Sacred Space is inspired by the spirituality of Saint Ignatius of Loyola, a sixteenth-century Basque, whose insights into God's working with the human heart have been of great assistance to countless people over the centuries and are found more helpful than ever today.

Sacred Space is a work of the Irish Province of the Society of Jesus (the Jesuits). The website launched in 1999 and has been providing daily prayer ever since. Sacred Space is now translated into over 15 languages and continues to provide new ways to pray.

Using Sacred Space

It might seem strange to pray at your computer, in front of a screen or using your smartphone, especially if there are other people around you, or distracting noises. But God is everywhere, all around us, constantly reaching out to us, even in the most unlikely situations. When we know this, and with a bit of practice, we can pray anywhere!

We offer the pages of the site to guide you through a session of prayer, in six stages, including preparing your body and mind, and culminating in reflection on a scripture passage chosen specially for the day. The stages are:

The Presence of God
Freedom
Consciousness
The Word
Conversation
Conclusion

Although they are written in the first person - "I" - the prayers are for doing, rather than for reading out. Each stage is a kind of exercise or meditation aimed at helping you get in touch with God, and God's presence in your life.

Scripture texts

Scripture quotations are from the New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition (NRSVUE) “Copyright © 2021 National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.”

Other material

All other material on our site is the copyright of Sacred Space. The presentation, content and texts in use on the site have been developed in collaboration with the network of local language teams around the world. Permission to reproduce any material from the language versions can be directed to the local language editors - please locate the Sacred Space website information page, which can be found on the primary index page of this app.