Contemplation Schoenstatt Scotland

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Contemplation Schoenstatt Scotland T: 01360 312 718 No2 Our Launch on the 4th April of the School of Meditation at Schoenstatt features the method of John Main. John was born in London. In the 1940s he joined the Canons Regular of the Lateran and studied at St. Edmund's College, in England before pursuing theological studies at the Pontiﬁcal Athenaeum Angelicum, Rome. He began to doubt his vocation to the priesthood and decided to leave his order to go to Dublin (where his family then lived), where he studied law at Trinity College. He graduated in 1954 and joined the British Colonial Service. He was later assigned to Kuala Lumpur in Malaya, where he met Swami Satyananda, who taught him meditation using a mantra as the means to arrive at meditative stillness. The swami taught Main to meditate by giving him a Christian mantra. In 1956, he returned to Dublin and taught law at Trinity College. In 1959 he decided to join the Benedictines at Ealing Abbey in London. He was ordained a priest in 1963 and following his ordination he taught at St Benedict's School, Ealing. In 1970, he was appointed the headmaster of St. Anselm's Abbey School in Washington, D.C., and began studying the writings of the desert father John Cassian for the ﬁrst time. Fr. John saw parallels between the spiritual practice taught by Cassian and the meditative practice he had been taught by the swami in Kuala Lumpur. In 1974, Main left the Abbey in Washington and returned to Ealing Abbey in London, where he began Christian meditation groups. He was assisted by Laurence Freeman, also an Ealing monk. In 1977, Main and Freeman established a new Benedictine monastery in Montreal. There too, they taught Christian meditation groups. Main died December 30th, 1982 and Freeman continued Main's work, travelling widely to establish Christian meditation groups across the world. In 1991, these Christian meditation groups were networked together into the World Community for Christian Meditation (WCCM). If you are attending the launch of the School, in preparation you are simply asked to relax, there is nothing to bother you. Turn up and enjoy a wonderful half-day retreat, set in 17 acres of stillness and quiet, for Schoenstatt is a true ‘spa for the soul’. How would we explain your day? Quite simply, as an act of kindness to yourself, and a most wonderful introduction to the rest of your existence. Interested? You will be! Contemplate that! Schoenstatt Scotland Press..

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Meditation Finds a Sanctuary at Georgetown
Meditation finds a sanctuary at Georgetown WASHINGTON – In the oldest building on the campus of the United States’ oldest Catholic university, Christian meditation has found a place to take root. The structure – also the smallest building on the Georgetown University campus – is now home to a meditation center that had for two years before been based in a pair of adjoining row houses one block from campus. In the center, organized meditation is offered twice a day, although students, faculty and staff can walk into the building at all hours for some moments of silent meditation. “Ma-ra-na-tha,” counseled Benedictine Father Laurence Freeman, a native Briton, at one recent midday meditation session. He was instructing those present to say the ancient Greek invocation for “Come, Lord” to themselves, inside their heads slowly and evenly, without putting emphasis on any syllable. “The best way to learn is to practice,” Father Freeman said, as the meditation session had a few first-timers. Some sat in chairs, some sat on small pillows on the floor and a majority had their footwear off, as they meditated. The hum of an electrical unit – turned on to provide heat in the circa-1792 building – could not drown out the drone of jets taking off from an airport across the Potomac River from Georgetown, or all of the everyday hustle and bustle that goes with being on a college campus. Meditation, the priest asserted, is “simple. It’s not easy, but it’s simple.” Although anyone could meditate, not everyone does, said Father Freeman, noting that many Christians have lost touch with this ancient form of prayer.
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John Main: Biography | the School of Meditation
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John Main Morning Prayer Wednesday, 30 December, 2020
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Download from Cassian to Main
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Who Introduced Us to Christian Meditation
We are an ecumenical Christian meditation prayer group, which serves the parishioners and the community at large. We meet as a group "to nurture and communicate meditation as passed on in the Christian tradition through the teachings of Father John Main (a Benedictine monk) in the spirit of serving the unity of all." Who introduced us to Christian Meditation Father John Main, OSB Father John Main OSB was a Roman Catholic priest and a Benedictine monk who presented a way of Christian meditation that used a prayer- phrase or sacred word. In 1975, Main began Christian meditation groups which met at Ealing Abbey, his monastery in West London, England and, later, in Montreal, Quebec. Since then there are Christian meditation groups in over 120 countries around the world, 23 in British Columbia. Father John said: “This is what the path of meditation is about: To come into full harmony, to full union with the Spirit of Jesus who dwells in our hearts.” The all important aim in Christian Meditation is to allow God’s mysterious presence within us to become more and more not only a reality, but the reality which gives meaning, shape and purpose to everything we do, everything we are. Meditation is not something new to the Christian experience but is deeply rooted in Christian tradition. However many Christians have lost touch with this ancient tradition of prayer. Meditation, also known as contemplative prayer, involves coming to a stillness of spirit and a stillness of body. The extraordinary thing, says John Main, is that in spite of all the distractions of the modern world, this silence is perfectly possible for all of us.
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John Main 1926-1982
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A Pearl of Great Price
a Pearl of great price Untitled-1 1 3/23/13 12:26 PM The kingdom of heaven is like a merchant looking for fine pearls; when he finds one of great value he goes and sells everything he owns and buys it. (Matt 13:45) Untitled-1 2 3/23/13 12:26 PM a Pe arl of great price sharing the gift of meditation by starting a group LAURENCE FREEMAN OSB Untitled-1 3 3/23/13 12:26 PM First published 2002 in Catalina, Arizona, USA by Medio Media This edition published 2013 in Singapore by Medio Media www.mediomedia.com [email protected] © The World Community for Christian Meditation 2013 ISBN 978-981-07-5621-5 All rights reserved No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photo- copying, recording, or otherwise, without the written permission of Medio Media. Medio Media is the publishing arm of The World Community for Christian Meditation 32 Hamilton Road London W5 2EH United Kingdom Printed in Singapore by Stamford Press Pte Ltd Untitled-1 4 3/23/13 12:26 PM Contents Introduction 7 The call of Jesus 11 Everyone is a contemplative 13 Why meditation groups matter today 16 John Main 19 A discipline of faith made easier 22 Sharing the gift 25 First steps: first obstacles 28 Getting the word out 35 Where? 37 When? 39 How many? 41 What to do at the group? 43 Know the essential teaching 49 Other forms of prayer 53 Other faiths 54 Am I the one to do it? 56 Untitled-1 5 3/23/13 12:26 PM How to Meditate 58 Available Resources 59 Primary Resources 65 for beginners in meditation and for new groups Sample Announcements 70 for meditation groups APPENDICES 1.
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THOMAS MERTON on DEATH: Our Life-Long Journey by Gregory J
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