Who is
Father William Meninger? Father Meninger was one of the founders
of the Centering Prayer movement and has written and recorded widely
on contemplative prayer. The following testimony to Father Meninger
comes from the Foreword to his book, The Loving Search for God:
“William is a beautiful person. He speaks from the heart. A parish
priest for six years, Father Meninger entered the Trappist Community
in Spencer, Massachusetts, whose abbot was Thomas Keating. The
simplification in his own prayer life puzzled him at first. Then he
picked up the little fourteenth-century classic The Cloud of
Unknowing. Here he found confirmation and clarification.
Assigned to conduct retreats for the priests who came to the
monastery, he found he was able to speak to them lovingly of this
simple, simple way of prayer. That was [nearly forty] years ago.
Now, having reread The Cloud more than a hundred times, and
taught this simple method to thousands, and practiced what he
preached, he set his hand to writing this “utterly simple book”
Good. Read it.”
What are the Details of the
Retreat? The Retreat will convene at St Francis
Springs at 8:30 p.m. on Thursday, October 2, 2008. Participants
should try to arrive by 7:45 p.m. to check in and get settled in
their rooms before we begin. The Retreat will end after lunch on
Sunday, October 5, 2008. Reservations may be made on a first-come,
first-served basis (1) online
by
clicking here; (2) by calling 336-790-8416; or (3) by completing
and mailing in the
retreat brochure which includes contact information.
Where is St.
Francis Springs Prayer Center?
St. Francis Springs is a beautiful interfaith retreat center located
in Stoneville, NC (north of Greensboro, N.C.). Its mission is to
promote spirituality through contemplative prayer and action. The
retreat center is located on 140 acres and offers an inviting,
peaceful environment. Its website is:
www.stfrancissprings.com.
More About Centering
Prayer: Lifting Your Will to God. In Chapter 4 of his
book, The Loving Search for God, Father Meninger writes:
Is it difficult to love God? How long does it take? Actually, as far
as you are concerned, you do not have what it takes to love God. It
is a free gift that God gives you. God constantly offers it to you.
How long do you think it takes to love God? It takes but a moment.
You have only to reach out and will to love God. You can do this in
silence or you can very simply say: “God, I love you.” It takes only
a brief moment. When you do this, you will experience that it is not
only very easy but that you will tend to want to repeat it again and
again. Sometimes it will be just a brief act of love offered in the
midst of a busy day spent in pursuit of the myriad activities of
your life‐calling. At other times you will want to sit quietly in
God’s presence repeating this act of love or simply savoring it.
Gradually you will find your day becoming more and more filled with
this love, spilling over into all you do. When this happens you are
in what I would call the contemplative attitude. But you must
remember that the contemplative attitude springs from the
contemplative act – that is, lifting your will to God in response to
God’s grace in love. |
