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Abbess love notes

For Grace in the Ordinary ~ A Love Note from Your Online Abbess

For Grace in the Ordinary*Holy One who shimmers even in the mundane,open my eyes with gratitude for your sustenancein pipes and plumbing,in wires and electricity,in cups of tea and food in the fridge,in piles of dishes and laundry.When dullness and boredom visit,bless all the quiet in-between moments,the sunlight journeying across the floor.Help me to see how the most ordinaryis also extraordinary,how grace dwellsamong the bills to payand messages that await reply.Let my shower each morning become a baptismand my breakfast a communion,consecrating each act of daily life.Let my gratitude pour outin a holy and vibrant yesfor everything quotidian,to see even

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Monk in the World Guest Post Series

Monk in the World Guest Post: Michelle Estep

I am delighted to share another beautiful submission to the Monk in the World guest post series from the community. Read on for Michelle Estep’s reflection Your Soul is a Garden. The garden sanctuary often speaks to the contemplative – the birthplace of Creation with its ancient calling towards beauty, rejuvenation and abundance. Eden becomes a place for the senses and a place for the spirit, an experiential journey to know the One Who Knows Us; which is why so many of us sojourners seek refuge in the sanctuary of the garden space.  In moments of disequilibrium I flee to

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Abbess love notes

Celebrating 20 Years in Community! ~ A Love Note from Your Online Abbess

Dearest dancing monks, artists, and pilgrims, We celebrate our 20th anniversary tomorrow! In honor of this celebration we thought we’d revisit the ways you can connect with our community.  Have you had a chance yet to engage with our Monk in the World” 8-Day Online Retreat. It’s our gift to you. You’ll receive a daily email to help you integrate the Abbey’s rhythms into your everyday life. Have you read and signed the Monk Manifesto? By adding your name, you join a global community committed to silence, slow living, and creative expression. And finally, there are many ways to join the ongoing dance

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Monk in the World Guest Post: Mícheál Ó Súilleabháin

I am delighted to share another beautiful submission to the Monk in the World guest post series from the community. Read of for Abbey friend and guest teacher Mícheál ‘Moley’ Ó Súilleabháin’s reflection and poem on Inis Cealtra/Holy Island. Looking out over the majesty of the lake from the Graves of the Leinstermen, I see only one island with pasture or grassland. All other islands on Lough Derg are completely covered in trees. This island, with its proud round tower just visible, is Inis Cealtra, or Holy Island, a magnificent early monastic ruin with a well preserved round tower and the

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Abbess love notes

Celebrating 20 Years! ~ A Love Note from Your Online Abbess

Dearest dancing monks, artists, and pilgrims, On Monday, April 27th we will be gathering for a 20th anniversary celebration online! We would love for you to join us. We will be sharing some stories from how Abbey of the Arts ripened over the years and some of our lovely musicians will be there to offer the gift of song.  The official date of the 20th anniversary is May 2nd but John and I will be getting ready to welcome some of our Wisdom Council members to Galway, where we live in Ireland, the next day. We are thrilled to have several beloved members joining us to

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Dancing Monk Feast Days – New Book from Abbey of the Arts!

It is finally here! We have created a book for the 52 dancing monk icons created by Marcy Hall for our community. Each icon has a short summary of their life, followed by a creative invitation and beautiful prayer (these were written by Melinda Emily Thomas, Christine and John Valters Paintner wrote the summaries). Immerse yourself in a vibrant journey of faith and creativity in this essential resource from Abbey of the Arts. Featuring 52 colorful, playful icons of saints and mystics, each icon offers reflections, creative invitations, and prayers that explore the depth of contemplative living. Organized around the

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Monk in the World Guest Post: Michael Moore

I am delighted to share another beautiful submission to the Monk in the World guest post series from the community. Read on for Wisdom Council member Michael Moore’s reflection on sanctuary and safe spaces. When I first became acquainted with the Abbey and Christine’s writing; I was a newly retired Air Force Chaplain living in the Florida Panhandle and making my way back into parish ministry after 21 years of active-duty military ministry. When Denise and I were looking for a house one of the important ingredients we wanted in our home was a sense of sanctuary. We found that

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Abbess love notes

The Wisdom of the Body ~ A Love Note from Your Online Abbess

Dearest dancing monks, artists, and pilgrims, This month The Wisdom of the Body: 10-week online companion retreat to the book is our featured self-study. We have updated all the video content to now have closed captioning and transcripts for accessibility.  This is an excerpt from the book: How do I welcome in all that is most nourishing and fruitful into my body and soul? What are the habits and beliefs which rob me of this fertile moistness in my body and soul? There is a story from the desert fathers where an Abba says to a seeker, “Do not give your

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Monk in the World Guest Post Series

Monk in the World Guest Post: Christina Lelache

I am delighted to share another beautiful submission to the Monk in the World guest post series from the community. Read on for Christina Lelache’s visual art reflection on creating your own prayer book. In her book, In the Sanctuary of Women, Jan Richardson tells about the discovery of prayer books that belonged to a convent of Cistercian sisters. Handcrafted by the nuns, each book was distinctive to the woman who had used it, each prayer and page reflecting her spiritual journey as she sought God in the layers of her life. Creating the books offered the sisters a way to

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Abbess love notes

An Easter Gift for You: Midday Prayers for Peace and Justice ~ A Love Note from Your Online abbess

Easter Blessing*God of Rising,you bring new lifeto all the places death inhabits.Bless our own dying dreamswith your breath of new life.Make our dry bones dance,inspire us to sing,revive our bodiesso that we might becomemore vibrant, hopeful witnessesto the persistence of your love.We call on Christ’s wisdomto bless and sustain usin the practice of resurrectionby which we honor our bodiesand become agents of generous abundance.May all the nets we draw upfrom the water be overflowing with fish,may our wounds be still visibleas a sign of healing grace,and may we encounter your presencewhen we sit at table with strangers.Let our lives be

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