Winter Book Club: Julian of Norwich: A Mystic for Today by William Meninger, OCSO 

“Julian is, without doubt, one of the most wonderful of all Christian voices.”
— Thomas Merton

Join us this winter as we journey into the life and teachings of Julian of Norwich, a 14th-century Christian mystic whose timeless visions and theology continue to speak powerfully to the heart of our modern age. Through William Meninger’s profound and accessible commentary, Julian of Norwich: A Mystic for Today, we’ll explore the depth of Julian’s visions of Divine Love, the Trinity, and the profound hope she offers in uncertain times. Please find the description of the book below.

Book: Julian of Norwich: A Mystic for Today
Dates: January 19 – March 2, 2026
Time: Mondays, 7:00–8:00 p.m. ET
Location: In-person at 368 S. Tuckahoe Road, Williamstown, NJ 08094, or join us virtually on Zoom
Zoom link will be sent upon registration.

This book club is open to all—whether you are new to Christian mysticism or familiar with Julian’s writings. Each week we’ll gather to reflect, discuss, and contemplate the meaning and message of Divine Love through the eyes of this remarkable woman of faith.

Register now to reserve your spot and receive the Zoom link. Please find the registration form below.

Let Julian’s voice guide you through the winter season with wisdom, peace, and divine insight.

About the Book Club Facilitators

Teresa Yerkes, founder of the Christian Meditation Center, has been a devoted Christian since 1983 and has practiced Christian meditation since 2000. She is the author of five books. Teresa teaches and leads Christian meditation training and sessions. She is a public speaker who facilitates book clubs and leads retreats. As a Certified Lay Speaker and Lay Counselor, she brings over forty years of personal discovery and highly specialized spiritual direction training from the Shalem Institute to her work. In 2023, she organized a coalition comprised of like-minded people who also have a passion for teaching Christian meditation.
 
Teresa’s career was primarily in business administration. She is married to her husband, Bill, and is a mother to three children and a grandmother to six grandchildren. She loves their two yellow labs, Lucy and Peaches, and their cat, Gracie. Her favorite pastime is spending time with family and friends. She also enjoys reading and taking walks with her husband and their dogs.

Monica Armstrong, a devoted Christian and visual artist, founded the Spirit Matters studio in 1997, blending her faith and creativity to inspire others through art. Her mission is to create art that embodies spiritual wisdom. Her workshops, retreats, and seminars provide a hands-on, creative prayer experience that intertwines art and spirituality.

Inspired by her study of the Christian tradition during the Masters of Holistic Spirituality Program at Chestnut Hill College, she developed “Prayer Paths,” a Journey Through the History of Christian Spirituality featuring twenty handmade Sacred Vessels.

She studied at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts and earned a BS in Art Education from Moore College of Art. Monica received her training as a Spiritual Director from the Shalem Institute for Spiritual Formation. As a member of the CMC for several years, she offers gentle guidance in her CMC weekly meditation sessions.

Book Description:

“Julian is, without doubt, one of the most wonderful of all Christian voices. She gets greater and greater in my eyes as I grow older.” ―Thomas Merton

Other than what is contained in her singular work, Showings of Divine Love, we know almost nothing of the personal life of Julian. We do, however, know something about her background, as a recluse, or anchoress, and the social, cultural, and political life of late-fourteenth-century England.

Although nothing of it is mentioned in her Showings, the times in which Julian lived were fraught with political, social, and economic upheavals in both Church and state. There are, indeed, many parallels to the present age. This, in part, helps to explain why Julian speaks so loudly to today after six hundred years of silence.

On the thirteenth of May, 1373, Julian received a series of sixteen visions centered on the person and sufferings of Jesus and on the Trinity. A short time later, she wrote an account of them in twenty-five chapters (known as the “Short Text”). Twenty years later, after much prayer and reflection, she wrote another account consisting of eighty-six chapters (called the “Long Text”). During this important interim, Julian the visionary became Julian the theologian.

Julian’s visions correspond to the classic understanding of such phenomena. Some visions were spiritual locutions. In this experience, God spoke directly to her heart in such a way as to communicate with absolute, unquestioned clarity the desired message. Actual words were probably not used but the visionary was left with no doubt as to the authenticity or the meaning of the message. Other visions were visual or experienced as coming through the corporeal senses. These resulted from the direct action of God on the imagination. Still others were spiritual visions, not easily expressed and usually concerned with the deeper mysteries of God, such as the Trinity. Many of Julian’s visions were combinations of all three types.

This book is not a translation or paraphrase of Julian’s Showings of Divine Love. Rather, it is a commentary―in 86 brief, meditative chapters―intended to provide information, reflections, and further theological understanding that will enhance the modern Christian’s reading of Julian’s book. It can be read independently, prior to reading Julian’s book, or along with it, chapter by chapter.

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