The Contemplative Life Program
The Contemplative Life Program (CLP) explores how to be a practicing contemplative, abiding in the presence of God in the midst of ordinary life. It is an in-home program designed to support and enrich a life of daily practice, study and devotion, assisting the practitioner to live and embody the contemplative dimension of the Gospel.
Prerequisite: An existing Centering Prayer practice. See this page if you do not have an existing Centering Prayer practice and would like to begin one.
Please note that this is primarily a devotional and not instructional program, with the exception of a few booklets which do provide practice instructions (e.g., Welcoming Prayer, Lectio Divina, Forgiveness, Discernment, Active Prayer).
The Details
The CLP includes 16 different booklets on various practices and dispositions of the contemplative life. Most of these topics have associated audio recordings as well (as mp3 files). The topics are available in hard-copy booklet form, or downloadable PDFs. The booklets may be purchased individually, or in sets organized according to themes. The individual topics are:
| Centering Prayer: The Prayer of Consent | Discernment: Practicing the Holy Spirit | Attention/Intention |
| Welcoming Prayer | Forgiveness: A Growth in Love | Lectio Divina |
| Active Prayer | Spirituality of Money | Simplicity |
| Hospitality | Contemplative Service | Discipline of Prayer |
| Silence & Solitude | Community | Faith: An Advent Companion |
| The Paschal Mystery |
Two Sets – Digital Only
Year 1: “Practice” Year 1 is a set of seven booklets focusing mostly on contemplative practices. For more details, see: Contemplative Life Program Year 1, Practice. The booklets are meant to be mini-40-day, devotional retreats on the practice topic. The booklets in Year 1 have guidelines for how to use them, mini-practices to try and suggested further reading in the back of each booklet. The Centering Prayer, Welcoming Prayer, Lectio Divina, Discernment and Attention/Intention booklets are structured as a 40-day reader, where one page each day is read, which includes teaching and a mini-practice or focus for the day. The other booklets in this set are less structured. Note: If you prefer hardcopy booklets, you can purchase the hardcopy booklets individually in our store.
Year 2: “Dispositions” Year 2 is a series of seven booklets focusing mostly on contemplative attitudes and dispositions. For more details, see: Contemplative Life Program Year 2, Dispositions. These booklets are all structured as 40-day readers where the participant reads one page each day, which includes teaching and a mini-practice or focus for the day. Note: If you prefer hardcopy booklets, you can purchase the hardcopy booklets individually in our store.
