Marian Edwards – YFCI

Each week during the academic year, I travel to Wilson’s Hospital School in County Westmeath to work alongside the chaplain there. Together, we facilitate a lunchtime drop-in and the Alpha Course with Transition Year students.

Wilson’s Hospital School serves both day students and boarders. Encouraged by a past student who was a member of staff, we decided last September to host a weekly drop-in Prayer Space for the boarders. This was inspired by previous prayer spaces, where the response from the students had been very positive.

So, each week the students came to the space after dinner. We set up a couple of activities and crafts to help facilitate reflection, and we had rounds of tea and biscuits. In many ways, it was nothing elaborate or special, but by the end of the academic year, I had learnt a valuable lesson—which really took me by surprise! Very often, we think young people want sophistication and elaborate things, but this is not what I discovered. What they truly appreciate is the commitment to be present in their lives, and having the space to slow down and reflect—to simply be there consistently.

This was a place where the boarders could drop in each week. We drank tea, ate biscuits and pancakes, and were present to them. We used creative prayer activities and reflective practices to help us slow down and be present to ourselves, and we practised kindness and generosity to be present to each other. It really felt like a space to be a blessing and to bless others.

To finish off our year together, we created a larger Prayer Space in the school’s chapel. In many ways, it looked like the prayer spaces we know and love, but having all those weekly, simple pop-up spaces is what made it so special. It was a fitting way to end our school year together, and I was genuinely stunned by their response. I didn’t realise the power in just showing up week after week, in holding space for creativity and kindness, and in simply sharing tea and biscuits.

This ministry of presence is the ministry of being there—of simply gathering for chats and creating a space where young people can creatively pray. These may seem like little things, but they matter. In the hectic lives of students, they matter a lot. And this is why prayer matters.