Ampleforth Abbey Podcast

Next month, October, is the month of the Rosary.  The Rosary is not everyone’s cup of tea.  Fr Richard will offer one way of using the Rosary to pray, pondering the different mysteries.  

"I wish to consider the Crucifixion of the Son of God. I should begin by saying that this is going to be a tough one, intellectually and emotionally. Should the truth always be told? Tough though it may be, it helps us to understand more fully the limitless love of Jesus for ourselves..."

We all know the value of fair-weather friends. And fair-weather faith is no better. In a world with so many reasons for discouragement – how does one retain a genuine trust in God’s Providence which possesses deeper roots than wishful thinking?

The Holy Father has announced that next year's Jubilee will take the theme "Pilgrims of Hope". In this Home Retreat, Fr Oswald will reflect on pilgrimage, and how we might prepare in this year of prayer for our celebration of the great Jubilee of 2025.

Fr Cedd discusses a sermon of the sixteenth century German Carthusian monk, Johannes Justus Landsperg, known as Lanspergius.

This Home Retreat considers how our recognition of our fundamental need for God draws us close to Christ.

‘Some scientists have this wonderful ability to show there is one world, one truth. Maybe they have come to it through their own thinking, but we’re coming to that same thing through our being.’

In the week that we celebrate St Benedict as patron of Europe, this talk will look at his continuing relevance to our world today, and how both his Rule and his life can inspire our response to this time of crisis.

This home retreat begins with Psalm 118 verse 132: “Turn and have mercy on me, as is your rule for those who love your name” and then moves to the story of the blind beggar Bartimaeus in Mark chapter 10 verses 46 to 52

Everyone has hopes and dreams and these sometimes come to fulfilment sometimes not. Jesus said the moth speaks of what fills the heart, so what fills your heart? How sound is your heart? What is it really looking for, something or someone? We will explore some of this together in this Home Retreat.

Fr Henry will take a glance at the joy (and pain) found by mystics in prayer.

What’s the difference between wisdom and intelligence? What is it? Where does it come from? Can we acquire it? Is it anything to do with God?

This Home Retreat reflects upon the meaning of Jesus’ Resurrection for Christian life today.

Are you almost ready to be inspired by the Holy Spirit to begin to renew the face of your local acre of the world? ..& can “she” rely on you? an insight into a Confirmation weekend retreat for a group of 30 young disciples preparing to receive a new name & a new relationship with the Holy Spirit.. ..are you ready to be inspired by their insights?

Following the exposure of three illusions in Richard Rohr’s last reflection - called Action and Contemplation, he reflects that we move on to adopt a different viewpoint or world view.

In a culture seemingly afraid of losing autonomy and anxious to maintain youth, how does God call us to age gracefully, to aim for wisdom not success, to let go without giving up.

Although it is now more than 50 years since the revision of the Lectionary after Vatican II, there are still many riches to discover. In this short talk, we will reflect on the Gospels which the Church sets before us on the Sundays of Eastertide, and what they might mean for our growing discipleship of the Risen Lord.

We are told in Isaiah that ‘ my thoughts are not your thoughts. Your ways are not my ways .’ This is, unsurprisingly, not to our taste. However, in times of distress or confusion, we can draw encouragement from the plentiful signs of God’s bringing new life from apparently hopeless situations.

This home retreat is a meditation on Psalm 118 verse 73 ‘It was your hands that made me and shaped me’ and it will explore themes of creation and resurrection, arising from a lectio divina on this verse.

Often, we can fall back to things that are familiar, just because we are used to doing them or reacting in certain ways. The invitation of the Gospel is to stop, look and evaluate, am I in the right position to make this wisest choice or respond to this situation in the most appropriate manner. If we are not in the place, where God desires us to be, we can end up making bad choices for the wrong r...

Fr Henry speaks about Padre Pio.

Fr Ambrose: 'Why do your disciples not fast?'

In this Home Retreat, Fr Wulstan explores how Lent can help us to overcome our inner dividedness and strengthen our hope in God.

Fr Bede: Home Retreat: '..Your heart is greater than your wounds..'

It seems to me that meditation, as John Main taught it, overcomes three foundational illusions that make it almost inevitable that your politics is going to change, your economics is going to be called into question, your socio-economic perspective by which you critique the world will be pretty quickly taken away from you.