Fr. M. Basil Pennington, O.C.S.O. (1931 – 2005) was a Trappist monk and priest. He was a leading Roman Catholic spiritual writer, speaker, teacher, and director. He received a licentiate in Theology at the Pontifical University of St. Thomas Aquinas (Angelicum) and a licentiate in Canon Law at the Pontifical Gregorian University. Pennington became known internationally as one of the major proponents of the Centering Prayer movement begun at St. Joseph's Abbey in Spencer, Massachusetts, during the 1970's.