« Contemplative Prayer Heads CT's Webpage | Main | Prayer Fads vs the Lord's Prayer »

March 03, 2007

The Rise of Contemplative Prayer

Roman Catholics have led the upsurge in the popularity of contemplative prayer, a mystical method of prayer thought to bring one closer to God. However, the practice is now becoming more common among protestants:

While contemplative prayer has been taught over centuries by Catholic mystics like St. Bernard, St. Teresa of Avila and Thomas Merton, its most recent revival came through people like the Rev. Thomas Keating, a Trappist monk, and the Rev. Henri Nouwen, a Catholic priest who died in 1996.

Its spread to non-Catholic corners has been spurred by Protestant thinkers like Richard Foster, a Quaker teacher; the Rev. Rick Warren of "Purpose-Driven" fame; and Brennan Manning, a former Catholic priest popular among evangelicals.

"This is really a very old Christian form of prayer which does not use words or active intellectual meditation," said Sister Marianne Burkhard, who leads a class in contemplative prayer at Holy Family Catholic Parish. "It is what is often called the 'receptive form of prayer' which cultivates stillness and interior silence."

Posted by calvin at March 3, 2007 11:59 PM

Trackback Pings

TrackBack URL for this entry:
http://www.contemplative.us/mt/mt-tb.cgi/6132

Comments

Post a comment