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Centering Prayer
Centering Prayer is a method designed to facilitate the development of contemplative prayer by preparing our faculties to receive this gift. It presents ancient Christian wisdom teachings in an updated form. Centering Prayer is not meant to replace other kinds of prayer; rather it casts a new light and depth of meaning on them. It is at the same time a relationship with God and a discipline to foster that relationship. This method of prayer is a movement beyond conversation with Christ to communion with him. The method formed as a direct result of the experiences reading the Cloud of Unknowing by the community at the Trappist St. Joseph's Abbey in Spencer, Massachusetts where three brothers in particular helped the method come into being; those brothers were: Fr. William Meninger, Fr. M. Basil Pennington and Abbot Thomas Keating. Name The name was taken from Thomas Merton's description of contemplative prayer, from which Centering Prayer draws, as prayer that is "centered enti ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Trappist
The Trappists, officially known as the Order of Cistercians of the Strict Observance (, abbreviated as OCSO) and originally named the Order of Reformed Cistercians of Our Lady of La Trappe, are a Religious order (Catholic), Catholic religious order of enclosed religious orders, cloistered Monasticism, monastics that branched off from the Cistercians. They follow the Rule of Saint Benedict and have communities of both monks and nuns that are known as Trappists and Trappistines, respectively. They are named after La Trappe Abbey, the monastery from which the movement and religious order originated. The movement began with the reforms that Abbot Armand Jean le Bouthillier de Rancé introduced in 1664, later leading to the creation of Trappist Congregation (group of houses), congregations, and eventually the formal constitution as a separate religious order in 1892. History The order takes its name from La Trappe Abbey or ''La Grande Trappe'', located in the French province of Nor ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ancient Greek
Ancient Greek (, ; ) includes the forms of the Greek language used in ancient Greece and the classical antiquity, ancient world from around 1500 BC to 300 BC. It is often roughly divided into the following periods: Mycenaean Greek (), Greek Dark Ages, Dark Ages (), the Archaic Greece, Archaic or Homeric Greek, Homeric period (), and the Classical Greece, Classical period (). Ancient Greek was the language of Homer and of fifth-century Athens, fifth-century Athenian historians, playwrights, and Ancient Greek philosophy, philosophers. It has contributed many words to English vocabulary and has been a standard subject of study in educational institutions of the Western world since the Renaissance. This article primarily contains information about the Homeric Greek, Epic and Classical periods of the language, which are the best-attested periods and considered most typical of Ancient Greek. From the Hellenistic period (), Ancient Greek was followed by Koine Greek, which is regar ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Pope Francis
Pope Francis (born Jorge Mario Bergoglio; 17 December 1936 – 21 April 2025) was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 13 March 2013 until Death and funeral of Pope Francis, his death in 2025. He was the first Jesuit pope, the first Latin American, and the first born or raised outside Europe since the 8th-century Syrian pope Pope Gregory III, Gregory III. Born in Buenos Aires, Argentina, to a family of Italian Argentines, Italian origin, Bergoglio was inspired to join the Jesuits in 1958 after recovering from a severe illness. He was Ordination#Catholic, Orthodox, Lutheran and Anglican churches, ordained a Catholic priest in 1969, and from 1973 to 1979 he was the Jesuit provincial superior in Argentina. He became the archbishop of Buenos Aires in 1998 and was created a Cardinal (Catholic Church), cardinal in 2001 by Pope John Paul II. Following resignation of Pope Benedict XVI, the resignation of Pope Benedict XVI, the 2013 pa ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Rosary
The Rosary (; , in the sense of "crown of roses" or "garland of roses"), formally known as the Psalter of Jesus and Mary (Latin: Psalterium Jesu et Mariae), also known as the Dominican Rosary (as distinct from other forms of rosary such as the Rosary-based prayers, Franciscan Crown, Bridgettine Rosary, Rosary of the Holy Wounds, etc.), refers to a set of prayers used primarily in the Catholic Church, and to the physical string of knots or beads used to count the component prayers. When referring to the prayer, the word is usually capitalized ("the Rosary", as is customary for other names of prayers, such as "the Lord's Prayer", and "the Hail Mary"); when referring to the prayer beads as an object, it is written with a lower-case initial letter (e.g. "a rosary bead"). The prayers that compose the Rosary are arranged in sets of ten Hail Marys, called "decades". Each decade is preceded by one Lord's Prayer ("Our Father"), and traditionally followed by one Glory Be. Some Catholics ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Jesus Prayer
The Jesus Prayer, also known as The Prayer, is a short formulaic prayer and is especially esteemed and advocated in Eastern Christianity and Catholicism. There are multiple versions of this prayer, however the most widely used version is as follows: It is often repeated continually as a part of personal ascetic practice, its use being an integral part of the Hermitic tradition of prayer known as hesychasm. The prayer is particularly esteemed by the spiritual fathers of this tradition (see ''Philokalia'') as a method of cleaning and opening up the mind and after this the heart (), brought about first by the Prayer of the Mind, or more precisely the Noetic Prayer (), and after this the Prayer of the Heart (). The ''Prayer of the Heart'' is considered to be the ''Unceasing Prayer'' that the Apostle Paul advocates in the New Testament. Theophan the Recluse regarded the ''Jesus Prayer'' stronger than all other prayers by virtue of the power of the Holy Name of Jesus. Though identified ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Christian Prayer
