St Andrew's Chapel -- a place of quiet

St Andrew's Chapel is reserved as a place of quiet at all times. We use it for the weekday services (see our list of regular service times); at other times, anyone is welcome to come in for silent prayer and reflection.

St Andrew's Chapel is in the north-east corner of Great St Mary's. It was refitted in 1892, and again in 1984. The wooden panelling between the chapel and the north aisle is made from the great triple-decker pulpit that formerly stood in the church.

During University Full Term, there are services of Night Prayer in the Taizé tradition, run by university students.

Points for meditation

On the East wall of the Chapel, above head height, is a statue of the Risen Christ, and on the wall behind the altar, a crucifix. The Sacrament is reserved in the aumbry here.

In our tour of the church, there is an article about the tapestry which hangs in this chapel.

Just outside the entrance to the chapel are a votive candle stand and a small icon, and a noticeboard on which you can put prayer requests.

On being still

`We are citizens of two worlds. The temporal is the world of work and worry, the world that is too much with us. But we have other experiences, brief ecstasies, little elevations, still moments when we enter a kingdom. Then we cease to do. We simply are. Being silences and subdues doing and the temporal melts into the eternal.' -- Hugh Lavery: Reflections

`There is a time for speech and a time for silence.' The beginning (and the end) of prayer is learning how to be still before God, how to relax, letting the tension go; content to do nothing but rest in the knowledge that you can trust him and that he loves you.

It sounds so simple, yet it takes time and discipline to acquire that inward tranquility which is so much more than outward silence.

Here are two suggestions for growing in the knowledge of God. The first involves meditation, thinking about a passage of scripture. The second involves the simple contemplation of a short sentence that expresses a truth about God.

Using the Bible

You will need a copy of the New Testament (available on-line through the Bible Gateway), preferably a modern translation, and (if it helps) a notebook.

1. Sit comfortably. Relax. Become as still as you can. Ask God, in whom you `live and move and have your being', to speak to you through the words you read.
2. Read a few verses from one of the Gospels: perhaps the story of a healing, or some of the teachings of Jesus, of a few verses from one of St Paul's letters: e.g. Romans 8; 1 Corinthians 12 and 13; Ephesians; Philippians 2 and 3; Colossians 1 and 3; or the first letter of St John.
   Think about the words. Imagine yourself present, watching, listening and responding.
3. Don't be in any hurry. At the end, you may wish to write down whatever the words have to say to you -- and what you intend to do about them.

Using a sentence

1. Be still and remember that Christ is with you. Offer the time to him. Sit with both feet on the ground -- the back straight -- the head level -- hands in the lap.
2. Deliberately relax the body, bit by bit, letting the tension go from feet and legs -- back and shoulders -- arms and hands -- neck -- eyes and face; breathing slowly and more deeply than usual and relaxing as you breathe out.
3. Take a short sentence containing some positive truth about God which will help focus your thoughts. For example:
   • Be still and know that I am God.
   • The Lord is my shepherd: I can lack nothing.
   • They that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength.
   • Lo, I am with you always.
   • My peace I give to you.
   • I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.
4. Think about the words, briefly. Make sure you understand them and are convinced they are true for you.
5. Then stop thinking and simply say the words silently to yourself, repeating them as slowly as you can, giving them a chance to become part of you at the deepest level of your mind.
   When your mind wanders, quietly and patiently come back to the sentence.
6. At the end of your time of silence (and a very few minutes may be enough at first) thank God for it.

Persevere with this method of prayer, finding your own sentences from the psalms or in the words of Jesus, and as time goes by you will be far more aware of God's presence, less fearful, more loving; above all, more thankful.

Some links about prayer

As well as welcoming you into the chapel in our building, we offer some links about daily and quiet prayer:

Oremus

A simple service with readings, prayers and hymn, which change daily; this site also has a collection of Anglican liturgical material, and a hymnal.

Revised Common Lectionary

With this, you can follow the daily readings used in many churches including Great St Mary's. The link above gives today's readings; there is also an index.

The Method of Centering Prayer

Centering Prayer is a method designed to facilitate the development of contemplative prayer by preparing our faculties to cooperate with God's gift of Grace, using a word or phrase much as described above.

Praying together

Celebrating prayer in the Taizé tradition

Sacred Space

Daily meditations from the Jesuits in Ireland