of prayer, verbal, discursive of affective prayer into a receptive prayer of resting in God. Centering prayer is meant to enrich and compliment other forms of prayer, not to exclude or replace them. Centering Prayer is at the same time a relationship with God and a discipline to foster that relationship. It is Trinitarian in its source, Christ-centered in its focus, and ecclesial in its effects; that is, it builds communities of faith and bonds the members together in charity.

Centering Prayer is drawn from ancient prayer practices of the Christian contemplative heritage, notably the Fathers and Mothers of the Desert, the monastic practice of Lectio Divina (praying the scriptures).

The Cloud of Unknowing (author unknown), St. John of the Cross, and St. Theresa of Avila are a few of the classical resources in the contemplative heritage.

Centering Prayer was distilled into a simple method of prayer in the 1970's by three Trappist monks, Fr. William Menninger, Fr. Basil Pennington, and Abbot Thomas Keating at St. Joseph's Abbey in Spencer, Massachusetts.

Contemplative Outreach, Ltd.
Contemplative Outreach, Ltd. was established to bring this ancient prayer practice out of the monastic milieu to those in contemporary society. Contemplative Outreach, Ltd. is now a world-wide spiritual network of individuals and small faith communities committed to renewing the contemplative dimension of the Gospel in everyday life. Contemplative Outreach, Ltd. serves the needs of the spiritual network.

The Mission of Contemplative Outreach.
Our primary purpose is to teach the method of Centering Prayer and to offer practices that bring its fruits into daily life. We also teach Lectio Divina, particularly its movement into contemplative prayer, as facilitated by a regular practice of Centering Prayer. We help individuals and groups establish a contemplative prayer ministry by offering Centering Prayer workshops, retreats, and formation programs. Our programs are designed to present the richness of the Christian Contemplative heritage in an up-dated and accessible format.

We identify with the Christian contemplative heritage from which Centering Prayer is drawn. We recognize this heritage to be a common ground of unity. Mature fruits of Centering Prayer are a deeper caring response to the needs and rights of the human family and a deeper respect for the integrity of all creation.