The Contemplative Society

" Communauté des Frères de Taizé", Emmanuel Cattier, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons For decades, the small village of Taizé in Burgundy, France, has been a pilgrimage site for those seeking the "springs of faith." What began as a refuge during wartime has blossomed into a global movement of reconciliation and peace. The Taizé style of worship is defined by its contemplative rhythm. It invites participants to enter a "common prayer" that requires no hymnal or sermon to understand, only a...

Archives des jésuites de France, CC BY-SA 3.0 , via Wikimedia Commons What happens when you want to offer Mass but have no bread, no wine, and no altar? This was the reality for Pierre Teilhard de Chardin (1881–1955), the Jesuit priest and paleontologist, during a scientific expedition in the Gobi Desert. Lacking the elements for the Eucharist, he realized that the world itself (its work, its suffering, its evolution), could be his offering. He composed The Mass on the World , a profound...

" Fresco of Virgin Orans in conch of apse in Church of the Theotokos Peribleptos in Ohrid, Macedonia", Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons Centering Prayer teaches us how to release thoughts in the safety of silence. But what happens when we leave the chair? How do we maintain that sense of surrender when life hits us with frustration, pain, or even overwhelming joy? This is where The Welcoming Practice begins. At The Contemplative Society, we view this as the essential companion to...