Over 30 years ago at St. Joseph’s Abbey, in Spencer, MA, then Abbot Fr. Thomas Keating and monks, Fr. William Meninger and Fr. Basil Pennington, began to distill the Christian contemplative tradition of the desert fathers, Eastern meditation techniques, and the prayer method laid out in the fourteenth century English classic, The Cloud of Unknowing. The result of that work is the method of Centering Prayer we practice today.
In his upcoming book, Companions of the Cloud, Fr. Meninger imagines who the anonymous author of The Cloud would invite to dinner. According to Fr. William, the word “companion” means to break bread together as in a dinner party setting. His presentation provides an insightful perspective that helps us expand our understanding of The Cloud.
Fr. Keating follows with a rich presentation full of spiritual insights on the Fruits of the Spirit.
