Prayer is both a deeply personal encounter with God and a participation in the worshipping life of the Church. Fr John-Baptist Porter draws on figures such as St Francis of Assisi, St Seraphim of Sarov, Thomas Merton, St Bernard, and the Desert Fathers, he explores how liturgy, silence, ascetic discipline, and inward prayer together shape the Christian pilgrim on their journey towards God.
Combining theological reflection with personal experience, Porter presents the ‘Great Tradition’ not as a remote body of religious teaching but as a living spiritual inheritance that nourishes and transforms those who enter into it. He reflects on prayer as both communal and solitary, outward and inward, disciplined yet freeing, always rooted in the Christian vision of humanity’s participation in Divine life. Rich in insights from Eastern and Western spiritual writers alike, this book offers an introduction to the rhythms of contemplative practice and the enduring wisdom of the Christian spiritual tradition.