St. Joseph's Abbey occupies a substantial property in Spencer, Massachusetts, in the rural country west of Worcester. The monastery is one of the largest Cistercian (Trappist) communities in North America, established in 1950 when the Cistercian community originally founded at Petit Clairvaux in Nova Scotia in 1825 relocated through several earlier sites to the Spencer property. The abbey is widely known both as a working contemplative monastery and as the birthplace of much of the modern Centering Prayer movement. In the 1970s, three Trappist monks at Spencer, Father Thomas Keating (then abbot), Father M. Basil Pennington, and Father William Meninger, developed Centering Prayer as a Christian contemplative practice drawing on the 14th-century English text The Cloud of Unknowing and the broader Christian apophatic tradition. The practice was developed in part as a response to the substantial Western interest in Eastern contemplative practices in that period; the monks wanted to recover and re-present the Christian contemplative tradition in accessible form. Keating later moved to Snowmass in 1981 and continued teaching Centering Prayer there; Spencer remained the original developmental site. The abbey is also widely known commercially for its Trappist Preserves (jams and jellies) and, since 2013, Spencer Brewery (Trappist beer brewing in the Belgian and Dutch tradition; the only Trappist brewery in the United States, though brewing was discontinued in 2022). The brewing-and-preserves work funds the monastery's operations in the Cistercian work-and-prayer economic model. The abbey's retreat ministry runs silent retreats year-round, including Centering Prayer intensives, traditional Trappist silent retreats, and self-directed stays. The retreat house is separate from the cloister; retreatants are guests in the monastic life rather than primary occupants. The Massachusetts setting is forested rural country, with walking grounds, the chapel and monastic spaces accessible to retreatants for liturgy, and the broader monastic community visible through the daily liturgical hours.
Centering Prayer intensives at Spencer typically run weekend to ten days, alternating 20-30 minute Centering Prayer sittings with walking, conferences, lectio divina, and participation in the monastic liturgy of the hours. Trappist silent retreats are more self-directed, with retreatants following the monastic schedule (Vigils, Lauds, the daytime hours, Vespers, Compline), eating in silence, and walking the grounds. Self-directed stays follow the same shape with even less external structure. The chapel is accessible to retreatants throughout the day for the liturgy of the hours.
The teaching line is the Cistercian / Trappist contemplative tradition descending from St. Benedict and the Cistercian and Strict Observance reforms. Centering Prayer was developed at Spencer in the 1970s by Thomas Keating, M. Basil Pennington, and William Meninger, drawing on The Cloud of Unknowing and the Christian apophatic tradition. Spencer remains a principal Centering Prayer teaching site alongside Snowmass and the broader Contemplative Outreach network.
Christian contemplatives drawn to the practice's developmental site, where Keating, Pennington, and Meninger originally created the form in the 1970s.
Practitioners across New England and the broader Northeast US drawn to silent retreat in a working Trappist monastery within driving distance.
People drawn to the contemplative-and-commerce life of a Trappist abbey, with the monastic community visible at the daily liturgical hours.
Arrival is at the retreat house, separate from the cloister. Retreatants check in, settle into rooms, and receive orientation. The retreat house follows the monastery's silence outside designated meeting times. Meals are taken in silence. The chapel and grounds are accessible during program hours. The monastic community is visible at the seven daily liturgical hours but otherwise lives separately from the retreat house. Departure is at the close of the program.
The retreat house has shared and single rooms with shared bathrooms. Meals are vegetarian or vegetarian-accommodating, taken in silence in the retreat dining room. Walking grounds extend through the wooded Massachusetts property. The abbey chapel is accessible for the liturgy of the hours. The setting is forested rural country with seasonal weather typical of central Massachusetts.
Retreat fees are published per program, typically USD 200 to 1,200 covering lodging and meals at the retreat house. Centering Prayer intensives carry specific pricing through Contemplative Outreach. Self-directed stays are often offered on suggested-donation basis. Scholarships available through the retreat ministry. The abbey itself operates on the Cistercian work-and-prayer economic model funded by Trappist Preserves and historically by the brewery.
The birthplace of Centering Prayer, a working Trappist abbey in central Massachusetts.
Yes. The practice was developed in the 1970s at St. Joseph's Abbey by three Trappist monks: Thomas Keating (then abbot), M. Basil Pennington, and William Meninger. The form drew on the 14th-century English contemplative text The Cloud of Unknowing and was developed partly as a Christian recovery of contemplative practice in response to Western interest in Eastern traditions. Keating later moved to Snowmass and continued teaching there.
Spencer Brewery operated from 2013 to 2022 as the only Trappist brewery in the United States, brewing in the Belgian and Dutch Trappist tradition. Brewing was discontinued in 2022. The Trappist Preserves (jams and jellies) operation continues and remains the monastery's principal commercial enterprise, funding monastic operations.
Yes. Self-directed silent stays are available at the retreat house alongside structured Centering Prayer intensives and Trappist silent retreats. Self-directed stays are typically less expensive and less programmed; retreatants follow the monastic schedule, eat in silence, and use the time for their own contemplative practice.
No. The retreat ministry welcomes contemplatives from all Christian denominations and from non-Christian backgrounds drawn to silent contemplative retreat in a Trappist setting. Centering Prayer is a Christian contemplative practice but is widely taught with openness to practitioners from outside Catholicism.
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