Silent prayer is there for everyone. It appeals to all ages. Once, when giving a retreat in North Wales, I was asked by the sister in charge if I would talk to the young people who were connected with the community. ‘I hope you don’t mind, Father,’ she explained, ‘but I have invited all the youngsters to come for you to talk to them on Sunday afternoon.’

When they arrived, they were aged between ten and 22. Thomas, the ten-year-old, looked bewildered. James, the 22-year-old, a postgraduate student at the university, looked faintly put out. I did not know what I could say to such a diverse group, so I said: ‘Let’s go down to the chapel and have some quiet prayer.’

For half an hour I tried to lead them into centring prayer, as the prayer of silence and stillness is sometimes known. The two 15-year-old boys on the back pew giggled most of the time, but the others were quite serious.

After we finished, as they came out of the silence, I asked them how they felt. Two of the replies struck me. One girl of about 16 said: ‘When I was coming here this afternoon I was worried about certain things that are happening in my life. When we finished the prayer I felt I was no longer worried about them.’

Another girl in her early teens said: ‘When we came down here to the chapel I looked around. I had never seen it before. Then we went into the silence, and when I opened my eyes again everything around me looked different.’

On another occasion, when I was a parish priest, a family asked me to come and have a word with their 11-year-old son Michael, who was suffering from a lot of bullying at his school.

After we had talked for a while I asked if he would like to have a little time of quiet prayer. We sat for 20 minutes, handed everything over to the Lord, and allowed the lovely peace of the room and the garden outside to bring us to stillness.

I still have a vivid picture of that quiet room and Michael sitting so calmly and saying, ‘I think the room looks different and I feel everything is going to be all right.’

An extract from Finding Your Hidden Treasure

© 2010 Benignus O’Rourke OSA

Published by Darton, Longman and Todd Ltd

© Photo: Ian Wilson OSA

Get the book: www.theaugustinians.org