The House of Prayer Programme 2026

The House of Prayer offers a breathing space and everything needed for a retreat. They offer to others a way of nurturing their relationship with God through prayer, meditation, spiritual retreats, and Christian education. Explore the programme brochure for 2026 here.

Let Him Easter in us
Saturday 25 April 2026
Led by Dr Antonia Lynn

The Feast of St Mark falls in Eastertide and we celebrate it today. This spring Saturday offers a chance to reflect on the Paschal Mystery through the lens of St Mark’s Gospel; a chance to experience Easter as a verb (as Gerard Manley Hopkins does in his poem The Wreck of the Deutschland, from which today’s title comes) — God’s work in progress in our lives. This is planned as a spacious day, with time to go at your own pace and enjoy reflection, rest and gentle creativity.

Cost: £35 / including B&B: £110

Longing for God: Individually Guided Retreat
Friday 1 – Sunday 3 May 2026
Led by the House of Prayer Team

A silent individually guided retreat for busy people, those who have not made a retreat before, or for anyone who simply needs time and space to stop, breathe, and pray. A trained spiritual director will be available for daily individual meetings to accompany you through the retreat. Above all, this retreat is a time of listening to God who is present in the experiences of prayer and daily living.

Cost: Standard: £230 / En-suite: £250

Contemplative Art
Thursday 7, 14, 21, 28 May & 4, 11 June 2026
Led by Cari Bridgen   

Creativity and art can help us connect more deeply with ourselves, God, and the world around us. This course offers an opportunity to explore contemplative art, and our creative expression and prayer. Over six mornings, there will be space to creatively respond to themes exploring the relationship between ourselves, God and creation, including our embodied nature; spirituality, theology and ecology; and our personal response to destruction and the present eco-crisis. Each session will include time for prayer, meditations on a weekly theme, music, practical creative time, and sharing. This course will meet on six Thursdays between 10am and 1pm.

Cost: £90

When the Saints go Marching in
Saturday 30 May 2026
Led by Anne Booth

When the Saints go marching in, do we really want to be in their number? In the Christian tradition we have the Saints, whose stories and images are so familiar that they can feel like our heavenly friends and family, yet sometimes their extraordinary examples of holiness can be hard to reconcile with our own more ordinary lives. How can we be inspired without being demoralised, and how is God inviting us to live out our own call to sainthood? This day will explore the stories of the saints and their spiritualities, and the fact and fiction which surrounds them. We will pray about and ponder the fact that they were real, imperfect people, and, using the Gospels, poetry and the writings of Thomas Merton, consider the part they can play today in inspiring us to love God with all our hearts, souls and minds, and our neighbours as ourselves.

Cost: £35 / including B&B: £110

Longing for God: Individually Guided Retreat
Friday 5 – Sunday 7 June 2026
Led by the House of Prayer Team

A silent individually guided retreat for busy people, those who have not made a retreat before, or for anyone who simply needs time and space to stop, breathe, and pray. A trained spiritual director will be available for daily individual meetings to accompany you through the retreat. Above all, this retreat is a time of listening to God who is present in the experiences of prayer and daily living.

Cost: Standard: £230 / En-suite: £250

Present Tents
Friday 19 – Sunday 21 June 2026  
Led by Mary Chamberlin

This weekend workshop/retreat is an invitation to rest in peaceful surroundings and recognise an internal space that is within us all. Inhabiting this prayerful place, we can reflect how God longs to lovingly envelop us and waits for our response. Over this mid-summer weekend, we will use art materials to make marks and/or build 3D images that assure us of God’s vital, constant, unconditional and eternal love. It is not necessary to have any artistic skill or to have had any previous art experience, you are just invited to reflect and respond visually noticing what might be emerging for you as you do so.

Cost: Standard: £240 / En-suite: £260 / Day guest: £125

Upcoming Retreats at the Dupuis Retreat and Conference Centre

The Dupuis Retreat and Conference Centre in Selly Park is delighted to share details of its upcoming programme of retreats and day events, offering opportunities for prayer, reflection and spiritual renewal in a peaceful setting.

Upcoming Retreats

Individually Guided Retreat (IGR)
Led by Sr Pauline Myers SP and Sr Una Coogan CJ
Monday 11 – Monday 18 May

The retreat begins with supper at 6:00pm and ends after breakfast on the final day.
A shorter retreat is available on request.

Cost: £655

Rejoicing in Hearing the Voice of the Bridegroom
Spiritual lessons from St John the Baptist
Led by Canon Luke Smith
Monday 8 – Friday 12 June

The retreat begins with supper at 6:00pm and ends after breakfast on the final day.

“The friend of the bridegroom, who stands and hears him, rejoices greatly at the bridegroom’s voice. Therefore, this joy of mine is now complete” (Gospel of St John 3:29)

Cost: £405

Canon Luke was ordained a priest for the Archdiocese of Southwark at Corpus Christi Church, Tonbridge on 4 June 1995. After several years as an Assistant Priest, he was appointed Parish Priest at Ss Austin & Gregory in Margate (2002–2014), during which time he completed an MA in Spirituality and served as Dean of the Thanet Deanery from 2007. He was appointed a Chapter Canon in 2012.

In 2014, Canon Luke became Parish Priest at St Francis, Maidstone, and Dean of the Maidstone Deanery (2014–2017), before being appointed Spiritual Director of St John’s Seminary, Wonersh. Archbishop John Wilson announced his current role as Episcopal Vicar for Priestly Life on 8 April 2022. He is also a member of the On-going Formation Team for the Archdiocese.

For bookings and further details, please contact:

Sr Margaret Mattison
📞 0121 415 6100
📧 margaret.mattison@sellypark.org
🌐 www.dupuiscentre.co.uk
📍 St Paul’s Convent, 94 Selly Park Road, Birmingham, B29 7LL

Saint Andrew's Retreat House, London - Programme of Events 2026

The Sisters of St Andrew are offering a series of reflective quiet days drawing on Ignatian spirituality, creativity, poetry and prayerful reflection. These gatherings invite participants to pause, reflect, and engage deeply with different themes.

Advance booking is essential, and further details are available on the Sisters of St Andrew website.

Click here to explore the full calendar of events for 2026.

Monastery of Our Lady and St. Bernard 2025 Programme

The Bernardine Cistercians at the Monastery of Our Lady and St Bernard are pleased to offer a programme of retreats and Quiet Days during 2026.

Full details for each event are shown in the posters below. For further information or to make a booking, visitors are invited to contact the monastery directly or visit the website.

📧 bookings_brownshill@yahoo.co.uk
📞 01453 883084