'Lord, Teach us to Pray' - 7 week online prayer course on Wednesdays 7-8pm beginning on 5 November 2025 via the House of Prayer, East Molesey, Surrey 

Prayer is at the heart of any relationship with God, and this plea from the disciples to Jesus is the universal plea of all who long to draw closer to God.  And yet God is already closer to us than we can ever imagine.  Prayer helps us realise that.  Our short course will look at different ways of praying, with emphasis on the relationship with God that they foster rather than as techniques to be mastered.   Themes will include the Lord’s Prayer, that response of Jesus to the disciples’ request, along with Lectio Divina/Sacred Reading, Imaginative Prayer, Praying with Art and Centering Prayer.   Sessions will consist of input on the particular theme of the evening, with times of silence followed by a plenary session as we grow together into a praying community.  Additional material will also be offered at the end of each session should people wish to go deeper in their own prayer time during the subsequent week. 

For further information and to book see ‘Lord, teach us to pray’ — The House of Prayer

 

Saturday 10 January 2026: New Beginnings Retreat Day at Cockfosters Centre for Spirituality, Bramley Road, London N14 4HE

At the beginning of a new year we invite you to join us for an opportunity to pause and reflect – on the gifts (as well as the challenges) of what has been and on the invitations and promises of what is still to come.

As we look back in thanksgiving we will also seek to look forward with hope, confident that the Lord who has carried us all along the road we have travelled to where we are now will go in front of us on the journey (cf. Deuteronomy 1:29-33).

For further information and to book see Cockfosters Centre for Spirituality « A place of wholeness

 

Friday 13 - Sunday 15 March 2026: Lent Retreat - A Journey into God's Love at The House of Prayer, 28 Seymour Road, East Molesey, Surrey  KT8 0PB

Join us for a time of silence and stillness as we journey through Lent and explore our deepening intimacy with Jesus as beloved disciples. There will be times of guided reflections and space for personal and community prayer with poetry, music and Scripture.

For further information and to book see Lent Retreat: A Journey into God’s Love — The House of Prayer

 

Monday 13 - Thursday 16 April 2026: Contemplative Photography - Seeing with the Eyes of the Heart at Worth Abbey in Sussex

Join us at Worth Abbey for a time of contemplative practice as we learn to see with the eyes of the heart. We will use our cameras (a camera phone is fine) to ‘take a long, loving look at the real’ as one definition of contemplation describes it. It will be a time of slowing down and learning to pause and gaze with compassion and tenderness on what we behold. In the process we will connect with ourselves, with one another and with God who speaks to us at the level of the heart.

We will also learn how to pray with our images in the practice of Visio Divina.

No photographic skill is required, just a heart open to God at work all around and within us.

For further information and to book see worthabbey.net/our-retreats/ (and see under the 'Creative' tab).

 

Saturday 27 June 2026: John of the Cross, Our Spiritual Guide on the Path to Union with God - Retreat Day at The House of Prayer, 28 Seymour Road, East Molesey, Surrey  KT8 0PB

Frequently referred to as the ‘Mystical Doctor’ for his writings on the intimacy of union with God in prayer, John of the Cross is a sure guide for our spiritual lives.

Join us as we explore the life and teaching of this great 16th Century Carmelite saint and close associate of St Teresa of Avila.  John knew the extremes of poverty, hardship and pain but in the depths of suffering also knew the beauty and goodness of God dwelling deep within his soul.   He believed that God pours these gifts on all of creation, clothing everything entirely in beauty and dignity.  We come to know and understand this more and more as we are drawn into intimate union with the Beloved.

As we pray with some of John’s writings, so rich in Scripture, may we too rejoice in our Beloved and learn to behold ourselves in his beauty (cf. Spiritual Canticle, 36).

For further information and to book see John of the Cross – Our Spiritual Guide on Path to Union with God — The House of Prayer