Christian prayer and meditation groups
Looking for a coordinator.
World Community for Christian Meditation
Under the umbrella of The World Community for Christian Meditation (www.wccm.org) the Brussels Christian Meditation Group meets on a Monday evening to meditate in the Christian tradition, as rediscovered and revived by John Main OSB (1926-1982).
As a spiritual practice, meditation is common to all great religions and wisdom traditions. The essence of Christian meditation is silence, stillness and simplicity. Meditation is about being with God (the prayer of the heart, or attentional prayer) rather than talking to God or reflecting about Him (the prayer of the mind, or intentional prayer). In being with God we come to rest in Him and, slowly but surely, we experience the transformative power of meditation in our daily lives.
Interior silence means letting go of all thoughts, ideas and images. They are still present, but we put them aside during the time of our meditation. The use of a prayer word, or mantra, which we repeat interiorly while we meditate helps us to let go of distractions.
Stillness means letting go of desire.
Simplicity means letting go of all self-analysis, self-reflection and self-consciousness during the time of meditation.
In Christian meditation we undertake the journey from the head to the heart, and as we do so we return to our true selves, where we find both peace and joy in God. Meditation as a daily practice to which we commit ourselves will make us see more clearly the purpose of life, which is to respond fully to the gift of our being rather than resigning to triviality, possessiveness and egoism.
You are welcome to join us on Monday evenings at 7 p.m. in the crypt of the Chapel. The meditation evening normally lasts about an hour, including 25 minutes of meditation proper. Once a month we also gather upstairs in the Chapel after meditation for refreshments and fellowship. This gives us the opportunity to exchange experiences about the spiritual journey we have begun by starting to meditate. You are obviously free to participate in this or leave straight after the meditation session.
Please contact us if you have any questions or if you plan to come for the first time (evenings may occasionally be cancelled at short notice due to unforeseen circumstances).
When: To be defined by new coordinator and group.
Where: The Crypt (basement level of Chapel)
Contact:
Ignatian Meditation Group (Imaginative Prayer)
This form of praying was developed over 500 years ago by the founder of the Jesuit Order, St Ignatius of Loyola, who used it in his famous Spiritual Exercises.
Ignatius was convinced that God can speak to us as clearly through our imagination as through our thoughts and memories. So in Ignatian prayer we accompany Jesus through his life by imagining scenes from the Gospel stories. Let the events of Jesus’ life be present with you right now. Visualise the event as if you were making a movie. Pay attention to the details: sights, sounds, tastes, smells, and feelings of the event. Lose yourself in the story; don’t worry if your imagination is running too wild. At some point, place yourself in the scene.
Through the act of such a prayer, the Holy Spirit makes present a mystery of Jesus’ life in a way that is meaningful for you now. Using your imagination you dig deeper into the story so that God may inspire you in a personal, evocative way.
When: Fridays, 18:45
Where: the Chapel or the Crypt (basement level of the Chapel)
Contact: Benoit Willemaers benoit.willemaers@jesc.eu
Inter-denominational prayer group meetings
Would you like to meet your colleagues from the European institutions who pray together in small groups at their workplace? Several times a year, common evening prayer meetings are organised. The prayer session is followed by a drink and a chat.
When: see our monthly agendas
Where: Prayer in the Chapel, drink and chat in our ground floor reception space
Contact: welcome@chapelforeurope.eu