Thomas Keating

Thomas Keating

For the famous art forger of the same name, see Tom Keating. For the American football player of the same name, see Tom Keating (American football).

Fr. Thomas Keating, O.C.S.O. (born 7th March 1923) is a Trappist monk (Order of Cistercians of the Strict Observance) and priest, known as one of architects of the Centering Prayer, a contemporary method of contemplative prayer, that emerged from St. Joseph's Abbey, Spencer, Massachusetts, in 1975. He was born in New York City, and attended Deerfield Academy, Yale University, and Fordham University, graduating in December 1943. He is a founder of the Centering Prayer movement and of Contemplative Outreach, Ltd.