Ultreyas

An Ultreya is a service which we aim to hold once a month in different churches within the diocese. They consist of singing, a bible reading, a witness talk with a response from a Spiritual Director, a floating group reunion (I'll explain what this is in a minute) and a time of prayer.

Why are they called Ultreyas? Well we are back to Cursillo's Spanish origins. Ultreya is a Spanish word that means 'onwards' or to paraphrase it 'keep going' 'don't give up'. It was called to the pilgrims as they approached the shrine of St James at Santiago de Campostela to encourage them in their pilgrimage. These services are intended to give encouragement to those who have attended a weekend in their pilgrimage of life. They can also help people who are considering attending a weekend to decide whether it might be for them. Although it must be born in mind that although the worship may appear more evangelical, as mentioned on the home page, the theology and teaching tends to be more catholic. Which means whatever your churchmanship there will be something for you in Cursillo.

So what is a 'floating group reunion'? The section entitled Fourth Day explains about seed groups and mentions the topics that should form the basis of discussions at the seed groups. The floating group reunion is like a seed group meeting only instead of it being with a fixed group of people it will be between 5 or 6 of the people at the Ultreya. The membership of the group then is floating, i.e. it has no permanence in its makeup and at another Ultreya you will probably join with different people to form a group. If you want to know what is discussed have a look at the 'Fourth Day' section.