Manresa Link, Prayer Training Course

PRAYER GUIDE TRAINING COURSE 2026

This course is designed to enable you to begin guiding/accompanying others as they take part in Ignatian-based retreats.

It has been continuously evolving since the first such training in Birmingham that was introduced by Fr Gerry Hughes, SJ and associates in the late 1980s.

It is a starter course which will equip you to begin accompanying pilgrims on retreats. If you do that as part of Manresa Link there is always supervision, and encouragement to take part in ongoing training/development over time.

The course will consist initially of 10 Saturday mornings, commencing on January 17th, 2026, but with a break on February 28^th. These will all take place at St Mary’s Convent, 98 Hunters Rd, Lozells, Birmingham B19 1EB

The Saturdays will then be followed by two practice Retreats In Daily Life (4 weeks duration). In the first retreat, half of the course participants will be prayer guides, and the other half will be retreatants. Then roles reverse for the second retreat.

On the Saturdays there will be prayer, input on various aspects of Ignatian Spirituality and on skills needed, and then the “real” work of the course – the triads! This is small groups of 3 course participants, one person sharing, one listening and one observing.

Each week course participants will be given a piece of Scripture to pray on daily.

Then, on all but the first Saturday, participants will be assigned to groups of three (the triads). In the triads, one person will share what they have been experiencing in their prayer over the past week. Another of the three will have been appointed to be a “prayer guide” to listen to them, and to help them to explore and deepen. The third person acts as an observer of the listener.

Each of the three then feedback to the others.

Roles swap around and repeat the process, so that on each Saturday, everyone has had a turn at sharing, prayer-guiding and observing.

One of the training team members will also have been sitting in and will give overall feedback.

Because the triads are the heart of the course, it is important that you attend all sessions – your absence in any one week will disrupt that process. We do try to have contingency plans for emergencies but ask that you set attendance as a priority.

Evaluation

During the course there will be a process of joint evaluation. Participants will be invited to use a self-evaluation tool to help them to assess for themselves where their strengths and weaknesses lie, and how these develop throughout the course as learning takes place. This will be explored with members of the training team as we go along, but it is a positive oriented process – discovering your gifts and helping you to discern God’s call to you.

Cost

The total cost for this course is £200. We ask for a £50 deposit once your application is accepted, and that the remaining £150 be paid at commencement of the course. However, we can consider requests for bursaries or for more time to pay.

To apply or to get more info, please email manresalink@hotmail.com