What the Retreat Involves

This Lent Retreat is a course in prayer. It’s aim is to help you get to know and love Jesus Christ better in order to live a deeper and more authentic Christian life of service.
Lent for 2020 is from Ash Wednesday on February 26th to Easter Sunday on 12th.  However to appreciate the joy of the Resurrection our retreat runs until the end of the first week in Easter.

The ISC:Glasgow and the Pathways to God website in London are offering a retreat for Lent 2020. The prayer is available via an email linking to web pages online, or in a book.

Time for Prayer: Ideally you should be able to find a time to pray with the Scripture or other material daily; anything from 15 minutes to an hour a day, whatever you find helps you.

Weekly Meeting: The idea of this retreat is that groups of people support each other.  Each person prays daily individually, and then the group meet weekly together to see how the prayer has been going.  If you have a Lent Retreat group locally, then make a weekly date with them. This will support you in your prayer and help you see where God is in your prayer and in your life. It will also introduce you to different ways of praying with Scripture.

Prayer Materials: Choose what is most convenient for you: we provide the materials online for a computer or smartphone or via a printed book.
Every day there is one passage from Scripture plus 'A Thought for Today' and a picture to ponder. We also give a few suggestions on how to pray the day’s materials.

Reflecting on Prayer; We suggest that after each day’s prayer you jot down in a journal a few notes on how the prayer has gone. This will help your sharing in the group if you have one. It will also be interesting to reflect on how things are moving during Lent and see whether you discern any patterns in the way God is dealing with you.

Daily Prayer Each day of Lent and for one week of Easter, we provide daily material to pray on from the Spiritual Exercises of St Ignatius Loyola. Its aim is to help participants get to know and love Jesus Christ better in order to live a deeper and more authentic Christian life.  There is daily prayer material,  a picture and other reflections.  We ask you to spend from 15 minutes to an hour each day of Lent praying with this material.

The Spiritual Exercises of Saint Ignatius Loyola

Written in the 16th Century the Spiritual Exercises are based on the life of Christ. The aim is to encourage people to centre their lives on their faith in God and to make choices in life which bring consolation and joy.  The belief is that God will deal with each individual differently.  These prayer exercises are intended to allow God the space and time to work in the life of each person who does the retreat.  There are four basic sections to the retreat; a look at our own purpose in life with emphasis on the forgiveness of God. Following Jesus Christ in his ministry, his passion and death and then the joy of the Resurrection.  These Spiritual Exercises have over the centuries made a dramatic and positive difference to the lives of vast numbers of people throughout the world.

Would you like to Lead a Group?

You are invited to form a group with friends, neighbours, parishioners and both share how things have gone in your prayer this week.  We also suggest that a new method of prayer or material to be pondered is introduced each week of Lent.  If you want to organise a group we will provide you with helpful written materials each week, so you don't have to be an expert in prayer.
If you have a reasonable knowledge of Ignatian Spirituality, understand different methods of prayer such as Lectio Divina, Imaginative Contemplation and the Examen, and would like to lead a group in your area, then get in touch with us.

Location: You will need to find a suitable location for the group to meet once a week.

If this is a public space like a church room, then you will need to check if there will be any charge made, and if so, to ensure that the group can cover this. You may well find that your local church would be happy to sponsor and publicise this Lent of Prayer.

If you use your own home or other private space, you would be advised to meet any prospective participants who you don’t know in a public space first.

Publicity: If you would like your group to be open to anyone interested in the area then we could put anyone who contacts us from your area in touch with you.

Prayer Materials: Ideally participants should be encouraged to bring their smartphones to the first meeting so they can find the retreat online. Those without phones and without computer access could be given a booklet available free from the ISC, Glasgow.

Facilitation: Each week you will need to facilitate the group to help them share the fruits of their prayer. Group Meeting Outlines.

Meetings: Meetings should be once a week beginning before Lent starts so you can make sure everyone has access to the materials and is ready to begin on Ash Wednesday. The last meeting should be in Easter Week. Meetings should probably last about 2 hours. People always feel more welcome if there is a cup of tea or coffee on offer when they arrive.

Register

Register individually

Choose to receive a daily e-mail with the prayer material during Lent. REGISTER

For those living in SCOTLAND: If you would like to register to join a local group click here (if there is one available in your area we will pass on your request to the group leader)

Register a group

If you live in Scotland please register with ISC:Glasgow: REGISTER

If you live outside Scotland please register with Pathways-to-God. REGISTER

Training Meetings

Glasgow - 18th at 10.30am and 19th January at 2.30pm both @ ISC, 35 Scott St.
Edinburgh  Monday 20th January, 2pm. Sacred Heart Lauriston