Centring Prayer, sometimes called Christian meditation, is the practice of letting go.

In the late 1960’s, young people from around the world flocked to St. Joseph’s Abbey in Spencer Massachusetts. Always prepared to offer hospitality, the monks received the young people warmly. When asked what they were seeking, the young people often replied, “We’re looking for a path, man.” After receiving the monk’s hospitality, the young people would soon move on.

In time, the monks discovered the young people were actually looking for the nearby Buddhist monastery where meditation was practiced and taught by the monks.

The exploration of the young people at this time set three brothers on their own journey of discovery. William Meninger, Basil Pennington and Thomas Keating worked to uncover the long tradition of meditation within the Christian faith. Their discovery and sharing of this once-neglected tradition of prayer has been a gift to us all.

Please click on the button below to download a pdf brochure with a guided path to quieten down find stillness everywhere, be grounded in what is and nurture inner peace.

God is the Source of liberation and abundant life. We can turn to and lean on God as we make our journey towards wholeness.

At the same time, our vision and determination motivate us to act. We alone can choose to take the next step towards freedom and peace.

May these prayers support and accompany you along the way.

We are never alone.

God provides all we need to move in goodly directions.

For prayers for liberation from the past, from addictions, from all that binds, please click on the button below to download a pdf brochure to print. A sample of the prayers in the brochure is below.

When our feelings are strong, we might be afraid to share with anyone, including God, how we really feel. Sometimes we pray as though we need to protect God from our questions, our anger, our deep, deep sadness. But this is not the case.

God is our most capable and trusted companion and friend. In fact, we can’t tell God anything God doesn’t already know! These prayers are not meant to take the place of your own heartfelt words and silences, but perhaps they can get you started.

A sample of the prayers in the brochure is below. Please click on the button below to download a pdf brochure to print.

Lord, help me. My boat is so small. Your ocean is so immense.   – French Medieval Prayer

“[Gratefulness] can change our world in immensely important ways, because if you’re grateful, you’re not fearful, and if you’re not fearful, you’re not violent. If you’re grateful, you act out of a sense of enough and not of a sense of scarcity, and you are willing to share. If you are grateful, you are enjoying the differences between people, and you are respectful of everybody, and that changes this power pyramid under which we live.” – Brother David Steindl-Rast, OSB

A sample of the prayers in the brochure is below. Please click on the button below to download a pdf brochure to print.

Many Christians observe the “Divine Office” or the Hours of Prayer. That is, a few times throughout the day they pause from their activity and offer a prayer, read a psalm, sit quietly or meditate.

Pausing to pray reminds us that God is as near as your heart. We notice that God is not distant or confined to special places and times, but God is present at all times and in all places.

Pausing to pray reminds us that we are not the centre of everything. A Spirit flows through our work, our relationships, our efforts and intentions. In prayer, we connect with the Source of Life and enjoin ourselves to what God is on about in our world.

You might want to explore weaving prayer into your day. What do you notice? What gifts do you receive? 

A sample of the prayers is below. Please click on the button below to download a pdf brochure to print.

IN THE MORNING…

Dear God, thank you for the gift of this new day, and for bringing me safely to its beginning. Grant me the grace I need to walk in your love and your truth.

Above all, give me the gift of a joyful heart that in all things I may see your hand at work and give myself over to what you want of me this day. Amen.

––Justin DuVall, OSB

Attached is a document with some poems and prayers for the winter solstice this Sunday on 21 June. In speaking with our congregation member Jennifer P, we questioned whether we should name it as the longest night or the shortest day.

How do you perceive it this year?

Regardless, I hope the attached provide fitting companions today and in the shortening days to come as we make this turning.

Whenever the church gathers around the communion table, our prayers remind us that creation is always singing praise to God. We enjoin ourselves to this continuous song of thanksgiving in our communion meal.

God named creation good from the first and gave us the joyful responsibility to care for creation.

May these prayers help us get in touch with our Creator and creation when we forget or are distracted by “our problems” (Denise Levertov) or when we simply want to spend time enjoying the earth and her creatures.

May they help us reconnect with the Source of Life and inspire us to find ways to care for our little plot of ground, however we can.

Above all, may we find space to listen to the voice of the Sacred One deep down and all around, and discover again we are part of all that is.

A sample of the prayers is below. Please click on the button below to download a pdf brochure to print.