Introducing Mysticas: Meditating with Mystics across the Traditions in Today’s Context

When: Wednesday, April 15, 2026, 4:00 PM - 5:00 PM
Where: St Benet's Chaplaincy QMUL London

Join a group of seekers in the chaplaincy on Wednesdays, 4pm-5pm (Weeks 2, 4, 6, 8, 10, 12) to engage with texts in dialogue and silent reflection by Rābiʼa, Hildegard von Bingen, Isabelle Eberhardt, Christina Rossetti, Simone Weil, and Etty Hillesum. Tea and cake provided (feel free to bring some more). Email r.vince@qmul.ac.uk for details.

Rābiʼa al-ʼAdawiyya al-Qaysiyya: Wednesday 4 February 2026, 4pm-5pm

‘Your life is the only opportunity that life can give you’ (Rābiʼa al-ʼAdawiyya al-Qaysiyya, Sufi poet from Iraq, 713-801 AD)

Hildegard of Bingen (with Hildegard E. Keller): Wednesday 18 February 2026, 4pm-5pm
 
‘The Word is living, being, spirit, all verdant greening, all creativity. This Word manifests itself in every creature.’ (Hildegard of Bingen, German abbess and polymath, 1098-1179)

Isabelle Eberhardt: Wednesday 4 March 2026, 4pm-5pm

‘Never seek yourself in another, but discover yourself in yourself’ (Isabelle Eberhardt aka Si Mahmoud Saadi, Swiss explorer, 1877-1904)

Christina Rossetti: Wednesday 18 March 2026, 4pm-5pm

‘Let us sit down amid Divinely cast shadows with great delight.’ (Christina Rossetti, Italian-English poet, 1830-1894)

Simone Weil: Wednesday 1 April 2026, 4pm-5pm

‘Attention is the rarest and purest form of generosity.’
(Simone Weil, French philosopher and political activist, 1909-1943)

Etty Hillesum: Wednesday 15 April 2026, 4pm-5pm

‘Despite everything, life is full of beauty and meaning.’
(Etty Hillesum, Dutch-Russian Jewish writer, 1916-1943)