Prayer of the Heart, an early Christian form of contemplative prayer, has once again become commonplace in the Christian community thanks to the efforts of Trappist monks. Father Basil Pennington, one of the pioneer leaders in this movement, here tells the story of this recovery of contemplative prayer as it was experienced, first in the United States and then in different parts of the world. In this new edition of Fr. Pennington's classic work, he shares the insights that facilitated the teaching of this ancient way of prayer. His story, which takes us to all parts of the world, will not only be a further support to those who are practicing Centering Prayer, but will invite many more to appreciate and make use of this precious gift from our common Christian heritage.