A week of guided prayer...
I live in Otley with my husband and we have three adult children. My parish is Our Lady and All Saints, Otley where I am involved as a Reader, a Eucharistic Minister, Leader of Childrens Liturgy and, most importantly, as a member of the church cleaning team! My background is in Religious Education, Catechesis and Spirituality and for 16 years I was the Co-ordinator for Catechesis for the Diocese of Leeds. For several years I have been a member of the retreat team at The Briery in Ilkley. As a prayer guide and spiritual accompanier I have been formed in the spirituality of Ignatius Loyola especially while participating in courses and retreats at The Briery and St Beun in Wales. Currently I am involved in further formation as a spiritual accompanier at St Bedes in York. For me the most important part of being a prayer guide is to listen and to help people notice where God is present and active in their lives.
Bernard is married to Anne and has four adult children and is grandfather (Papa) to eleven. An allotment holder and keen Aston Villa fan, Bernard loves to pray as he walks. After retiring following many years as headteacher in Catholic schools, he is currently in formation for the permanent diaconate. Bernard is part of The Briery Parish Retreat Team and a member of the Prayer Guide Training Team. He delights in Ignatian spirituality which has transformed and continues to transform his life and relationships.
I am a Religious Sister and belong to the congregation of the Sisters of Charity of St. Paul the Apostle. I have been involved in Weeks of Guided Prayer since 1996 when I was working in the North East of England. I worked for ten years at Loyola Hall Jesuit Retreat House in Rainhill, Merseyside, from 2001-2010. Working on retreats of different lengths of time, from weekend retreats 30 Day retreats. Also working on training courses for prayer guides and spiritual accompaniers. Since 2010 I have been living in Leeds and recently moved to Birmingham where I hope to continue working with people on Weeks of Guided prayer in University and Parishes. I get great joy from listening to people and enabling them to deepen their relationship with God in prayer and seeing God at work in people's lives.
Breda
My name is Breda Mc Stay; I am a widow with two adult children and three lively grandchildren, retired now from teaching.
For me prayer is an essential part of my life, I couldn’t survive without it. In a nutshell, prayer is a relationship with God and for each person this is unique; there are as many ways of praying as there are people. What is required is that one is faithful to a period of prayer time with God to develop this personal friendship.
The role of a prayer guide is simply to offer a LISTENING presence to another on life’s spiritual journey and to help them to see where and how God is active in their daily life.
My task then as a prayer guide is to realise that in meeting with another I am aware that God was there before me, so this is holy ground.
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