No. 11 April 2007
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2007 marks the 25th anniversary of John Main’s death & also the 30th anniversary of his arrival in Montreal to establish a monastic community dedicated to the teaching of Christian meditation.
In this newsletter you will find some of John Main’s teaching and read about some of the events both International & closer to home to mark this special year & the ongoing daily journey of meditation..
Today, the World Community for Christian Meditation (WCCM) is present in over 100 countries &, all around the world, Christians have found in John Main’s teaching of meditation a simple and profound path to the mystery of God.
We were beginning to see that a commitment to the daily practice of meditation awakens us to an experiential theology that is written on our own hearts. We understood what Evagrius said when he said, ‘A theologian is one who prays and one who prays is a theologian’. As I talked to the groups from this wisdom, it sometimes seemed strange to me that they did not find it stranger. What we were teaching was just what John Cassian had taught at the beginning, 1500 years before. The tradition had passed from one monastic generation to another, but the experience had now become experientially weak, even for many monks and scholars of the text. Yet, here were growing numbers of laypeople, with busy lives and heavy responsibilities, building a transcendent commitment to poverty of spirit, mind and heart into their daily lives.
John
Main
The Spiritual Letters of John Main.
Ed. by Fr. Laurence Freeman.
This book is a complete and annotated edition of all of John Main’s
letters. It is a volume of remarkable spiritual wisdom and insight,
as fresh & relevant today as when they were first written. (See
extract below)
Canterbury Press ISBN 1-85311-737-4
To order, contact: Maria.Gavin 01-2804804
email lynden@iol.ie lynden@iol.ie
John Main effectively put the desert tradition of prayer to work
in our own day. The WCCM which continues his mission is for me…a
taste of what a contemplative church might look & feel like.
Rowan Williams
The following account from Mons. Tom Fehily sums up well the beginnings of Christian Meditation in Ireland as well as its ongoing growth.
"It started unexpectedly and slowly. In 1975 Fr. John Main knocked at my door in Merrion Road parish requesting permission to say Mass and ended up by teaching me Christian Meditation. In 1976 I was transferred to the new parish of Porterstown, Castleknock. We had only one or two meditators present at our Monday night meetings but we had a group to which we could invite Fr. John. And he came each year up to the year he died and not only to speak to our little group but later to larger groups both within the parish and in various venues throughout Dublin and the University. Little by little, groups began to form-the second in Glenmaroon Convent within the parish, then in the University and gradually in other parts of the city and throughout the country. Today there are about 150 groups with 15 local coordinators forming a National Council.
Christian Meditation Spring Conference
27-28 April
Dun Laoghaire
Fr. Tom Mulcahy, M.S.C.
Conference Fee: €55
The conference will be held in the Kingston Hotel, Dun Laoghaire.
Fr. Tom is the Spiritual Director of the Myross Wood Retreat House, Co.
Cork.
He began meditating in 1978 & has lectured on meditation in different
countries.
Contact: Mons. Tom Fehily,
Christian Meditation Centre,
4 Eblana Ave, Dun Laoghaire Tel. 01-280 782
with Kim Nataraja
A Christian Meditation Silent Retreat
Dromantine Retreat Centre, Newry
1-3 June 2007
During this retreat, Kim Nataraja, Spiritual Director, writer & international retreat giver will look at the reasons why the 4th Century Desert Fathers and Mothers felt it necessary to go into the desert to live an authentic Christian way of life. Kim believes that the Desert Fathers and Mothers’ have an important message for us living in the 21st century, both with regard to our meditation practice and our way of life.
Northern Ireland CONTACTS:
Elizabeth McStravick:
028 3832 3565
elizabeth@mcstravickwanadoo.co.uk
Philomena McQuillan
028 9070 3355
philomena@utvinternet.com
The cost of the weekend is £150 or €225
Kim has been a contemplative since her youth. She joined The World Community for Christian Meditation in 1993. She is a trained Spiritual Director and has held a variety of meditation retreats around the world.
A retreat with Fr. Laurence Freeman, OSB
25-27 May 2007
Dzogchen Beara
Buddhist Retreat Centre, Allihies, Cork
God is love…those who live in love know God…
The unloving know nothing of God.
This retreat is being organised jointly by Dzogchen Beara &
The Irish Community for Christian Meditation
.
Retreat Fee €160
Booking: Anne Walshe 027 73032
email info@dzochenbeara.org
The retreat will include talks & guided meditations led by Fr.
Laurence with the opportunity for discussion.
Will be open for residential visitors between
May 1st & June 8th.
Early booking is advised
c/o William Main
086 258 1093.
The Centre has planned a full programme for 2007 and this can be obtained
from William,
or seen on
www. wccmireland.org
Full details of Christian Meditation events,
including courses led by Fr Pat Murray, S.C.A.
can be seen on
www. wccmireland.org
21-28 July 07 Monte Oliveto, Italy
"Losing and Finding"
A retreat led by Fr. Laurence Freeman, Giovanni Felicioni & Robert
Kiely.
Details from
00 44 207 278 2070 or email mail@wccm.org
18-28 Sept 07 Pilgrimage to the Holy Land for practising meditators.
Bethlehem, Dead Sea & Desert, Galilee & Jerusalem, led by Fr.
Pat Murray, S.C.A.
Details Margaret Johnston
Tel. 061 453186 or 087 632 1038
18-21 Oct 07 John Main Seminar
Quebec, Canada
"Still Present-The Life & Legacy of John Main"
On this 25th anniversary of John Main’s death, the Annual John
Main Seminar organised by the WCCM will include these speakers:
Sarah Bachelard-Anglican priest, Ph.D. in moral philosophy & lecturer
in Theology in Australia.
Laurence Freeman- Spiritual Guide & Director of the WCCM.
Balfour Mount-Founding director of the Royal Vic Hospital Palliative Care
Service, Montreal
Peter Ng- Chief Exec of the Singapore Investstment Corp & Trustee
& Member of the WCCM Guiding Board.
Yvon Theroux- Prof .of Religion & researcher in Montreal & former
chair of Méditation Chrétienne du Québec.
Further info. on www.johnmainseminar.org
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