Basil Pennington

M. Basil Pennington, O.C.S.O. (1931–2005) was an American Trappist priest and leading spiritual writer, speaker, teacher, and director.

Pennington was an alumnus of the Pontifical University of St. Thomas Aquinas Angelicum where he obtained a licentiate in Theology in 1959.[citation needed] He also earned a licentiate in Canon Law at the Pontifical Gregorian University. Pennington became known internationally as one of the major proponents of the centering prayer movement begun at St. Joseph's Abbey in Spencer, Massachusetts, during the 1970s.

Pennington's book Centering Prayer was first published in 1980, and had sold more than a million copies by 2002.[1][2][3] Translations of this work have been published in Spanish,[4] French,[5] Polish,[6] Portuguese,[7] and Italian.[8]

  1. ^ Lynn Garrett & Jeff Zaleski (2002). "Writings of spiritual leaders". Publishers Weekly. 249 (43). Reed Business Information / Reviews: 68. ISSN 0000-0019.
  2. ^ Jana Reiss & Jeff Zaleski (2002). "Religion notes". Publishers Weekly. 249 (45). Reed Business Information / Reviews: 61. ISSN 0000-0019.
  3. ^ Jonathan Shear, ed. (2006). The experience of meditation: Experts introduce the major traditions. St. Paul, MN: Paragon House. ISBN 978-1-55778-857-3.. On page 275: "Father Pennington helped formulate Centering Prayer... and his book Centering Prayer has sold over 1 million copies throughout the world."
  4. ^ Pennington, M. Basil (1986). La oración centrante: renovación de una antigua manera de orar (in Spanish). (Carmen Fernández Aguinaco, trans.). Narcea. ISBN 978-84-277-0713-9. (235 pages)
  5. ^ Pennington, M. Basil (2006). La prière de silence: Renouveler une forme traditionnelle de prière chrétienne (in French). (Bernard Dionne, trans.). Novalis. ISBN 978-2-89507-684-1. (261 pages)
  6. ^ Pennington, M. Basil (2003). Modlitwa prowadząca do środka: Powrót do starochrześcijańskiej metody modlitwy (in Polish). Homini. ISBN 978-83-87933-91-3. (280 pages)
  7. ^ Pennington, M. Basil (2002). Oração Centrante (in Portuguese). Palas Athena. ISBN 978-85-7242-041-9. (296 pages)
  8. ^ Pennington, M. Basil (2007). Preghiera centrica (in Italian). Gribaudi. ISBN 978-88-7152-903-5.