WElcome

The community of The Benedictine Way is excited to - formally - introduce the Contemplative Underground, an online branch of our community searching for God through a contemplative lens.

The Contemplative Underground unites contemplatives and those seeking to explore what contemplative prayer might mean in their lives. You may have already noticed the virtual Centering Prayer sits that have been added to our prayer schedule.

Our Contemplative Underground community members hail from many places. We are of many different denominations and no denomination. Some of us go to church frequently, some not at all. We are lay people, clergy, students, working people of all sorts, retired folks, all genders, all sexualities, many races, ethnicities, classes…in other words…we might just be you.

Explore Our Website

The central hub of this online community is the Contemplative Underground website. On it, we have our Centering Prayer schedule and registration links, instructional videos for contemplative prayer practices, scripture suggestions for Lectio Divina, a blog, and more.

New to contemplative prayer? We still invite you to join us - we teach each other. The only sorts of things that are truly necessary are to have the desire to grow your centeredness in God; or to deepen your love of your neighbor; or to resist the insanity of our time by being in a community grounded in meditation and prayer; or even to learn to hope again.

The solitude and silence of contemplative prayer moves us away from anxiety and stress and into a community of love and peace.

We invite you to join us, here in the underground.

We invite you to give us a try. Learn about contemplative prayer. Join in a Centering Prayer Sit. Work through a Lectio Divina novena. If you are seeking inner peace, healing, wholeness, a deepening of your interior prayer life, then the Contemplative Underground might be for you.

Read More on Substack

"The most remarkable, of many remarkable things, that remains in my heart, is that I have met many, many people who are contemplatives - some that know it, some that don’t. In fact, there are so many of us out there that it feels like an underground movement." - Br. James Dowd, OSB

Br. James Dowd has, over the course of his ministry, traveled across the U.S., to Canada, the U.K., Germany, and South Africa. He taught, led workshops and retreats, and preached on contemplative prayer for many years. As the Spiritual Guide of the Contemplative Underground - and Prior of The Benedictine Way - he has begun a blog to share reflections and teachings on the contemplative life.

We invite you to subscribe and read about the launch of the Contemplative Underground, the power of storms in the desert, the wisdom of St. Anthony, the strength found in community, and more.

Join a Centering Prayer Sit

Sunday
4-4:45pm CT
3-3:45pm MT
Br. James Dowd, OSB
Register here

Monday
7:30-8am CT
6:30-7am MT
Mtr. Rita Kendagor
Register here

Tuesday
12:15-12:45pm CT
11:15-11:45am MT
Br. James Dowd, OSB
Register here

Wednesday
7:30-8am CT
6:30-7am MT
Fr. David Stock, Obl/OSB
Register here

Thursday
12:15-12:45pm CT
11:15-11:45am MT
Br. James Dowd, OSB
Register here

Saturday
10-11am CT
9-10am MT
Br. James Dowd, OSB
Register here