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1st March – Retreat Day for Celtic Prayer
Hi all,
I can confirm that there will be a retreat on the 1st of March at the Northumbria Community’s mother house at Acton Home Farm. It will be an opportunity to share, explore themes of faith, enjoy space for quiet contemplation as well as explore the grounds and surrounding countryside.
Please get in touch if you are interested as there will be places for up to 12.
email: celticprayer@orangehome.co.uk
Celtic christianity and St patrick
A talk about the origins of celtic christianity and St Patrick at St Giles Oxford
John Tavener The Protective Veil
John Tavener’s music will be an inspiration for generations to come.. Lifelong friend John Rutter said of him: “He could bring an audience to a deep silence which is a very rare gift. He believed that music was for everybody and was a prayer.”
Peace to you and your loved ones John
Following Ancient Paths
What is the point of looking back to the early saints and the monastic ways, what could they possibly teach us in this modern age? Well quite a lot actually.
During our prayer time last night a few of us shared a discussion starting with this question.
Many felt that our lives are now shaped by corporate agendas and ideas of profit, gain, utility and chasing the new. There is a danger that the value and art of being, of taking time and reflecting will be lost in the rush to get to the next new thing that is bigger, faster and stronger. Will we loose the ability to be attentive and being present to the moment in our busy lives driven by the need to fill time with doing. The ability to look back to times past will often show us what we need to know for the future. Above all the greatest need in our society is the need for meaning. The monastic practices are often about having a rhythm to life and that through this we find meaning, wonder and sometimes the miraculous within the everyday stuff of life. To create space in our lives for this is transformative. Sometimes less really is more. Stopping, taking time, taking stock and looking back can often gives us the truest sense of way ahead.
Meditation for Day 22
Enrich, Lord, heart,
hands , mouth in me
with faith, with hope
and charity,
that I may run, rise,
rest in Thee.
George Herbert – taken from Celtic daily prayer