About Us

My Story

Norma Woodcock

Our primary purpose as The Centre for Catholic Spiritual Development & Prayer is to bring people into a personal intimate relationship with God through Jesus Christ.

To facilitate this process through prayer, especially through Imaginative Meditations on Gospel Scenes, through the Healing of Memories, through the Inner healing of life’s hurts, through emotional regeneration, affective redemption.

Norma Woodcock, the Founder and Director of this Centre shares how she began this work and what led to it.

“Where to begin this ‘About Us’ Page?,  what has brought me to this point and why have I spent  nearly 40 years trying to help people, in their journey, find healing, integration and peace.

I first had to admit the utter nakedness of my life story, accept it and to share it without excuse or shame.

These words that follow, to describe my early childhood, have been written with the help of an experienced Clinical Psychologist.

‘I’ve suffered and lived through extremes of horror as a small child at the hands of an evil satanic cult in India and I carry scars physically, emotionally and psychologically.

I’ve had the help of many people, but particularly, my intimate deep prayer life with God has brought me integration, acceptance and peace and my work to help others comes out of this my story, to help people with whatever level of dysfunction and trauma they have experienced.

This is the fruit that comes out of that suffering.’

The reason I have retained my sanity and survived the horror I experienced is because the presence of God was with me as a little girl.

I called out to God, as my maternal Grandmother told me to do, when I was bad.

When you are abused you think you are bad, so one day I called out to God, “God, God,” I called, and suddenly I was surrounded by a presence that was love Himself.

I shared with him all that was happening to me and was told by a psychologist that that was like having a psychologist with me all the time.

Archbishop Emeritus Barry Hickey wrote the Foreword to my book, ‘From Fear to Faith’, and in it he says this, “It is essential therefore that God’s action begins in our weakness, our helplessness or in our pain. It is from these depths, from our ‘de profundis’, that we cry out for help. That cry and the way it was answered so beautifully in Norma’s life is here for all to contemplate and find the courage to begin their own journey.”

The memories, of the abuse became repressed, too difficult to deal with, and I lived for years, damaged and broken and sinful. I Lived out of my buried pain and sense of self loathing.

Hurting myself and hurting others.

Then I had my conversion nearly 40 years ago and gradually my life began to change, through the relationship with God through Jesus Christ and through intimate life giving deep prayer.

When the memories began to come back into my consciousness, I could deal with the horror of them, gradually a little at a time, because I now had these tools; Daily prayer, God’s presence with me, as a Catholic, through the Sacraments of the Church, through capable Jesuit direction and with the help of Clinical Psychologists.

Now I began to help others using many of the same tools through which God helped me.

I began giving teaching sessions, retreats, missions, and direction in prayer and Imaginative Meditations on Gospel scenes. Through the Healing of Memories or Inner Healing Prayer as the Jesuit priests call it. All denominations came to me and accordingly I tried to help them develop an intimate relationship with God. I referred people on to Clinical Psychologists when warranted.

I have produced several CDs on, Imaginative Meditation on Gospel Scenes, Healing of Memories, Emotional Healing and teaching CDs on relevant topics. I did this to help people grow in peace, healing and integration. This happened, they did grow and they seemed to be helped.

These products are available through this website.

Now I wanted to reach more people and so began my venture into social media.

I pray my story and my work may help you and that you would let others know so that they may be helped to overcome whatever has stopped them becoming all God has destined them to become.

You are of enormous worth and are much loved, and so am I.”

Norma

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