St. Mary to host workshop on 'centering prayer' technique

In the New Testament, the disciples asked Jesus, "Lord, teach us to pray," and He did.

Even today, spiritual leaders are taking the time to teach people how to pray effectively. The Rev. Matthew Flatley, coordinator of Contemplative Outreach of Central Missouri, is one of those leaders.

On March 21, St. Mary's Church is hosting "Introduction to Centering Prayer." Flatley, a Catholic priest from Jefferson City, will travel to Cape Girardeau to take part in the program.

Centering prayer emerged in the 1970s, when Trappist monks decided to try and distill a certain approach to prayer, Flatley said. "The tradition is ancient," he added, "but the method is modern."

He explained that the monks lived cloistered in a monastery, and Pope Paul VI invited them to reclaim the contemplative tradition in Christianity. That's when they attempted to take it outside the monastery walls.

Centering prayer is a method of communing with God in silence. It is a way to quiet oneself in the presence of the Creator.

Contemplative prayer speaks of the spiritual gifts -- or grace -- participants receive through engaging in such prayer.

"People think of prayer as reciting or looking at icons," Flatley asserted, "but there are other aspects of prayer where we simply rest in the mystery of God."

The coming program seeks to teach that method, and then attendees will actually do it.

Flatley, who lived as a monk from 2000-2005, is passionate about the benefits of this method of prayer, which he first embraced in 1989 and learned to teach in 1993, when he began leading retreats.

It's this type of passion that has made centering prayer gain in popularity.

In Central Missouri, about 500 people meet regularly for centering prayer sessions. Large numbers gather in St. Louis, and "outreach is almost exclusively word-of-mouth. *... Someone gets passionate about it, and it spreads."

There are chapters all over the world, Flatley said. While most of the people who meet together for centering prayer are "a little on in years," they do their best to reach out to younger people as well.

Flatley said he does not believe centering prayer should replace other methods of prayer. However, he said, "In my opinion, it's the fullest expression of prayer."

Experience has taught him that it brings people closer to God, adding that the "fruit of the Spirit are experienced in your life."

He has found that engaging in this method of communion has allowed him to act rather than react, and to deal with stress more constructively. Instead of judging others, he said, this regular quiet time with God has "healed me" of such tendencies, he said.

"I see people in light of compassion," he added. "I am much more gentle with myself and others."

Flatley likened all prayer to relationship, and centering prayer to a deeper relationship. "And relationships sometimes have words that get in the way," he said. With this form of quiet reflection, "We've said all we have to say, and we just rest in the presence of God."

He reiterated, however, that both methods of prayer -- quiet and speaking -- are necessary. He called it "two banks of a river that carry the river. You need both."

At the Introduction to Centering Prayer program on March 21, from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m., both will be practiced. Presenters will discuss centering prayer and its background, as well as the difference between prayer with form and prayer without form. This will be followed by an introductory experience of centering prayer, Flatley said.

Pertinent address: 615 William Street, Cape Girardeau MO