Our core teachings are based on two ancient traditions: Contemplative Prayer and The Work.

Contemplative Prayer

The Church teaches the Centering Prayer method as taught by Fr. Thomas Keating, a monk, author and founder of the world-wide ministry of Contemplative Outreach.

Christian Contemplative Prayer is the opening of mind and heart - our whole being - to God, the Ultimate Mystery, beyond thoughts, words and emotions, whom we know by faith is within us, closer than breathing, thinking, feeling and choosing; even closer than consciousness itself. The root of all prayer is interior silence. Though we think of prayer as thoughts or feelings expressed in words, this is only one expression. Contemplative Prayer is a prayer of silence, an experience of God’s presence as the ground in which our being is rooted, the Source from whom our life emerges at every moment.

For the first sixteen centuries after Christ, Contemplative Prayer was the goal of Christian spirituality. After the Reformation, this living tradition was virtually lost. Today, with cross-cultural dialogue and historical research, the recovery of the Christian contemplative heritage has begun. The method of Centering Prayer is contributing to this renewal.

The Work

The teaching known as "The Work" or "The Fourth Way" is an ancient system of transformation. It is sometimes also referred to as The Work of Christian Transformation. The Work teaches that man is asleep to the higher levels of conscious awareness and that through effort and grace, it is possible to awaken. Moreover, The Work teaches that to awaken man must first study oneself. The teaching provides in depth knowledge of spiritual psychology and the universal laws that govern creation. The Work is a living tradition. It is a great gift that helps us understand ourselves in the context of the great universe in which we live.

Our tradition teaches that…

…Man on earth, from the standpoint of the Gospels, is incomplete, unfinished, not perfect, and his deepest meaning lies in the fact that he is incomplete, but capable through a new understanding and a new will of reaching an inner completion…The completion, the self-evolution, the re-birth, and so the fulfillment of a man can only be brought about through himself, through his own individual seeing the truth, his own understanding of it, his own desire for it, his own will applied to it. This is the supreme idea of Man on earth, as taught by Christ.         

--From The Mark, by Maurice Nicoll

Photo's above are Fa. Thomas Keating followed by G. I. Gurdjieff.

More information on these teachings, as well as ongoing class information can be found in the Programs and Activities section of our website.