A Julian Meeting is a group of people who meet together regularly to take part in a time of silent prayer. The meetings are for people of all denominations – in fact it is a requirement that they should be ecumenical. They take their inspiration from the example and writings of the Lady Julian of Norwich, a 14th century mystic who spent much of her life in solitude and prayer. There are Julian Meetings held in many places throughout the country but there is no national network and little administrative organisation. Individual meetings arrange their own affairs – the only requirement being that the main content of a meeting will be a period of silent contemplative prayer.
There is a Julian Meeting held in Kirkby Lonsdale – on the 3rd Tuesday of each month at 2.15pm in the Presbytery at St. Joseph’s R.C. church. We start with a short reading followed by a few minutes of music which leads us into silence – and music leads us out of the silence after about 30 minutes.
We finish with a cup of tea which is an opportunity for a more social time. There is no leader but members take it in turn to choose an introductory reading and music – however there is no pressure on anyone to do this.