If you are struggling with a negative emotion, the power of this prayer method is that it offers a structured way to embrace and accept it, so you can release it and move on.
The Welcoming Prayer is a method of consenting to God’s presence and action in our physical and emotional reactions to events and situations in daily life. The purpose of the Welcoming Prayer is to deepen our relationship with God through consenting in the ordinary activities of our day. The Welcoming Prayer helps to dismantle the emotional programs of the false-self system and to heal the wounds of a lifetime by addressing them where they are stored — in the body. (from Contemplative Outreach)
The Welcoming Prayer is not an ancient practice, though it’s an ancient idea. Mary Mrozowski of Brooklyn, New York — a practitioner of Centering Prayer and friend of Father Thomas Keating — developed the method. She was inspired by “Abandonment to Divine Providence“, an early 18th century spiritual work by Jesuit priest and spiritual director, Father Jean Pierre de Caussade. Father Thomas and others saw the value of her little method and over the years it has been supported, fine-tuned and expanded, within the community of people who practice Centering Prayer and beyond.
THE WELCOMING PRAYER by Father Thomas Keating
Welcome, welcome, welcome.
I welcome everything that comes to me today
because I know it’s for my healing.
I welcome all thoughts, feelings, emotions, persons,
situations, and conditions.
I let go of my desire for power and control.
I let go of my desire for affection, esteem,
approval and pleasure.
I let go of my desire for survival and security.
I let go of my desire to change any situation,
condition, person or myself.
I open to the love and presence of God and
God’s action within. Amen.
Process / Phases of the Welcoming Prayer (from “Centering Prayer and Inner Awakening” by Rev. Cynthia Bourgeault): There are three phases to the Welcoming Prayer: 1) Focus and sink in. 2) Welcome. 3) Let go. You might go directly from one to the next in a single, relatively formulaic prayer sequence. Or you might find yourself staying in one phase as it does its interior work.
1) FOCUS AND SINK IN. This is not about indulging negative feelings. It’s not about amplifying them or justifying them. But feel the feeling. Allow yourself to become immersed in it. Let it wash over you. Don’t run away from it or fight it. Just feel what it’s like to be experiencing it. The word “feel” can mean either to have a physical experience of touching something, or to have a mental experience of encountering an emotion. Connect those two. Feel the feeling or emotion physically. Notice your body, how you are tense or anxious or hot or fidgety or lethargic. As with meditation, you are just observing the feeling, not trying to alter it.
2) WELCOME. You can only start from where you are, and you can only move forward if you accept where you are. So, now, affirm the rightness of where you are by welcoming the bad feeling or emotion, and acknowledging God’s presence in the moment. You do this by literally saying, “Welcome, [negative emotion].” If you are frozen in fear, say, “Welcome, fear.” Hot with rage: say, “Welcome, rage.”
Note we’re talking here about feelings and emotions, not problems and physical hardships. We are not welcoming illness or injustice. If you think you should be applying the Welcoming Prayer to a problem or illness, think again about what negative emotion or feeling is being kicked up. There’s nothing passive about acceptance. Acceptance merely establishes you in reality, so that you can respond to a situation effectively. If you are terrified about a health issue, that fear may be immobilizing you; accepting and then releasing the fear may free you to be able to deal with the issue.
3) LET GO. There are several ways to do this phase. Mary Mrozowski’s original version uses a fixed statement. You say these lines no matter what the specific issue: “I let go of my desire for security and survival. I let go of my desire for esteem and affection. I let go of my desire for power and control. I let go of my desire to change the situation.” Another version takes just that last line and ties it to the current situation: “I let go of the desire to change this feeling…” A third alternative is even briefer, and names the feeling: “I let go of my [fear/anger/etc.].” or “God, I give you my [fear/anger/etc.].”
Contemplative Adventure 