On April 9th, 2024, Rev Fr Reuben Gauci, the coordinator of Spiritual Development in Schools within the Archdiocese of Malta, was invited to conduct a workshop about Prayer Spaces during the CEME (Conférence de l’Enfance Missionnaire d’Europe), a bi-annual meeting of the Pontifical Society of Missionary Childhood in Europe. This conference was held in Romania between April 7th and 11th, 2024. The workshop led by Fr Reuben and Ms Silvana Cardona, a pastoral worker within SDS, aimed to foster spiritual engagement and community empowerment through creative prayer activities.

With 17 years of experience as a Catholic priest, Fr Reuben collaborates with pastoral workers and chaplains in state and independent schools to promote Catholic spirituality and support educators and students in their faith journey. He explained that the Prayer Spaces in Schools initiative started in the United Kingdom 15 years ago as part of the 24-7 Prayer movement. It has since spread to various countries, including Germany, Austria, France and Malta, where prayer spaces were adopted ten years ago.

Experiencing Prayer Spaces

Participants in CEME were invited to immerse themselves in a Prayer Space session designed to help them reflect and pray creatively and meaningfully. Their engagement in the prayer space helped them better understand these spaces’ functionality and their profound impact on individuals and communities.
The prayer spaces were set up in the quiet and peaceful yard of the Order of Discalced Carmelites Monastery in Bucharest, Romania, accompanied by a low sound of tranquil and serene background music. The participants, Missio delegates from different European countries, had a unique opportunity to connect with their spirituality, express gratitude, and contemplate important social and environmental issues.

Reflecting on Spiritual Engagement Through Creative Prayer Activities

During the prayer spaces session, the participants had the following prayer spaces:

Appreciating Nature: Participants reflected on nature’s beauty, writing thank-you prayers on coloured circles that combined to form a caterpillar, symbolizing collective gratitude.

Be Still: Participants sat in a tranquil space for silent reflection, embracing the stillness to connect with their inner selves and God.

Be the Light: Participants wrote or drew messages of gratitude for individuals who had supported them during difficult times, later sharing these as tokens of appreciation.

Broken Heart: Attendees wrote the initials of someone whose heart was broken on plaster strips and placed them on a representation of a wounded heart, praying for healing.

Building Blocks: Participants contemplated how core values like compassion and sustainability could build a better world, constructing small structures with blocks and offering prayers for guidance.

Cardboard Home: Reflecting on homelessness, participants crawled inside a cardboard box and wrote prayers for those without shelter on house templates.

Empty Plate: Participants drew pictures of their favourite foods on paper plates, prayed for justice, and reduced food waste.

Pray for the World: Participants looked at a world map and prayed for countries and loved ones abroad, placing battery-operated candles on the map to symbolise their prayers.

Quenching Thirst: Reflecting on various types of thirst, participants wrote on bottle templates how they could help quench these thirsts for others and prayed for strength.

Refugee Backpack: Imagining themselves as refugees, participants chose three essential items to take and wrote prayers of hope for refugees.

Saving Life: Participants considered the impact of plastic waste on wildlife, removing plastic caps from a fish’s belly on a chart and praying for life-saving choices.

Appreciating Nature

During this prayer space, one shows gratitude to God for what nature offers.

Be Still: Prayer Word

During this time one is inivted to be still and meditate on ma-ra-na-ta.

Be the Light

During this time one reflects on how one can be of support and encouragement to others, how one can be a light to those around them.

Broken Heart – Plaster

One is invited to think of those with a broken heart, reflect on what one can do to help, and asked to pray for them.

Building Blocks

In this prayer space one is asked to relfect on one’s daily actions and how such actions are helping to build a better world.

Cardboard Home

During this time one is given time to reflect and pray for people who suffer poverty and are homeless.

Empty Plate

Apart from praying for world leaders to be given wisdom and courage to lead fairly, this prayer space also helps one to reflect on living without food due to injustice and economic-greed.

Refugee Backpack

During this prayer space one reflects on refugees – people who leave their countries for good due to varied reasons and what the real essentials in one’s life.

Saving Life

In this prayer space, one reflects on saving lives by avoiding plastic and prays for courage to make choices in favour of life.

Group Discussions

Participants engaged in group discussions following the prayer space experience to share their insights and experiences. Each group appointed a spokesperson to present their thoughts to the larger group, fostering a sense of community and shared understanding.

Fr Reuben emphasized the importance of spiritual growth, explaining that Prayer Spaces nurture relationships with God, oneself, others, and the world. He highlighted that spirituality is inherent in everyone, reflecting the “image and likeness of God” (Genesis 1:27, 5:2), and drew on Richard Rohr’s perspective that humans are inherently spiritual beings.

Participants’ Reflections

“The Broken Heart space resonated with me because it allowed me to pray for hurting loved ones. Writing our initials on a plaster strip and placing them on the wounded heart was a powerful way of showing empathy and support through prayer.”

“I loved the ‘Be Still’ prayer space. It gets you in touch with your inner self. In touch with your hurts, the people you love, the love for God.”

“The Refugee Backpack touched me deeply. Imagining what it would be like to leave home forever and choosing items to take with me made me more empathetic towards refugees. Writing a prayer of hope for them was a powerful experience.”

Prayer Tool

“I found the Prayer Spaces a powerful tool for helping children reflect and pray creatively. The activities are versatile and can be easily adapted to different age groups. I will definitely be incorporating them into our missions.”

“I am eager to bring the prayer spaces to our local parishes to enrich our mission work.”

Feedback from Romanian Children

Romanian children from the local parish enthusiastically visited the prayer space, their faces lighting up with joy and happiness. As they moved through each station, they engaged deeply, praying earnestly and reflecting on the activities. Their heartfelt prayers and the smiles accompanying them were a testament to the prayer space’s profound impact on their young hearts.

When asked about which prayer space they liked most, they wrote:

“Appreciating Nature “I will always remember writing a thank-you prayer for the beautiful trees and flowers. It made me realize how lucky we are to have such a wonderful world.

“Sitting quietly and feeling peaceful was my favourite one. I felt so close to God, and I will try to have more quiet moments like that at home.”

“The Empty Plate. I will not waste food anymore.”

“I liked Be the Light because it reminded me of the people who support me.”

Conclusion

The Prayer Spaces workshop, facilitated by Fr Reuben Gauci and Ms Silvana Cardona, offered participants a meaningful and engaging personal and communal experience. The importance of cooperation and nurturing relationships with God and the world was evident.

Special thanks were given to Ms Nancy Camilleri, President of the International CEME and Malta’s Coordinator for Missio Tfal, for inviting Spiritual Development in Schools to participate in the CEME conference.