On Wednesday 26th March 2014, Guildford Catenian Mark Wilson, yours truly,and Amanda Stackpoole, both residing in Farnham, Surrey, travelled to Wootton Wawen, a pretty village set in the Warwickshire countryside. Anything special about Wootton Wawen one might ask? After all, it’s a long way to drive, 120 miles to be precise. The answer is yes, there is something very special about Wootton Wawen. It is the home of Fr Pat Sayles and
The Prayer Trust.
Fr Pat and Amanda
I must confess, I hadn’t heard of The Prayer Trust until, one day, I received a message from Amanda saying she wanted to talk to me. Knowing Amanda’s reputation for charity fundraising, I was a bit apprehensive wondering if she was going to ask me to run a marathon or something. Not so, thankfully. Instead she proceeded to tell me about The Prayer Trust and Fr Pat.
Amanda was told of the good works of Fr Pat by her sister-in-law and her husband who are parishioners of Our Lady & St Benedict’s Catholic Church in Wootton Wawen. Amanda explained that the aim of The Prayer Trust, which is a registered charity, is to share prayer everywhere amongst all people. Therefore, prayers are non-denominational and some titles have been translated into other languages including; French, Mandarin, Spanish and Norwegian. In addition, several countries including Australia have bought the copyright!
We studied the website together and then Amanda showed me several samples of Fr Pat’s prayer booklets, after which I had no hesitation in wanting to meet Fr Pat and find out more about The Prayer Trust. Fr Pat agreed to meet us and made a slot in his busy seven days a week schedule. Amanda had many ideas on how the website could be enhanced. How new technology could improve both its national and global appeal which she presented to Fr Pat during our meeting. Hence our 120 mile journey!
Fr Pat was born in Aldershot in 1943, and lived in the village of Grayshott, Hampshire for the first few years of his life before moving to Birmingham. He studied at Leicester University and after graduating worked as a teacher. It was later, however, that Fr Pat’s true calling took him to Ireland as a student to the priesthood. He studied in both London and Rome and was ordained a priest in the Columban College at Dalgan Park, Ireland in 1973. As a missionary with the Columban Fathers he worked in the shanty towns of Lima, Peru where through prayer he shared the knowledge of God’s love with the people. Fr Pat is still driven to spreading the word of God through The Prayer Trust thereby continuing his work of bringing people closer to God.
On entering Fr Pat’s Presbytery, there can be no doubt that Our Lady & St Benedict’s Church is the home of The Prayer Trust! It is an ‘Aladdin’s Cave’ of Prayer booklets, hard cover books, bookmarks, packaging material, order forms etc etc. Amongst all this, are the dedicated team of helpers, taking orders, addressing packages, managing the accounts and, when there is a minute, making cups of tea!
All the prayers are created and written by Fr Pat and since the Millennium Year 2000, when The Prayer Trust was founded, he has written well over a 100 booklets. Orders are received from around the World, some from individuals who want a ‘one off’ book, the majority though, come from parish churches, hospitals, schools, the workplace and even prisons.
A selection of prayer books, booklets and book markers
Fr Pat’s prayer booklets are diverse and include ones for Friendship & Peace, For Cancer sufferers and Times of Illness. There are also ones for Those who Mourn, for Birthdays, Baptisms and First Holy Communion. Fr Pat has also devised prayer bookmarks, a very clever idea consisting of a colourful photograph or illustration on one side and a prayer on the other. He has written over 60 of these and, needless to say, they are very popular.
In total, across all the ranges, close to half a million copies have been distributed, in addition to notecards with envelopes, birthday cards, gift wallets and audio CDs. Most publications contain photographs from Fr Pat’s own collection and have been specially selected to help inspire a deeper relationship with the Holy Spirit. Among my favourite prayers and Amanda’s too, are the ones written for children and young people. I know Amanda especially likes ‘Jesus My Friend’ which is a delightful collection of prayer rhymes for children. Mine is ‘Making the Sign of the Cross’ which explains with the aid of beautiful illustrations, how to make the sign and what making it means.
The Prayer Trust is a non-profit making charity and only seeks to recover the cost of publishing, packaging and postage in order to produce new materials for sharing. Fr Pat is extremely grateful for the donations The Prayer Trust receives and with this aid, he plans to try and find a way of making his prayers available in e-book format on The Prayer Trust website so that they are more easily accessible across the globe. This was one of the issues we discussed with Fr Pat as it would further the Trust’s work in bringing more people closer to God through prayer. The current UK demand is mainly in the North of England and the Midlands and Amanda is hoping to raise awareness of The Prayer Trust in the South. The prayers are produced in booklets with larger publications and hardbacks available and all are very modestly priced.
A further selection of prayer booklet titles
There are times in our lives when we are in need of special words that we can say or someone else can say on our behalf. With prayer, we may feel that our words and thoughts are inadequate to put before God, not that God minds I’m sure. This can be at times of personal sadness on losing a loved one or the joy of a birth. Happiness at a Wedding or First Holy Communion. Solemnity at a Funeral or saying Grace before a meal. This is when we turn to The Prayer Trust. Indeed, one might say, Fr Pat is the answer to our prayers.
For further information, visit The Prayer Trust website; www.theprayertrust.org.uk or email; enquiry@theprayertrust.org.uk
You can also write to the following address; The Prayer Trust, Our Lady & St Benedict’s Church, Alcester Road, Wootton Wawen, Henley in Arden B95 6BQ
