6 – 17 July 2026, weekdays
Taught by: Daniel McCarthy
The arrangement of a church for the celebration of liturgy both expresses outwardly the mystery at work in us inwardly and is constitutive of this experience.
Aims: At the end of the course each student will be prepared:
- To articulate the principles of the Ritual Model for arranging churches
- To apply the Ritual Model to understand and assess any given church
- These include:
- discussions during Vatican II involving the arrangement of churches
- three pre-eminences and five dimensions from C. Valenziano
- four interpretative keys
- Roman and Ambrosian traditions.
Full course details
AL701 Architecture with Arts for Liturgy (IL diploma elective)
Cost: £300
Location: Liturgy Institute London (at Ealing Abbey)
74 Castlebar Road Ealing London, W5 2DD, UK
Telephone: +44 (0)20 8194 2320
For further details or to register contact the Institute:
E-mail Clare Cogswell, the Registrar, at this linked E-mail address.
Location on Google Maps is found here.
Liturgical Theology and Art
Elective course for IL diploma
6 – 17 July 2026, weekdays
Taught by: Emmaus O’Herlihy
Aims: This course adopts an interdisciplinary approach involving art, liturgy and theology. It explores the theological dynamics that emerge when art is situated within liturgical space, with particular attention to how postmodern aesthetic theories and present-day cultural contexts shape both its interpretation and function. Students will be equipped to develop an independent research project centred on a specific work of liturgical art. Through this, they will critically engage with the theological dimensions of liturgical praxis and explore how visual art contributes to communal worship and shapes ecclesial identity. The course fosters skills in theological analysis, contextual interpretation, and constructive reflection on the role of art in liturgical life.
3 hours daily with a break. Schedule to be determined: probably afternoons.
The course anticipates the student will spend 60 hours in personal reading and study.
Cost: £300
Location: Liturgy Institute London (at Ealing Abbey)
74 Castlebar Road Ealing London, W5 2DD, UK
Telephone: +44 (0)20 8194 2320
For further details or to register contact the Institute:
E-mail Clare Cogswell, the Registrar, at this linked E-mail address.
Location on Google Maps is found here.
Full course details
AL702 Liturgical Theology and Art (IL diploma elective)
Russo Byzantine Icon Painting
Irina Bradley Course Costs: to be confirmed
This 5-day course is suitable for beginners and students of higher levels of ability, no previous artistic experience is required. This course is designed to introduce students to the history of Byzantine art as well as the spirituality of this sacred tradition.
Irina teaches a liquid tempera technique, which is rare. She uses the best pigments, both earth and mineral and 24 carat genuine gold leaf. She teaches gilding and shell gold making as part of the course.
The aim of this course is to finish a small icon. Returning students can bring any of their icons to carry on working on them. Irina will also be demonstrating raised gesso technique. The students will have a choice either to paint an icon or to create a raised gesso pattern and to gild it. Students can bring more than one icon, but will be charged extra, please consult with Irina before the course.
Dr Irina Bradley graduated with a doctorate in icon painting and philosophy from the King’s Foundation School of Traditional Arts, where she is a visiting tutor for their Master of Arts and the general public. She studied icon painting in Italy, Russia and Ukraine. Her work hangs in churches and private collections around the world, including Australia, Japan and the USA. Her work was featured on BBC’s Songs of Praise and the American TV programme, Artful. She has exhibited extensively in the UK, including Buckingham Palace in 2018 at the Prince and Patron Exhibition. For Irina icon painting is a prayer, as she teaches students to paint an icon she prays for all of them, irrespective of religion and nationality. There are many returning students who have been coming to her classes for years and travel to the UK from as far as Hong Kong, Australia and the USA.
For details and to reserve your place on the courses with a £100 non-refundable deposit, please contact us on 0208 194 2320 or by email to info@benedictine-institute.org
© Ealing Abbey, CC 28th October 2025