Distinguished Spiritual Leader Father William Meninger Speaks at Benedictine Institute Lecture

0 Shares

Submitted by Saint Martin’s University

st martins praying handsSaint Martin’s University will welcome eminent spiritual leader and teacher Father William Meninger, OCSO, a Trappist monk best known for reviving the early Christian practice of contemplative prayer, as its distinguished speaker for the University’s upcoming Benedictine Institute Lecture.

Through his presentation, “Contemplative Prayer and the Loving Search for God,” Meninger will share his insights on how the practice can build a closer personal relationship with God at a 7 p.m. lecture on Thursday, Oct. 2, at Marcus Pavilion on the University’s campus, 5000 Abbey Way SE. The public is invited to attend the free talk, which will be about two hours long.

Meninger, who began his religious life in 1958 as a priest with the Yakima Diocese, entered the Trappist Order in 1963 at St. Joseph’s Abbey in Spencer, Mass. In 1974, his spiritual life bloomed when he picked up a slim volume lying fallow in the Abbey Library. He had rediscovered “The Cloud of Unknowing,” a little book dating from the 14th century. “The Cloud” is unusual for its time – written in Chaucerian English instead of Latin, signifying that it was clearly directed at laymen rather than priests, he says.  In its pages, an anonymous author described how to learn and practice contemplative prayer. This kind of prayer, reaching out to God with your own love, was so fundamental that it could be used by almost anyone, including the unschooled parishioners of that time, to develop and deepen their union with God.

“In contemplative prayer, you are loving God, and through God, every man, woman and child ever born and those yet to be born, as God loves you,” Meninger says.

Rooted in early Christianity, the practice of contemplative prayer thrived for centuries, only to be lost during the turbulent Protestant Reformation and European settlement of North America.

Meninger followed the simple instruction in “The Cloud,” himself, and discovered that the practice fulfilled an intense personal need to strengthen his relationship with God. He was trained for the priesthood at a time when contemplative prayer was unheard of, he says, and despite all his education, he never really mastered the concept of prayerful contemplation until he discovered the book. He immediately began introducing the method to other members of his abbey and at retreats. Soon, his abbot, Thomas Keating, and another monk, Basil Pennington, joined him in offering workshops. In the 40 years since, the method – now popularly known as “centering prayer” – has spread worldwide.

Describing “The Cloud” as “a masterpiece of spirituality,” Meninger says the practice it teaches has profoundly deepened his relationship with God. In his companion book, “The Loving Search for God: Contemplative Prayer and the Cloud of Unknowing,” Meninger has sought to adapt the book to contemporary life.

Meninger attended St. John’s Seminary near Boston and completed graduate studies at Boston University, Seattle University and Harvard Divinity School. He spent three years in Israel, where he studied scripture and taught at the Center for Biblical Studies in Jerusalem. A teacher, author and co-author of numerous books on contemplative prayer, forgiveness and other spiritual topics, Meninger now lives at St. Benedict’s Monastery in Snowmass, Colo. To preserve his monastic orientation, he leaves the monastery only briefly each year.

The Benedictine Institute Lecture Series, launched in 2013, celebrates the long-standing Benedictine tradition of education at Saint Martin’s University. Built on the Benedictine tenet of “listening with the ear of one’s heart,” this series provides a forum for the discussion of faith-related issues. The lecture series is organized by the Benedictine Institute, which seeks to contribute to the intellectual and spiritual development of the Saint Martin’s community by leading the University in upholding and promoting its Benedictine heritage and sharing those values with others.

 

Print Friendly, PDF & Email
0 Shares