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Community Lectio Divina: Return to Me with Your Whole Heart

We are returning this month to our weekly invitations to community contemplation and creativity. The season of Lent begins next Wednesday, so we invite you into a lectio divina practice with the words from the first reading for Ash Wednesday from the prophet Joel: Even now, says the LORD, return to me with your whole heart, with fasting, and weeping, and mourning; Rend your hearts, not your garments, and return to the LORD, your God. —Joel 2:12-13 How Community Lectio Divina works: Each month there will be a passage selected from scripture, poetry, or other sacred texts (and occasionally visio and audio divina as well with art and music).

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February 5, 2016

Monk in the World guest post: Judith King

I am delighted to share another beautiful submission for the Monk in the World guest post series from the community. Read on for Judith King’s reflection on a soulful entry into the day: Soul Breakfast Preparation time: 1 Good Night’s Sleep Cooking Time: 45 mins-1hour (For best results try 3-5 times per week) Ingredients 1 Gratitude statement per foot on the floor first thing 1 Mindful Minute at back door or best view window I Lemon Cleanse (glass of hot water, good squeeze of fresh lemon and 2-3tbsps cider vinegar) 1x The-Way-of-the-Three-Steps (Sr Jose Hobday, Plains Tribe Prayer) * 10-15 mins of Body

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February 3, 2016

Feast of St Brigid + Free Mini-Retreat ~ A love note from your online abbess

Dearest monks, artists, and pilgrims, Tomorrow is the Feast of St. Brigid, one of the most beloved saints in Ireland. In late April I have a new book being released titled Illuminating the Way: Embracing the Wisdom of Monks and Mystics in which I explore 12 monks and mystics through the lens of archetypes, those great universal patterns we all contain within us. Brigid is featured inviting us to consider our own inner Healer. Here is an excerpt (and see below for a free mini-retreat to explore her feast day further): Most of what we know about St. Brigid comes

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January 31, 2016

Monk in the World guest post: Louise Crossgrove

I am delighted to share another beautiful submission for the Monk in the World guest post series from the community. Read on for Louise Crossgrove’s reflection on contemplative writing for social media: Being a Monk in the World – Does Facebook Count? This may seem odd as a practice, but I write and respond contemplatively to posts on Facebook. Until recently, my writing had all but stopped. I used to write on a daily basis in my journal. When family issues became more than consuming, the first thing to go was my creative energy. I had retired from full time nursing, though I

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January 27, 2016

Creativity and Social Transformation

Dearest monks, artists, and pilgrims, Last week I shared that 2016 marks the 10th anniversary of Abbey of the Arts’ existence as a virtual monastery. I will be reflecting back on some of my reflections from the Archives and tracing the development of the Abbey this year.  From the beginning, my heart has been sparked by the conversation between contemplative practice and creative expression and how it might be a force for transformation in the world. Here is a reflection I wrote in the first month of creating the blog on Creativity and Social Transformation: If in the Judeo-Christian tradition

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January 24, 2016

Monk in the World guest post: Amy Livingstone

I am delighted to share another beautiful submission for the Monk in the World guest post series from the community. Read on for Amy Livingstone’s reflection on creating beauty in a broken world: “Finding beauty in a broken world is creating beauty in the world we find.” – Terry Tempest Williams Being present to beauty and the sacredness of the creation is the ground of my contemplative and creative life: a cobalt blue, handmade ceramic teacup; rainbows twinkling on a canvas from the crystal hanging in the window on a sunny day; reading poetry under the Sweet Gum tree; or a tiny spider weaving

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January 20, 2016

Earth: The Original Monastery (new article in Network Ireland)

When I long to go on retreat, it is most often the sea or the forest which call to me. Everything in nature can become a catalyst for my deepened self-understanding. The forest asks me to embrace my truth once again. The hummingbird invites me to sip holy nectar, the egret to stretch out my wings, the sparrows to remember my flock. Each pine cone contains an epiphany; each smooth stone offers a revelation. I watch and witness as the sun slowly makes its long arc across the sky and discover my own rising and falling. The moon will sing

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January 18, 2016

3 Spaces Left in our Vienna Pilgrimage

Join Christine & John Valters Paintner and an intimate community of dancing monks November 12-20, 2016 in the beautiful city of Vienna, Austria where we will stay in a Benedictine monastery guesthouse right in the heart of the old city. Imagine days spent reflecting and immersed in contemplative practice, visiting other gorgeous monasteries in the area, and wandering the city illuminated by the glow of Christmas markets. Just 3 spaces left!  Click here for more details>>

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January 18, 2016

Abbey of the Arts celebrates 10 years in 2016 ~ A love note from your online abbess

Dearest monks, artists, and pilgrims, I have been savoring some time of reflection over these midwinter days. Now is an especially ripe opportunity for looking back and forward because in 2016 Abbey of the Arts celebrates its 10th anniversary of ministry and service. In many ways the Abbey began years before 2006, as the seeds were planted in my years of teaching high school and working as a campus minister, then going on to pursue my PhD in Christian spirituality, study spiritual direction and expressive arts, and my early years living in Seattle listening for how to bring the things I loved most together. Our existence as a virtual monastery and global community, however, began

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January 17, 2016

Monk in the World guest post: Mary Anne Dorner

I am delighted to share another beautiful submission for the Monk in the World guest post series from the community. Read on for Mary Anne Dorner’s reflection on aging with grace: Dyeing to be young . . . Reflections on turning 70 . . . I tell myself I am not like other women…I don’t spend endless hours prissing and preening myself in front of a mirror…nor do I spend countless hours at a gym working out on exercise machines, or doing jazzersize routines to pulsating music, or spinning for a time on a static bicycle. No…I would rather spend my morning hours

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January 13, 2016