The John Main Seminar 2025 comes to Balally Parish, uniting contemplation and service
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From November 6-9, 2025, Balally Parish will host the John Main Seminar under the theme “Integral Christianity: The Vision of Celtic Christianity for the Crisis of the 21st Century.”
The annual seminar is the most important event of the World Community for Christian Meditation (WCCM), founded in honour of the Benedictine monk John Main. Fr Main sought to restore the long-forgotten practice of Christian meditation to the Western Church, drawing on the witness of saints like John Cassian and the Desert Fathers, and resonating with the rich contemplative spirit of Celtic saints such Brigid, Columba, and Kevin.
Fr Main’s vision was simple: contemplation is essential for civilisation. Something the parish sees as well as contemplation flowing into service and back again, a compassion lived in community.
Fascinated
Celtic Christianity has long fascinated the imagination of churchgoers the world over. It was “one of the most vibrant expressions of the Christ-event in history,” developing distinct forms of worship and a striking mystical relationship with creation. Monastic in its character, it produced saints, missionaries, scholars, and poets who continue to inspire.
But the 2025 seminar will avoid mere nostalgia, or romanticism. Instead, it seeks to explore how Celtic spiritual insights – whether in art, poetry, pilgrimage, monasticism, or meditation – can speak directly to our present moment of ecological and cultural crisis. “We want the seminar to be like an immersion in a stream of hope,” the organisers explain, “recovering an inspirational form of Christian faith for our needs today.”
They believe that Benedictine monasticism and the Rule of St Benedict have a lot to offer lay people in their ordinary life, particularly because monasticism was originally a lay movement”
It feels fitting that Balally Parish should have been chosen as the venue. For years, the parish has been enacting the words of Fr John Main, putting them into practice, becoming a “monastery without walls” – a living parish community shaped by the Rule of Benedict with a focus on prayer and service. With this in mind, hosting an event dedicated to rediscovering Celtic Christianity’s wisdom seems like natural continuation of this mission.
The parish has been quietly shaping a new kind of community – a contemplative parish. One rooted in prayer, and service – with the emphasis on the ‘and’. They believe that Benedictine monasticism and the Rule of St Benedict have a lot to offer lay people in their ordinary life, particularly because monasticism was originally a lay movement.
Every Mass includes a period of Christian meditation; children in local schools are introduced to the practice, benefiting from a moment of silence, away from the stresses of the world and the ongoing stream of content on their phones; and parish ministries – from visiting the elderly or supporting the bereaved – begin with communal prayer.
To support this rhythm of daily prayer, the parish created an Icon Chapel, now the beating heart of its spiritual life. The hope was to create space where people can pause, even for a few minutes, and discover that prayer is not escape, but a source of compassion and service.
This vision is also about formation. Meditation is not just a personal practice but a school of the Gospel, shaping parishioners to serve with compassion. “The only measure of meditation is: am becoming more loving, more compassionate, more rooted in service?” says Fr Laurence Freeman OSB, Director of WCCM.
Seminar highlights
The four-day programme blends retreat, liturgy, and rich teaching. Among the highlights:
- Abbot Columba McCann OSB (Glenstal Abbey) will lead the opening retreat and reflections on silence.
- Fr Laurence Freeman OSB, Director of WCCM, will give the keynote on “Integral Christianity” and guide the closing Eucharist.
- Prof. Jane Williams, theologian and writer, will address power and mission in the Celtic tradition.
- Bro. Colmán N. Ó Clabaigh OSB, historian, will explore the Book of Kells and the myths of monastic Ireland.
- Dr Barry White, physician and meditation researcher, will reflect on healing and consciousness.
{{Every day of the week there is something going on, but at the heart of it is stillness. That’s what people are longing for”
- John F. Deane, poet and founder of Poetry Ireland, will read and discuss Celtic monastic poetry.
Saturday will feature a synodal-style gathering, inviting all participants to share what the Spirit has stirred during the days together. A pilgrimage to St Brigid’s Kildare is also planned. The programme is designed not just for listening but for participation.
For those unable to travel the seminar will be accessible online with live-streamed sessions and recordings.
For the parish, the seminar is not just about listening to experts but entering a living tradition. “Pilgrimage was really part of the Celtic tradition… and we are negotiating to make a pilgrimage to St Brigid in Kildare part of the seminar,” they explain. Silence will be central too: “Every day of the week there is something going on, but at the heart of it is stillness. That’s what people are longing for.” In this spirit, the seminar will be a chance to pause, reflect, and rediscover how prayer and service can shape a renewed Christian imagination today.
Balally Parish and WCCM warmly invite all who seek renewal to take part in this year’s John Main Seminar. At a time of uncertainty, Celtic Christianity offers not escape, but a vision of faith integrated with creation, community, and hope.
To learn more and register, visit wccm.org.