Christian prayer is an important activity in Christianity, and there are several different forms used for this practice. Christian prayers are diverse: they can be completely spontaneous, or read entirely from a text, such as from a breviary, which contains the canonical hours that are said at fixed prayer times. While praying, certain gestures usually accompany the prayers, including folding one's hands, Bowing#Christianity, bowing one's head, kneeling (often in the kneeler of a pew in corporate worship or the kneeler of a prie-dieu in private worship), and Prostration#Christianity, prostration. The most prominent prayer among Christians is the Lord's Prayer, which according to the gospel accounts (e.g. wikisource:Bible (American Standard)/Matthew#6:9, Matthew 6:9-13) is how Jesus in Christianity, Jesus taught his Disciple (Christianity), disciples to pray. The injunction for Christians to pray the Lord's Prayer thrice daily was given in ''Didache'' 8, 2 f., which, in turn, was ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Scholasticism
Scholasticism was a medieval European philosophical movement or methodology that was the predominant education in Europe from about 1100 to 1700. It is known for employing logically precise analyses and reconciling classical philosophy and Catholic Christianity. The Scholastics, also known as Schoolmen, utilized dialectical reasoning predicated upon Aristotelianism and the categories (Aristotle), Ten Categories. Scholasticism emerged within the monastic schools that translated medieval Judeo-Islamic philosophies (800–1400), Judeo-Islamic philosophies, and "rediscovered" the Corpus Aristotelicum, collected works of Aristotle. Endeavoring to harmonize Aristotle's metaphysics (Aristotle), metaphysics and Latin Catholic theology, these monastic schools became the basis of the earliest European medieval university, medieval universities, and thus became the bedrock for the development of History of science, modern science and Western philosophy, philosophy in the Western world. T ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
John Cassian
John Cassian, also known as John the Ascetic and John Cassian the Roman (, ''Ioannes Cassianus'', or ''Ioannes Massiliensis''; Greek: Ίωάννης Κασσιανός ό Ερημίτης; – ), was a Christian monk and theologian celebrated in both the Western and Eastern churches for his mystical writings. Cassian is noted for his role in bringing the ideas and practices of early Christian monasticism to the medieval West. Biography Cassian was born around 360, most likely in the region of Scythia Minor (now Dobruja, a historical region shared today by Romania and Bulgaria), although some scholars assume a Gallic origin. The son of wealthy parents, he received a good education: his writings show the influence of Cicero and Persius. He was bilingual in Latin and Greek. Cassian mentions having a sister in his first work, the ''Institutes'', with whom he corresponded in his monastic life; she may have ended up with him in Marseille. As a young adult he traveled to Palestin ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Cloud Of Unknowing
''The Cloud of Unknowing'' (Middle English: ''The Cloude of Unknowyng'') is an anonymous work of Christian mysticism written in Middle English in the latter half of the 14th century. The text is a spiritual guide on contemplative prayer. The underlying message of this work suggests that the way to know God is to abandon consideration of God's particular activities and attributes, and be courageous enough to surrender one's mind and ego to the realm of "unknowing", at which point one may begin to glimpse the nature of God. History ''The Cloud of Unknowing'' draws on the mystical tradition of Pseudo-Dionysius the Areopagite and Christian Neoplatonism, which focuses on the via negativa road to discovering God as a pure entity, beyond any capacity of mental conception and so without any definitive image or form. This tradition has reputedly inspired generations of mystics, from John Scotus Eriugena, Nicholas of Cusa, and John of the Cross. Prior to this, the theme of a passin ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Monasticism
Monasticism (; ), also called monachism or monkhood, is a religion, religious way of life in which one renounces world (theology), worldly pursuits to devote oneself fully to spiritual activities. Monastic life plays an important role in many Christianity, Christian churches, especially in the Catholicism, Catholic, Eastern Orthodox Church, Orthodox and Anglican traditions as well as in other faiths such as Buddhist monasticism, Buddhism, Hinduism, and Jain monasticism, Jainism. In other religions, monasticism is generally criticized and not practiced, as in Islam and Zoroastrianism, or plays a marginal role, as in modern Nazirite, Judaism. Many monastics live in abbeys, convents, monastery, monasteries, or priories to separate themselves from the secular world, unless they are in mendicant or missionary orders. Buddhism The Sangha or community of ordained Buddhist bhikkhus (Pali ''bhikkhu'', like Sanskrit ''bhikṣu'', means 'mendicant; one who lives by dāna, alms'), and orig ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Benedictine
The Benedictines, officially the Order of Saint Benedict (, abbreviated as O.S.B. or OSB), are a mainly contemplative monastic order of the Catholic Church for men and for women who follow the Rule of Saint Benedict. Initiated in 529, they are the oldest of all the religious orders in the Latin Church. The male religious are also sometimes called the Black Monks, especially in English speaking countries, after the colour of their habits, although some, like the Olivetans, wear white. They were founded by Benedict of Nursia, a 6th-century Italian monk who laid the foundations of Benedictine monasticism through the formulation of his Rule. Benedict's sister, Scholastica, possibly his twin, also became a religious from an early age, but chose to live as a hermit. They retained a close relationship until her death. Despite being called an order, the Benedictines do not operate under a single hierarchy. They are instead organized as a collection of autonomous monasteries ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Lectio Divina
In Western Christianity, ''Lectio Divina'' (Latin for "Divine Reading") is a traditional monastic practice of scriptural reading, meditation and prayer intended to promote communion with God and to increase the knowledge of God's word. In the view of one commentator, it does not treat Scripture as texts to be studied, but as the living word. Traditionally, ''Lectio Divina'' has four separate steps: read; meditate; pray; contemplate. First a passage of Scripture is read, then its meaning is reflected upon. This is followed by prayer and contemplation on the Word of God. The focus of ''Lectio Divina'' is not a theological analysis of biblical passages but viewing them with Christ as the key to their meaning. For example, given Jesus' statement in John 14:27: "Peace I leave with you; my peace I give unto you", an analytical approach would focus on the reason for the statement during the Last Supper, the biblical context, etc. In ''Lectio Divina'', however, the practitioner "enter ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
