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201
Desert Fathers and Mothers
Hesychasm for the Desert Fathers was primarily the practice of "interior silence and continual prayer." It did not become a formal movement of specific practices until the fourteenth century Byzantine meditative prayer techniques, when it was more closely identified with the Prayer of the Heart, or "Jesus Prayer". -
249
St Anthony of the Desert
Anthony's solitary and ascetic lifestyle in the desert established a precedent for Christian monasticism, inspiring countless men and women to embrace lives of devotion, meditation, and self-discipline. -
301
Gregory of Nyssa
Saint Gregory of Nyssa adapted the Greek understanding of the nature and purpose of asceticism and contemplation to elucidate the capacity of the Christian faith to inspire and motivate believers towards knowledge of God and to enable them to undergo purification in order to unite with Him. -
Period: 901 to 1001
Symeon the New Theologian
In Hymns of Divine Love Symeon wrote that:
Listen only to the advice of your spiritual father,
answer him with humility
and, as to God, tell him your thoughts,
even to a simple meditation, without hiding anything, do nothing without his advice. -
1301
The Cloud of Unknowing
The anonymous, 14th-century author of The Cloud of Unknowing conveys the fathomless mystery of God and that God can only be known by loving presence—contemplation. The Cloud of Unknowing is the inspiration for practices such as Centering Prayer and Christian meditation. -
Period: 1400 to 1501
St Ignatius of Loyola
The Spiritual Exercises are a compilation of meditations, prayers, and contemplative practices developed by St. Ignatius Loyola to help people deepen their relationship with God. For centuries the Exercises were most commonly given as a “long retreat” of about 30 days in solitude and silence. -
1500
St Theresa of Avila
Her reform required utter withdrawal so that the nuns could meditate on divine law and, through a prayerful life of penance, exercise what she termed “our vocation of reparation” for the sins of humankind. -
Period: 1503 to
St Francis de Sales
In his Introduction to the Devout Life, de Sales describes what he calls the “short method of meditation.” Within this method, he suggests two primary points of preparation: place yourself in the presence of God, and invoke God's assistance. -
Thomas Merton
His books pioneered the revival of contemplative prayer within the Christian tradition and continue to inspire today.