Martin Laird

Martin Laird, OSA, holds a doctorate from Oxford and has taught early Christian and mystical theology at Villanova University for over two decades, drawing on the Desert Fathers and Mothers alongside later contemplatives such as Julian of Norwich and John of the Cross. His trilogy, Into the Silent Land, A Sunlit Absence and An Ocean of Light, presents silent prayer as a practice of resting attention beneath the noise of thought, and has become one of the most widely read introductions to Christian contemplation in recent decades.

He leads periodic silent retreats in the United States and United Kingdom based on his books, alongside his ongoing academic and priestly work within the Order of St. Augustine.