Details

The Christian Contemplative Tradition explores key themes in spiritual theology from a Catholic perspective. It draws on the spiritual masters as well as core truths of the Catholic faith to elucidate our experiences of prayer, darkness, faith, hope and love.

Fr. Donald Goergen, O.P., helps us appropriate the spiritual wisdom of the centuries so that we might deepen our interior lives and relationship to God and be prepared to face the challenges, which our world and Church present.

Topics such as Word and Sacrament, friendship and justice, joy and sadness are grounded in our innermost yearning for the living God. Contemplation is understood not as something for monks and nuns alone but as the natural culmination of life with Christ.

We are all called to be contemplative, and in fact the promotion of a more contemplative consciousness becomes an important social ministry for our times. We are in need of a profoundly Catholic, genuinely integral spirituality, which takes from our treasure both what is old and what is new (Mt 13:52). There are many ways of becoming contemplative and these spiritual talks will assist you in exploring what it means to live in the Spirit, give one's life to Christ, or live out of one's innermost and truest self.

Learn about downloadable programs.

With this order you will receive, free of charge, a detailed Electronic Study Guide. With your confirmation email, you will receive a link that will take you to this Electronic Study Guide, which includes outlines for each topic, review questions and suggested readings for further study. The link to access this Electronic Study Guide will also be included on the case of your CDs or DVDs. You are allowed to print up to 7 copies of your guide. Simply click on the link, or type it into your browser, to access the file.

About Your Presenter

Donald Goergen, O.P., Ph.D., is a Dominican priest, teacher, lecturer, and author. He has published many articles and ten books in the areas of Christology and Christian Spirituality. His most recent book was Fire of Love, Encountering the Holy Spirit. He has taught, lectured and given retreats in Asia, Africa, and throughout North America. He was previously Provincial for the Dominican Friars of the Central Province as well as President of the Dominican Leadership Conference. He co-founded the Dominican Ashram, a contemplative Dominican community and ministry of prayer, in which he lived for nine years. He previously taught and currently teaches at the Aquinas Institute of Theology in St. Louis, MO, where he is also prior of the formation community. His doctorate is in systematic theology, his dissertation on Pierre Teilhard de Chardin, and his current interests include contemplative traditions, East and West, the evolution of consciousness, and the thought of Thomas Aquinas as a spiritual master. Among other honors awarded him, he is the recipient of the 2010 Yves Congar Award from Barry University in Miami.

Topic Titles

• What Contemplation is Not
• Searching for God
• The Mystery of Sadness in Contemplative Life
• Darkness, Emptiness, Aloneness
• Praying Contemplatively: Christian Meditation
• Infused Prayer
• Prayer and Fasting
• The Great Silence
• Gifts of the Spirit
• The Living Word
• Holy Eucharist; Blessed Sacrament
• Holy Friendship
• A Life of Charity
• Contemplative Love
• Conversion and Repentance
• Humility is the Soil
• The Marriage of Heart and Mind
• Mary, Mother of God, Contemplative Model
• Jesus, Son of Mary and Son of God
• The Evolution of Consciousness
• Living Contemplatively and Acting Justly
• From Mindlessness to Mindfulness
• Remembering the Body
• Remembering the Church