St. Benedict's Monastery sits at 8,000 feet in the Capitol Creek valley near Snowmass, Colorado, on a property the monks acquired in 1956 in the Rocky Mountain country southwest of Aspen. The monastery is part of the Cistercian Order of the Strict Observance, the contemplative reform of Benedictine monasticism known commonly as Trappist. The monks follow the Rule of St. Benedict and the Cistercian way of life: silence, manual labor, communal liturgy of the hours, and lectio divina (slow contemplative reading of scripture). The monastery is widely known beyond Trappist circles as the site where Father Thomas Keating, a senior Trappist monk and former abbot of the order's monastery in Spencer, Massachusetts, taught Centering Prayer to thousands of practitioners over decades. Keating moved to Snowmass in 1981 after stepping down as abbot at Spencer and used the Snowmass setting as his teaching base for the Centering Prayer movement until his death in 2018. Centering Prayer, drawing on the 14th-century English contemplative text The Cloud of Unknowing, is a Christian contemplative practice that emphasizes silent receptive prayer beyond words, images, and concepts. The monastery hosts retreats year-round through its retreat ministry. Centering Prayer intensives are the principal offering, alongside Trappist-form silent retreats, retreats led by Contemplative Outreach (the organization Keating founded to teach Centering Prayer), and self-directed silent stays. The monastery's setting at 8,000 feet in the Rockies, with snow holding through much of the year and the visible mountain country, gives the retreat experience a particular contemplative texture. Following Keating's death in 2018, the Centering Prayer teaching at Snowmass continues through the resident monastic community and through Contemplative Outreach's ongoing programs. The monastery itself follows the standard Trappist daily form independent of the public retreat program: liturgy of the hours seven times daily from Vigils at 4 a.m. through Compline at 7:30 p.m., manual labor, and the silent contemplative life of the cloister.
Centering Prayer intensives typically run from a long weekend to ten days. The form alternates 20 to 30-minute periods of silent Centering Prayer (sitting silently with a single sacred word as anchor of consent to God's presence) with walking, conferences (talks by retreat leaders), lectio divina, and participation in the monastic liturgy of the hours. Trappist silent retreats are more self-directed: retreatants follow the monastic schedule (attending the seven liturgical hours through the day), eat in silence, walk on the property, and meet briefly with a retreat director if desired. Self-directed stays are simply silent residence with monastic schedule access.
The teaching line is the Cistercian / Trappist contemplative tradition descending from St. Benedict (480-547 CE) through the Cistercian reform of the 12th century and the Strict Observance reform of the 17th. Centering Prayer, developed by Thomas Keating, M. Basil Pennington, and Thomas Clarke at St. Joseph's Abbey in Spencer, Massachusetts in the 1970s, draws on the 14th-century English contemplative text The Cloud of Unknowing and on the broader Christian apophatic tradition. The Snowmass community continues both Trappist monastic life and the Centering Prayer teaching tradition Keating established.
Christian contemplatives trained in Centering Prayer through Contemplative Outreach who want sustained retreat at the practice's principal teaching site.
Practitioners from Catholic, Anglican, Protestant, and Orthodox backgrounds drawn to silent contemplative retreat in the Trappist setting.
Yogis and contemplatives wanting silent retreat in the high Rocky Mountain setting at the monastery's 8,000-foot elevation.
Arrival is at the monastery's retreat house. Retreatants check in, settle into their rooms, and receive an orientation. The monastery is a working contemplative community; visitors are guests in the monastic life. The mountain elevation (8,000 feet) affects sleep and breathing for the first day or two. Cold-weather clothing is needed outside summer. The retreat house follows the monastery's silence outside designated meeting times. Departure is at the close of the program.
The retreat house has shared and single rooms with shared bathrooms. Meals are taken communally in the retreat house dining room, vegetarian or vegetarian-accommodating. The mountain setting includes walking trails and views of the surrounding peaks. The chapel and monastic spaces are accessible to retreatants for the liturgy of the hours. Snow holds in winter; appropriate clothing and sturdy footwear for mountain walking are needed.
Retreat fees are published per program, typically USD 400 to 2,500 covering lodging and meals at the retreat house. Centering Prayer intensives have specific pricing; self-directed stays are often offered on a suggested-donation basis. Scholarships are available through the retreat ministry. The monastery itself operates on the Cistercian work-and-prayer economic model.
Father Keating's Trappist monastery in the Rockies, where Centering Prayer was taught for decades.
Father Thomas Keating died in 2018. The Centering Prayer teaching at Snowmass continues through the resident monastic community and through Contemplative Outreach, the organization Keating founded to teach the practice internationally. Many of his books and recorded talks remain widely available and continue to anchor the teaching.
No. The monastery welcomes contemplatives from all Christian denominations and from non-Christian backgrounds who are drawn to silent contemplative retreat. Centering Prayer is a Christian contemplative practice but is taught with significant openness to practitioners from outside Catholicism. Many participants are from Protestant, Anglican, Orthodox, and post-religious backgrounds.
The monastery sits at 8,000 feet. The high altitude affects sleep, breathing, and physical stamina for the first day or two of arrival. Drinking substantial water, pacing physical activity, and avoiding alcohol help with adjustment. Most retreatants adapt within 48 hours.
Yes. St. Benedict's Monastery is a working Cistercian (Trappist) community of monks following the full monastic life: liturgy of the hours seven times daily, manual labor, contemplative silence, and lectio divina. Retreatants are guests in this life rather than primary occupants. The monastic schedule is independent of the public retreat program.
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