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The “great hands of your heart”

Excerpt I am praying again, Awesome One. You hear me again, as words from the depths of me rush toward you in the wind. . . It’s here in all the pieces of my shame that now I find myself again. I yearn to belong to something, to be contained in an all-embracing mind that sees me as a single thing. I yearn to be held in the great hands of your heart — oh let them take me now. Into them I place these fragments, my life, and you, God — spend them however you want. —Rainer Maria Rilke,

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November 25, 2012

the winner of this week’s Poetry Party is. . .

. . .   Karla Grauberger!   You have won a space in my upcoming online retreat – Birthing the Holy: An Online Retreat for Advent with reflections by Macrina Wiederkehr, OSB and myself, and the wonderful art of Mary Southard, CSJ. Make sure to stop by and savor the wondrous poems offered there on the theme of community!  Thank you to everyone who participated for making the Abbey such a beautiful community of poets.

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November 25, 2012

Invitation to Poetry: Community

Welcome to the Abbey’s 62nd Poetry Party! I select an image and suggest a theme/title and invite you to respond with your own poem. Scroll down and add it in the comments section below. Feel free to take your poem in any direction and then post the image and invitation on your blog (if you have one), Facebook, or Twitter, and encourage others to come join the party!  (If you repost the photo, please make sure to include the credit link below it and link back to this post inviting others to join us). Each month we have a new

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November 18, 2012

The winner of this week’s Photo Party is. . .

Bard Judith!  Judith, contact me to confirm your email address and you will be subscribed to my upcoming online retreat – Birthing the Holy: An Online Retreat for Advent with reflections by Macrina Wiederkehr, OSB and myself, and the wonderful art of Mary Southard, CSJ. Thank you to everyone who participated.  Unfortunately I didn’t get to comment on everyone’s image this time, but I did savor each one.  I am so grateful for this creative community.  Make sure to stop by and savor the beautiful images shared here. I am heading off to Ireland tomorrow for a week, so things

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November 11, 2012

Invitation to Photography: Community

Welcome to the Abbey Photo Party! I select a theme and invite you to respond with images. Our theme here at Abbey of the Arts for November is community, so I invite you to reflect visually on your own spiritual community – whether through kindred souls, the communion of saints and ancestors, or connection to the community of nature. You can share images you already have, but I encourage you also to go for a walk with the theme in mind and see what you discover. How to participate: 1. Go to the Flickr Group I have created (when you

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November 5, 2012

New review of Desert Fathers and Mothers!

The wonderful folks at Englewood Review of Books have featured a marvelous review of my latest book.  Here are some excerpts: Truly, Paintner offers the commentary not of a learned academic—which she undoubted is—but of an amma who herself wants to speak a word to her readers. The result is a book that you will not want to put down and that you will no doubt revisit often for Paintner’s wisdom as much as the mothers’ and fathers’ wisdom. . . Paintner has offered a succinct introduction to and a lively commentary on the desert mothers and fathers. There are

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November 2, 2012

November Theme: Community

To be a monk today or someone seeking to incorporate monastic values into his or her own life presumes being a part of a community of friends, people with whom a person can share the counsels of the heart and speak a language of the heart to one another. -Edward Sellner, Finding the Monk Within For the month of November, we turn our attention to the principle of community, 3. I commit to cultivating community by finding kindred spirits along the path, soul friends with whom I can share my deepest longings, and mentors who can offer guidance and wisdom

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November 1, 2012

Visual Meditation: Melk and the Wachau

Today is the Austrian National holiday, and while I am away in Germany attending a conference on Hildegard of Bingen, I share some visual celebration of the beauty of Austria. Photos are from a recent trip to the Benedictine Abbey in Melk and a return by boat through the Wachau wine-growing region along the Danube. Consider joining Kayce S. Hughlett and me for Springtime in Vienna, April 6-13. 2013!

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October 26, 2012

Welcoming in Zeal:
A CinemaDivina Prayer Offering

The theme for October here at the Abbey is hospitality based on the second principle of the Monk Manifesto: 2. I commit to radical acts of hospitality by welcoming the stranger both without and within. I recognize that when I make space inside my heart for the unclaimed parts of myself, I cultivate compassion and the ability to accept those places in others. (Please consider stopping by to sign the Monk Manifesto as a statement of your own commitment). Last month I introduced the wonderful work of Marilyn Freeman, a filmmaker in the Pacific Northwest of the U.S. and fellow lover of the Benedictine way. One

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October 21, 2012

Upcoming Programs

A Midwinter God: Encountering the Divine in Seasons of Darkness
A Midwinter God: Encountering the Divine in Seasons of Darkness
20 Jan 25
Holding Paradox: A Retreat with St. Brigid
Holding Paradox: A Retreat with St. Brigid
31 Jan 25
Contemplative Prayer Service: Work
Contemplative Prayer Service: Work
3 Feb 25

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