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Opportunities to learn and grow |
E M M A U S
This is usually a
small group of people who meet once a week to explore the basics
of the Christian faith. We look at: What Christians believe – How
Christians grow – Living the Christian life. The next opportunity
will be in the New Year 2012. Please leave your details with Cath
at the parish office if you are interested.
Confirmation
We are able to
tailor each programme of preparation according to the needs and
circumstances of the individual. Ideally it would start at the
beginning of Advent so as to be learning from the Church year
itself. So please talk to Father Andrew.
The Cell of Our Lady of Walsingham
Every year we have
a parish pilgrimage to Walsingham.
It is a holy place
where Christ’s Mother is honoured, a bit like an English Lourdes.
Back home the Cell continues to support the work of the Shrine in
their daily prayers. We pray especially for Christian unity and
for more people to love the Lord. We meet together a few times
each year to pray through the whole rosary, stage by stage. All
are welcome to join us at any of these times. The Cell secretary
is Andrew Rustell and Dianne Webb is the pilgrimage organiser for
2012.Our Walsingham Cell is a local group of the Society of the
Holy House of Our Lady of Walsingham.
The Objects of
this Society are:
·
To
honour Mary, the Mother of God and to deepen faith in the
incarnation of Our Lord.
·
To promote
devotion to Our Lady and pilgrimage to Walsingham.
·
To further,
with the aid of Our Lady’s prayers, the conversion of the nations
and the re-union of Christendom.
·
To seek
holiness of life through prayer, the scriptures and the
sacraments.
Members of the
Society are also asked to say the Angelus each day.
We meet during each year to
stage by stage pray the rosary:
Joyful Mysteries - were on Friday 6th January
Sorrowful Mysteries - Friday 23rd March 10:30am (before the
11am Eucharist)
Glorious Mysteries - Thursday 12th July, 3pm at 39 Hallam Road,
Godalming, followed by tea and Evening Prayer
Luminous Mysteries
- Monday 24th September (Feast of Our Lady of Walsingham) 7:30pm
followed by quiet time and Eucharist
Christian Meditation
A little inner space in our lives enables
us to attend to the presence of God. But to maintain that personal
quiet in an intensely
busy and distracting modern world, requires constancy.
At St Nicolas' we have some weekly times
of silence for meditation. These consist of half an hour's silence
in a small group, usually:
Sunday 5pm
Tuesday 12:30pm
Thursday 7pm
But please check the Weekly Leaflet.
Sessions begin with an
introduction from a particular source of wisdom about meditation, on
Tuesdays and Thursdays especially Father
John Main. He was a Benedictine monk who recovered a particular
form of silent meditation which involves the repetition of a mantra.
This ancient teaching which still works so well in our modern times is
now taught and encouraged by Father Laurence Freeman and the World Community
for Christian Meditation. See their website.
There are slightly different ways within
the Christian tradition to meditate, thought they are complementary.
We all have to find to find the right way for ourselves. At St
Nicolas' we have leaflets about John Main's teaching on Christian
Meditation, a similar approach called Centering Prayer, and about
contemplative prayer from the Julian Meeting network.
School of Prayer
Presentations in the Parish Centre every
spring and autumn. Practical encouragement to seek God in
today's world.
See also our diocesan-based spirituality
magazine: 'Focus'.
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