We are a chapter of Contemplative Outreach, Ltd., an international spiritual network begun by Fr. Thomas Keating. Our mission is to teach the method of Centering Prayer and to support those whose Spiritual Journey includes a practice of this prayer.

Centering Prayer is the contemporary name for the meditation practice Jesus taught in the Sermon on the Mount: “Whenever you pray, go into your room and shut the door and pray to your Father who is in secret.” (Matthew 6:6)

Centering Prayer is a 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 is not meant to replace other kinds of prayer. Rather, it adds depth of meaning to all prayer and facilitates the movement from more active modes of prayer — verbal, mental or affective prayer — into a receptive prayer of resting in God. Centering Prayer emphasizes prayer as a personal relationship with God and as a movement beyond conversation with Christ to communion with Him.

Introduction to Centering Prayer with Fr. Keating