Introduction To Silence

Centering Prayer is a beneficial method for the modern age

There are many forms of prayer in the Christian tradition and many date back to the early days of the church. In the Eastern Tradition for example there are those adopted by the desert mothers and fathers which then became common in monastic communities. Based on those methods of prayer, Centering Prayer, was developed in the 1970s to be a suitable method for busy people in our age.

The method called Centering Prayer comes from a Scriptural base and from a medieval mystical work, The Cloud of Unknowing. The conceptual background to the practice, as taught by Fr. Thomas Keating, draws on that and of major contributors to the Christian contemplative heritage including: St John Cassian; St Francis de Sales; St Teresa of Avila; St John of the Cross; St Thérèse of Lisieux and Thomas Merton.

Centering Prayer is a receptive method of silent prayer that prepares us to receive the gift of contemplative prayer, prayer in which we experience God's presence within us, closer than breathing, closer than thinking, closer than consciousness itself. This method of prayer is both a relationship with God and a discipline to foster that relationship.

Centering Prayer stands in the mainstream of the Christian Spiritual Tradition. There are now groups using this approach in nearly 50 countries worldwide.

On 29 April from 10.15am until 4.00 pm there will be a FREE event in Chiswick to explain this in more detail and to give participants the opportunity to practise the method.

To register to attend or for more information please email: centeringprayerw4@gmail.com OR phone the Parish Office at Our Lady of Grace and St Edward on 020 8994 2877.

April 14, 2017