CARLISLE — Father Thomas Keller, pastor of St, Rose of Lima Church in Carlisle, stays active in mind and body through a unique exercise routine that combines prayer with exercise.
“I might as well be praying while I’m exercising. Might as well make it worthwhile. It does double good if you can do both,” Father Keller said. “I stay close to God…Why not? You’re wasting all that time exercising, why not. If you’re counting, why not use something that is a prayer while counting. I’m praying while I exercise.”
As one of the oldest active diocesan priests, Father Keller does not want age to slow him down. He turns 80 in January.
 Father Keller’s exercise routine Click here |
“This has kept me in pretty good shape as far as the cricks in the neck and the normal stuff that hits you in the body. It keeps you limbered up,” Father Keller said. “The doctor said ‘you know you need to keep active because you grow the arthritis — bone building up on bone. If you keep it exercised it won’t build up.’”
The former football player, who played for Catholic High School Rockets until he graduated in 1950, has always been active playing racquetball and golf.
It wasn’t until 10 years ago that he began his current exercise routine as a way to stem osteoarthritis that caused him to have operations on his knee and spine.
Over the years, he’s refined the exercises that he does to help him remain flexible and keep his joints mobile. He had Dr. Richard Riley, a chiropractor, check if the exercises were OK.
He spends about an hour a day: 25 minutes doing exercises in water and 35 minutes walking in church.
When he walks in church, he prays the rosary. He also prays the Chaplet of Mercy and the Stations of the Cross.
“It’s a special thing to pray in church. You get a plenary indulgence for saying the rosary in front of the Blessed Sacrament,” he said. “If you don’t have the Blessed Sacrament, it’s just another auditorium, like walking outside. I would rather walk in church than walk outside.”
His favorite exercise is golfing, but it’s more of a social game and not as conducive to prayer.
“I love to play golf. It’s hard to say prayers when you play golf because you have to concentrate on your shot,” he said. “It’s probably the most social game in the world. Golf is good exercise. It’s a lot of walking, even if you ride in a cart.”
The tradition of combining exercise and prayer is not new, he said. For many years popes have walked in the garden and prayed. There is a photo of John Paul II walking on a ski slope in Colorado and praying the rosary.
For his water exercises, he works his legs, back, arms, neck, shoulders and stomach. He does a total of 11 exercises, repeating them twice. He uses prayers as a way of counting the repetitions, repeating prayer like “Glory to the Father,” “Jesus, I trust in you,” and “Lord, have mercy.”
While you can do the water exercises in a pool or hot tub, Father Keller said, you could also adapt it to use on the floor at home.
The combination of exercise with prayers makes both a healthy habit in a time when people often do not take time for prayer.
“Don’t let the exercise be your only prayer. But it might be because people don’t pray these days. Maybe this is an easier way to pray. And it’s prayer, genuine prayer,” he said.
It is also a way to add more prayer time to daily life, Father Keller said, which is crucial to developing our Catholic faith.
“Prayer is absolutely necessary. How are we going to honor our God if we never talk to him, if we never listen to him? We listen by way of reading his messages from the Scriptures,” he said. “It’s important that we converse with our God.”
Father Keller’s exercise routine
Exercising in water
(open vents and full-speed jets recommended for hot tubs)
1. Sit with hands on seat (preferably facing southeast) and kick legs while praying, “Glory to the Father, one,” and repeat up to 40. (For legs)
2. Keep knees stiff lifting one leg out of the water, then the other while praying, “Glory to the Son, one,” and repeat up to 50. Move legs sideways, repeating prayer from 51 up to 80. (For knees)
3. Place hands on top side of pool; twist from side to side, cocking head from side to side (keep eyes straight ahead) while praying, “Glory to the Spirit, one,” and repeat up to 40. (For back)
4. Kick, bending knees, while praying, “Hail Mary, one,” and repeat up to 40. (For legs)
5. Move to left side (to west) and place left hand on a seat moving right arm like swimming while praying, “Jesus, Mary and Joseph, I love you, one,” and repeat up to 30. (For right arm)
6. Place right arm on seat moving left arm like swimming while praying, “Saints and angels, I love you, one,” and repeat up to 30. (For left arm)
7. With arms and neck on west side with feet up on east side, lift stomach out of water while praying, “Sacred Heart of Jesus, I love you, one,” and up to 15. Then pray “Immaculate Heart of Mary, I love you,” from 16-30.(For stomach)
8. Sit on west side. Do a full kick moving arms and hands in and out laterally. Pop neck left to right keeping eyes straight ahead while praying, “Jesus, I trust in you, one,” and repeat up to 40. (For legs, arms, neck and eyes)
9. At the south end of pool with neck over edge, push hands down in the water hunching down while praying, “Lord, have mercy, one,” and repeat up to 50. (For lower back)
10. Sit. Use swim motions with arms and hands, head left to right, eyes down while praying, “Go to Joseph, one” and repeat up to 40. (For arms and neck)
11. Sit on bottom of pool facing northwest. Lift arms from bottom out of the water with palms up, twisting arms and shoulders at the top out of the water while praying, “Neighbors, poor souls, sinners and enemies, I love you, one,” and repeat up to 10. Do the same with palms down, repeating prayer from 11 up to 20. (For arms and shoulders)
Repeat exercises 1-11 with the second set of prayers:
1. “Father, I love you.”
2. “Jesus, I love you.”
3. “Spirit, I love you.”
4. “Mother, I love you.”
5. Jesus, Mary and Joseph, I love you.”
6. “Saints and angels, I love you.”
7. “Sacred Heart of Jesus, I love you” (1-15) and “Immaculate Heart of Mary, I love you” (16-30).
8. “Jesus, I trust in you.”
9. “Lord, have mercy.”
10. “Joseph, I love you.”
11. “Neighbors, poor souls, sinners and enemies, I love you.”
Walking in church
Try walking in church and saying the rosary, Stations of the Cross and the chaplet of divine mercy.
Go up to the tabernacle (like up to the mountain) and bow profoundly to Jesus.
Say prayers for pope to gain plenary indulgences for the poor souls.
Before using the church, Father Keller said, be sure to get the pastor’s permission and a church key.
