Sr Lizzie Ruth has recently returned from 8 days in Wells. She was there as part of a team of nine guides who had been invited from all over the country by Fr Toby Wright (our Warden and also the Dean of Wells Cathedral) to help facilitate a Week of Guided Prayer.
The week began with a Sunday afternoon Eucharist at which Sr Lizzie Ruth preached, and during which the guides and “pilgrims” were commissioned. The pilgrims were residents of Wells who worship at the Cathedral and who had signed up to engage in daily spiritual accompaniment for five days.
Each of the weekdays started with a Morning Liturgy at the Cathedral to which anyone was invited. This was followed by coffee and pastries and a 25 minute talk on a different aspect of prayer. On one of the mornings Sr Lizzie Ruth gave a participatory talk on contemplative wordless prayer.
Over the course of the remainder of each weekday each of the guides met one-to-one with five pilgrims for a private conversation to gently help them in their prayer lives and in their spiritual journey.
In total around 42 people signed up to participate in the week as pilgrims. It was an incredible experience and deeply exciting and encouraging to hear so many people talking very naturally about prayer over coffee and relaying at the end of the week how spiritually profound the week had been for them.