Holy Rood House

Holy Rood House Welcome to Holy Rood House…a therapeutic centre, a home and a community. Hospitality lies at the heart of all we are and do. Do come and visit us!

We are here for you, and for many at a time of need. As well as professional, therapeutic support, or programmed events, our door is open for rest and relaxation, care for carers, spiritual retreat and accompaniment, training, study and sabbaticals or for a holiday. You are welcome to phone us and discuss your requirements. Holy Rood House is a charity with a gentle Christian ethos, providing safer space for those of us who are finding life unsafe. Since 1993 we have been pleased to welcome all kinds of people, of all ages, for all kinds of reasons from across Britain. We have found that once people know the right place for them – they are prepared to travel.

Today some of us joined Thirsk Churches Together for the Walk of Witness. A meditative and sombre time.Writer Jan Richa...
03/04/2026

Today some of us joined Thirsk Churches Together for the Walk of Witness. A meditative and sombre time.

Writer Jan Richardson’s words resonate:

All too quickly the breaking of the bread becomes the breaking of the flesh.

All too soon the cup offered at the table becomes the life poured out at the cross.

After the rending, after the emptying: an impossible stillness, an aching silence, an incomprehensible hollow for which no word will ever be adequate.

On this day that asks us to bear witness to what is breaking, may we not turn away.

STILL
A Blessing for Good Friday

This day
let all stand still
in silence,
in sorrow.

Sun and moon
be still.

Earth
be still.

Still
the waters.

Still
the wind.

Let the ground
gape in stunned
lamentation.

Let it weep
as it receives
what it thinks
it will not
give up.

Let it groan
as it gathers
the One
who was thought
forever stilled.

Time
be still.

Watch
and wait.

Still.

—Jan Richardson
from Circle of Grace: A Book of Blessings for the Seasons
janrichardson.com/books

Interested? Know someone who might be? Please drop me a line for further details and booking form - sibylle@holyroodhou...
25/03/2026

Interested? Know someone who might be? Please drop me a line for further details and booking form - sibylle@holyroodhouse.org.uk
Looking forward to hearing from you 😊

Feast of the Annunciation Holding Archbishop Sarah in our prayers on the day of her installation. A small excerpt from t...
25/03/2026

Feast of the Annunciation

Holding Archbishop Sarah in our prayers on the day of her installation.

A small excerpt from the poem 'Annunciation' by Denise Levertov:

"We know the scene: the room, variously furnished,
almost always a lectern, a book; always
the tall lily.

Arrived on solemn grandeur of great wings,
the angelic ambassador, standing or hovering,
whom she acknowledges, a guest.

But we are told of meek obedience. No one mentions
courage.

The engendering Spirit
did not enter her without consent.
God waited.

She was free
to accept or to refuse, choice
integral to humanness."

Happy Feast day and blessings of Mary, woman of courage to us all!

Icon written by Yvonne Bell - photo taken in our Sophia Chapel

Do check out the Events page on our website- we’ve added more information and booking forms for our forthcoming Quiet D...
23/03/2026

Do check out the Events page on our website- we’ve added more information and booking forms for our forthcoming Quiet Days and weekend retreats. From ‘Embracing Silence’ to ‘Awakening Wonder in our Everyday’ (a photography retreat), to a Solstice Retreat with earth art making and circle dancing, ‘Reading Novels to connect with the Divine’ … and we’ll be adding more events … https://www.holyroodhouse.org.uk/Groups/426712/Events.aspx. Early booking recommended!

And here’s a tray of lovely colourful roasted vegetables ready for tonight’s vegetarian lasagne- to whet your appetite!

Happy Equinox, welcome first day of spring!Hail the quickening of the year;hail the growing curve showing on the belly o...
20/03/2026

Happy Equinox, welcome first day of spring!

Hail the quickening of the year;
hail the growing curve showing
on the belly of the earth;
hail the beginning, the dawn-heart singing,
the gorgeous expectancy that the earth
will say amen to the new.

beautiful words by Gideon Heugh, and a beautiful photo of wild plum and forsythia in the Holy Rood garden by Mike Hall.

