The Mystery of Christ: The Liturgy as Spiritual Experience

by Thomas Keating

Following upon Open Mind, Open Heart, which presents a profound formation in Christian prayer, this book demonstrates the contemplative dimension of Christian worship. Here Father Keating recovers the deeper sense of the liturgical year and shares a theological and mystical perspective on the major feasts of the annual cycle. The reader is immersed in the wonder of faith in the mystery of Christ and of the unique nature of God's action and presence in and through the liturgy of our lives.

Genres: Spirituality, Religion, Christianity, Prayer, Theology

142 pages, Paperback

First published October 28, 1992

About the author

Keating entered the Cistercian Order in Valley Falls, Rhode Island in January, 1944. He was appointed Superior of St. Benedict's Monastery, Snowmass, Colorado in 1958, and was elected abbot of St. Joseph's Abbey, Spencer, Massachusetts in 1961. He returned to Snowmass after retiring as abbot of Spencer in 1981, where he established a program of ten-day intensive retreats in the practice of Centering Prayer, a contemporary form of the Christian contemplative tradition.

He is one of three architects of Centering Prayer, a contemporary method of contemplative prayer, that emerged from St. Joseph's Abbey in 1975. Frs. William Menninger and Basil Pennington, also Cistercian monks, were the other architects.
n 1984, Fr. Thomas Keating along with Gustave Reininger and Edward Bednar, co-founded Contemplative Outreach, Ltd., an international, ecumenical spiritual network that teaches the practice of Centering Prayer and Lectio Divina, a method of prayer drawn from the Christian contemplative tradition. Contemplative Outreach provides a support system for those on the contemplative path through a wide variety of resources, workshops, and retreats.
Fr. Keating currently lives at St. Benedict's Monastery in Snowmass, Colorado.

Reviews

[Gil · Rating 5 out of 5]

Keating opens the liturgy and the scripture in a way of prayerfulness that illumines the readers experience. Written as if we were strolling in down a tree lined path behind the monastery. The stories are genuine and authentic to Keating while relevant to the reader.

[Carmen · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent. Read as a daily morning devotional, and I will come back to it. The Centering Prayer world is very large and ecumenical. This book is important to me as one who is part of a more liturgical denomination. Some insights were just earth shaking for me.

[Lainie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Absolutely poetic, formational theology

[Tanja Nayak · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a book that you can read and re-read every year. It takes you through the entire liturgical year and its associated festivals and looks very deeply at the spiritual meaning behind each. It truly is a book to be enjoyed and treasured.

[Matthew · Rating 5 out of 5]

A fantastic book on contemplative Christianity that helps people expand their perspective on the psychological aspect of the wisdom tradition and just how important it is to reorient the way we need to look at the Gospel message.

[Brian Wilcox · Rating 5 out of 5]

A superb contemplative treatment of scriptures from the seasons of the Christian Year.

[Mark Matzeder · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book resonated deeply with me. Keating articulates much of what I have long understood on some level, that the liturgy provides a useful tool for entering contemplation and transcendence.

[Helen · Rating 5 out of 5]

My Centering Prayer group used this as a book for discussion. We took our time, reading only one section each week. Fr. Keating has so much wisdom to share and it sparked wonderful discussion and insights among the group.

[Cyndie · Rating 5 out of 5]

A beautiful and inspired expression of our relationship with Liturgy as a real encounter with the Holy One.

[Br. Anselm Philip King-Lowe, OSB · Rating 5 out of 5]

An amazing book, that draws the reader into a contemplative experience of the Liturgy.

[Linda · Rating 5 out of 5]

excellent, so helpful