Thomas Keating

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Abbot Thomas Keating (2012)

Thomas Aquinas Keating OCSO (born March 7, 1923 in New York - † October 25, 2018 in Spencer , Massachusetts ) was an American Trappist monk and abbot and one of the co-founders of Centering Prayer .

Life

Thomas Keating studied philosophy and theology at Yale University and Fordham University after attending Deerfield Academy . In December 1943 he finished his studies . Keating joined the Trappist Order in January 1944 in Valley Falls , Rhode Island. In 1958 he was elected Superior of St. Benedict's Convent in Snowmass , Colorado . In 1961 he became abbot of St. Joseph's Abbey in Spencer, Massachusetts . After resigning as Abbot of Spencer in 1981, he returned to Snowmass, where he conducted a specific form of ten-day intensive retreat , with an emphasis on the practice of centering prayer .

He was one of the three co-founders of this form of prayer , which is a newer method of contemplative prayer. It was created in 1975 in St. Josephs Abbey. William Meninger and Basil Pennington , both also Cistercian monks, were the other co-founders. The concept was first proposed by Father Keating. William Meninger began with a method of prayer based on the 14th century spiritual classic The Cloud of Ignorance . He calls this the prayer in the "cloud" (of ignorance) and taught it to the priests on retreats. Basil Pennington was the first to share the prayer with a lay audience in Connecticut , where participants suggested the term " centering prayer ". Thomas Merton had used the term before.

In 1984 Thomas Keating founded Contemplative Outreach Ltd. together with Gustave Reininger and Edward Bednar . , an international ecumenical spiritual network that aims to help spread the practice of Centering Prayer and Lectio divina . These are methods of prayer from the Christian contemplative tradition. Contemplative Outreach offers help for believers who have taken the contemplative path, e.g. B. Retreats and workshops . Keating published 28 books, many on prayer.

In 2014 a documentary film "Thomas Keating: A Rising Tide of Silence" was released. Keating was also President of Monastic Interreligious Dialogue and Temple of Understanding .

Thomas Keating lived at St. Benedict's Monastery in Snowmass, Colorado until March 2018 and died at St. Joseph's Abbey in Spencer, Massachusetts on October 25, 2018.

Publications

  • The crisis of faith . Johannes-Verlag, Leutesdorf am Rhein 1975, ISBN 3-7794-0611-X .
  • The prayer of gathering. Introduction and accompaniment of contemplative prayer (1st volume of the trilogy). Vier-Türme-Verlag, Münsterschwarzach 1987; Revised edition 2010, ISBN 978-3-89680-474-7 .
  • The contemplative prayer (2nd volume of the trilogy). Vier-Türme-Verlag, Münsterschwarzach 2012, ISBN 978-3-89680-554-6 .
  • Contemplation and worship. Liturgy as a spiritual experience (3rd vol. Of the trilogy). Vier-Türme-Verlag, Münsterschwarzach 2012, ISBN 978-3-89680-813-4 .
  • Where are you my god Ways out of the crisis of faith . Münsterschwarzach 2013, Vier-Türme-Verlag, ISBN 978-3-89680-830-1 .

Web links

personal data
SURNAME Keating, Thomas
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Keating, Thomas Aquinas (full name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American Catholic priest and Trappist
DATE OF BIRTH March 7, 1923
PLACE OF BIRTH new York
DATE OF DEATH October 25, 2018
Place of death Spencer , Massachusetts