In this short, contemplative service of prayer, we spend an hour in the presence of Jesus. We begin and end the hour with short spoken prayers, and sometimes music, but for most of the service we pray together in silence.

Please enter the Church by the wooden door on the right of the Magdalen Centre, on Sir Thomas White's Road.

About the Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament:

In our Eucharist services that take place earlier in the day (at 8am and 10am), our Priest follows the example of Jesus, and gives thanks for our bread and wine, blesses it, and distributes it to the congregation. We do this because on the night before He died, Christ said "This is my body, which is given for you. Do this in remembrance of me." (Luke 22.19). Following His words, we believe that Jesus is present in the bread and wine at our Communion services.

After the Eucharist service, a piece of bread (known as the Blessed Sacrament) is kept back, to display at the Adoration service later in the day. This bread becomes the focus for our thoughts, prayers and love: our adoration. People sometimes ask "what would you do, if you came face to face with Jesus today?", and in these services we believe that Christ is truly with us, and so the atmosphere of this service is one of humble reverence and self-giving love.

The whole Adoration service lasts an hour, to remind us of the night before the Crucifixion, when Jesus found his friends sleeping; and said to them "So, could you not stay awake with me one hour?" (Matthew 26.40).

During the rest of the week, the Blessed Sacrament is kept in a cabinet in the Lady Chapel in the Church, and a lamp that hangs from the ceiling is lit to let people know that it is there, so that they can pray in the presence of the Lord.

What would you pray, if you met with Jesus today?