With the men and women who waited for Christ
🎥 Can’t join every session live? Every session is recorded and shared with all who register — available within 48 hours, so no one misses a thing.
An invitation
Advent is the Church’s great school of waiting — and waiting is the very posture of Carmel.
Long before the birth of Jesus in Bethlehem, generations of men and women carried a burning expectation. They lived through heartbreak, exile, vulnerability and long silence — and still they held to God’s promise that a Deliverer was coming. Over four Sundays we listen to eight of these voices, a woman and a man each week, and discover that their ancient waiting speaks with startling directness to our own.
And in the Carmelite way, we do not only listen and reflect. Each session we fall silent together and wait, so that the Christ they longed for may be born a little more deeply in us. Come as you are, and come expectant.
The journey
Eve & Job
Hope born in loss and in the dark — the first fragile promise of a Deliverer, and a Redeemer clung to from the ash-heap.
Ruth & David
A longing for shelter and for a King — the redeemer who covers us, and the throne that never fails.
Hannah & Isaiah
Wordless prayer and burning prophecy — the grief that God turns, slowly, into a song of joy.
Simeon & Anna
A lifelong watch that ends in recognition — the sanctuary of a waiting life, and the breaking of the Dawn.
“I wait for the Lord, my soul waits, and in his word I hope; my soul waits for the Lord more than watchmen for the morning.”Psalm 130
What each session holds
Each 75-minute session follows the same gentle four-movement shape used in our house retreats — a single descent from hearing the Word to resting in it in silence. No theological background is needed, only an open heart.
The week’s Scriptures read slowly, received in the manner of lectio divina.
A rich formative input opening the theme through Scripture and the Carmelite masters.
The week’s two figures speak in their own voice, framed by the great voices of the tradition.
A guided Carmelite meditation leading into shared silence, and a closing blessing.
How to join
Would you rather gather in person, or bring this retreat to your own parish or group? We also offer Voices of Hope (In Person) — at the Carmelite Priory, at your parish, or online just for your group. The in-person page is coming soon — for now, write to us at info@cacs.org.uk and we’ll gladly talk through what would suit you best.
4 Sundays
29 Nov – 20 Dec 2026
7:00–8:15pm
(GMT · UK time)
Online
via Zoom
Free
optional donation
Reserve your place
There is no charge to take part. Simply reserve your place below and you will receive everything you need. We never want cost to keep anyone away — the £0 option is always there, and no one is turned away.
And yet, if you are able, we would be deeply grateful if you would consider a gift. A great deal of prayerful preparation goes into every session, and we ourselves meet the cost of the technology that carries it to you. The Centre is not endowed or grant-funded; this work is sustained entirely by the generosity of those who value it. We offer it in service of your own spiritual growth — so, as you decide, you might gently weigh what that growth is worth to you, and give as generously as you cheerfully can.
“God loves a cheerful giver.” — 2 Corinthians 9:7