Looking for silence? Wanting to explore silence? Come and join us on Thursday 18 June for a day on Silence in the cont...
14/03/2026

Looking for silence? Wanting to explore silence? Come and join us on Thursday 18 June for a day on Silence in the contemplative Christian and Zen traditions. To book please email enquiries@holyroodhouse.org.uk or scan the QR code to take you to our events’ page.

Do join WATCH (Women and the Church) on Monday to share in worship with others who value prayers and worship that is cre...
12/03/2026

Do join WATCH (Women and the Church) on Monday to share in worship with others who value prayers and worship that is creative and inclusive in its words and images and stories. All warmly welcome.

Please register via the email address provided.

Powerful words from Jan Richardson which speak to us in our time:For you, for us, on this International Women’s Day. In ...
08/03/2026

Powerful words from Jan Richardson which speak to us in our time:

For you, for us, on this International Women’s Day. In the rending, in the places of devastation in the world and in our own selves, may each of us—all of us, everywhere—be the ones who will not turn away.

BLESSING

Now
more than ever
let us be the ones
who will not turn away.
Let us be the ones
who will go
farther into the wreck
and deeper into the rubble.
Let us be the ones
who will enter into the places
of devastation beyond belief
and despair beyond our imagining.

And there let us listen
for the Spirit that brooded
over the formless darkness,
and there let us look again
for the God who gathered up the chaos
and began to create.
Let us be the ones
who will give ourselves
to the work of making again
and to the endless beginning
of creation.

—Jan Richardson
From the book In the Sanctuary of Women

Image: “Friday from Noon Till Three (The Magdalene’s Lament)”
© Jan Richardson

janrichardsonbooks.com

It is International Women's Day today and this is part of our Women's weekend we are running here at Holy Rood. We found...
08/03/2026

It is International Women's Day today and this is part of our Women's weekend we are running here at Holy Rood. We found these words helpful - sung as a song by Siskin Green - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qwUSRZU5Zic Siskin Green.
Photo is of the statue The Shrine of the Mother of all Birds by Fidelma Massey.
There Is a Line of Women
There is a line of women extending back to Eve
whose role in shaping hist’ry God only could conceive;
and though through endless ages their witness was repressed,
God valued and inspired them through whom the world was bless’d.
So sing a song of Sarah—to laughter she gave birth;
and sing a song of Tamar who stood for women’s worth;
and sing a song of Hannah who bargained with her Lord;
and sing a song of Mary who bore and bred God’s Word.

There is a line of women who took on pow’rful men,
defying laws and scruples to let life live again;
and though, despite their triumph, their stories stayed untold,
God kept their number growing, creative, strong, and bold.
So sing a song of Shiphrah with Puah close at hand:
engaged to kill male children, they foiled the king’s command;
and sing a song of Rahab who sheltered spies and lied;
and sing a song of Esther preventing genocide.

There is a line of women who stood by Jesus’ side,
who housed him when he ministered and held him when he died;
and though they claimed he’d risen, their news was deemed suspect,
till Jesus stood among them, his womanly elect.
So sing a song of Anna who saw Christ’s infant face;
and sing a song of Martha who gave him food and space;
and sing of all the Marys who heeded his requests,
and now at heaven’s banquet are Jesus’ fondest guests.

Text: John L. Bell (Scotland), © 2002 WGRG, Iona Community (admin. GIA
Publications, Inc.)

Our lenten poetry mornings are a creative way of connecting to this special time of lent. Helen will be leading 2 mornin...
24/02/2026

Our lenten poetry mornings are a creative way of connecting to this special time of lent. Helen will be leading 2 mornings in March, exploring with the Beguines, who were groups of women in the 12th and 13th century searching for new ways to live out their spirituality. Their poems connect to the flow of love, with messages relevant to our world today. You may like to make a mini retreat and stay overnight around these dates. https://www.holyroodhouse.org.uk/Publisher/File.aspx?ID=390597
https://www.holyroodhouse.org.uk/Groups/426712/Events.aspx

Address

Centre For Health & Pastoral Care, Holy Rood House, 10 Sowerby Road
Thirsk
YO71HX

Telephone

01845522580

Website

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