So what exactly is contemplative prayer? Many people will use contemplation and meditation interchangeably and associate both with eastern religion. This can cause a lot of fear and misunderstanding. In fact, Christianity has a deep spiritual history of both meditation and contemplation among saints such as Theresa of Avila and John of the Cross.
I understand meditation and contemplation to be different things. Meditation is prayer in which the mind mulls over and considers deeply the meaning and significance of the focus of the prayer (for example, the content of the prayer or an icon or the blessed sacrament). Contemplation, on the other hand, is silent prayer before God. Contemplation is often achieved by means of meditation. So for example, the Rosary is a popular and traditional form of meditation and can lead to deeper contemplative prayer as one moves from the concentration of the mind upon the mysteries of the Rosary to sitting in deep peace before God - "basking" in God, if you will! Many people experience contemplative prayer spontaneously - without really knowing it by that name. They simply experience it as a deepening of their cognitive prayer.
So there it is - a first brief description of contemplative prayer. In the next blog, I'll talk about a specific method of contemplative prayer called "centering prayer." Until then, for more information on contemplative prayer, take a look at this link. It will also describe centering prayer, which was developed by Fr. Thomas Keating and Fr. Basil Pennington.
Just a final note: If you decide to Google contemplative or centering prayer, be forewarned that you will see some sites that condemn the practice as un-Christian and unscriptural. These sites originate with individuals or groups who don't fully understand that contemplative prayer and centering prayer are spiritual practices steeped in centuries of church history and embraced by many saints through the centuries and by devout Christians and Catholics today.
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