Twice a day, at home or on vacation, Pat Arkosy and Mary Ann Gould practice Christian meditation. Arkosy, an elementary school teacher in the San Gabriel Valley, and Gould, a homemaker who leads a weekly meditation group at Good Shepherd Church in Beverly Hills, have embraced this ancient contemplative prayer form practiced by the early monastic fathers.

Arkosy and Gould are part of a growing worldwide community of Christian meditators from 60 first- and third-world countries. They follow the teachings of the late Benedictine Father John Main, who urged those seeking a deeper prayer life to embark on "the pilgrimage of meditation."

Meditators silently repeat a sacred word known as a mantra as a way to empty themselves and attain an experience of union with the Lord beyond conscious awareness. Father Main favored the mantra "maranatha," a phrase in Jesus' own Aramaic tongue, meaning "Come, Lord" (1Cor. 16:22; Rev. 22:20).

More present, peaceful

Arkosy, who attends a weekly meditation group at Immaculate Conception Church in Monrovia, described meditation as a way of disciplining one's prayer life. Since beginning meditation two-and-a-half years ago, she has noticed a difference within herself and how she relates to God and other people.

"I don't beat myself up about my own imperfections," said Arkosy. And, she has overcome her fear of getting closer to God. "Before, it was scary to say 'Thy will be done'; now I'm not worried about that. It's helped me to be peaceful in the midst of turmoil. During unpleasantness, I can find the still spot inside me. The daily frenzy is less and less."

Gould, the mother of six grown children, rises before her husband wakes in the morning to pray in front of the meditation altar in their bedroom. "Meditation helps me to not get caught up in everybody's drama," said Gould. "It makes me be more present and peaceful --- more sensitive to the world around me. My day doesn't go as well if I don't meditate."

Her pastor at Good Shepherd Church, Father Colm O'Ryan, describes his participation in Gould's meditation group as "the highlight of my week." Like many meditation groups, the session begins with a short tape recorded talk on meditation followed by 25 minutes of silent meditation. "It has deepened and centered me," said Father O'Ryan, who started practicing daily meditation 17 years ago.

Gentle tapping

Dr. Pat Mitchell, a theology professor at St. John's Seminary in Camarillo, returned to a daily meditation practice more than five years ago after first being introduced to it in the late '80s by a Sister of Social Service.

"It's become really essential to my life," said Mitchell. "If you meditate twice a day, you reorganize your life around God." For Mitchell, benefits have included an increased understanding of Scripture and a richer prayer life.

"With meditation, we come to know ourselves in terms of our relationship with God. It's a gentle tapping, a breaking through the depths of our own being," explained Mitchell. Many meditators, he noted, experience healings.

"Meditation can be part of the healing process," agreed Gary Wessely, who started a weekly meditation group at Holy Cross Church in Moorpark one-and-a-half years ago. He said his practice of meditation contributed to physical and emotional healings, including healing from depression and anxiety. And, according to Wessely, meditation has helped him understand the phrase, "union with God" described in the writing of Catholic mystics such as St. Teresa of Avila and St. John of the Cross.

Broad appeal

Msgr. Jeremiah Murphy, pastor at St. Victor Church in West Hollywood who attends the weekly parish meditation group, said the practice of meditation has broad appeal. "Young people are eager for it. So are non-Catholics," said Msgr. Murphy, who recounted one woman meditator's conversion to Catholicism.

Father Francis Cassidy, 70, recently-retired associate pastor of Immaculate Conception Church in Monrovia who will serve as co-director of the new Christian Meditation Center of California located in San Marino, said he is working with local Episcopal pastors decades younger who are excitedly introducing Christian meditation to their congregations. In fact, an Episcopal Foundation in New York has donated several thousand dollars to the Southern California Center so Christian meditation can be introduced to regional parishes within the year.

"The Catholic Church has always taught the greatest form of prayer is contemplative," said Father Cassidy. "This movement is really touching laity around the world." He is looking forward to the annual John Main Seminar, taking place Aug. 8-14 at California Lutheran University in Thousand Oaks. Online registration is available at www.mediomedia.org or by calling toll free: 1-877-285-6809 (U.S. and Canada only).

For more information on The World Community for Christian Meditation, log on to www.wccm.org or www.wccm-usa.org. To contact the Christian Meditation Center of California about future events, including its Aug. 15 open house from 3-8 p.m., email the staff at wccm-ca@sbcglobal.net or call (626) 793-3775. The center is located at St. Edmund's Episcopal Church Professional Building, 2975 Huntington Drive, Suite 100, San Marino.