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Abbess love notes

Hildy Tails: Jesus Curses the Fig Tree + New Dancing Monk Icon ~ A Love Note from Your Online Abbess & Prior

Dearest monks, artists, and pilgrims, This week we are featuring one of our Hildy Tails. This series of essays were composed last year for our Sustainers Circle. They were dictated to John by the Abbey’s mascot, Hildy the Monk-ey. Hildy is a bit of a free spirit who likes to entertain and doesn’t normally feel constrained by conventional story structure . . . or grammar, in general. She lives by the motto that “all stories are true; some actually happened.” We wanted to share them with you, our wider Abbey community, to give you a small monkey-sized, humorous perspective on

August 28, 2022

Monk in the World Guest Post: Elaine Breckenridge

I am delighted to share another beautiful submission to the Monk in the World guest post series from the community. Read on for Elaine Breckenridge’s reflection “Spiritual Guidance in and Through Creation.” In the summer of 2020 I had the opportunity to read the book Earth, Our Original Monastery by Christine Valters Paintner and participate in an Abbey of the Arts community retreat by the same name. The retreat helped me out of my pandemic lethargy and into the great outdoors. There I experienced, as Christine has written in the book, spiritual guidance in and through God’s creation. My journey

August 24, 2022

Abbess love notes

The Mystical Heart: Love as a Creative Force ~ A Love Note from Your Online Abbess

The soul is made of love and must ever strive to return to love. Therefore, it can never find rest nor happiness in other things. By its very nature it must seek God, who is love. –Mechthild of Magdeburg (1208-1282) Dearest monks, artists, and pilgrims, I’ve been thinking a lot about love lately. About how I believe it is at the foundation of everything. This deep knowing is what helps sustain me in dark times. Even as we are bombarded by news of violence and destruction daily, Love also helps me to remember the tremendous beauty to be found in

August 21, 2022

Monk in the World Guest Post: Julie Ferraro

I am delighted to share another beautiful submission to the Monk in the World guest post series from the community. Read on for Julie Ferraro’s reflection “As Observer and Participant.” Over the course of 30 years, I’ve visited many Benedictine monasteries – as well as Trappist – across the United States. From the first time I stood in the chapel at Our Lady of Grace in Beech Grove, Indiana, praying with the Sisters using inclusive language, I’ve been “hooked” by the way St. Benedict’s balanced approach to life is manifested in this modern era. Since June, 2021, with COVID-19 causing

August 17, 2022

Abbess love notes

Healing the Wounds of Spiritual Abuse + New Dancing Monk Icon ~ A Love Note from Your Online Abbess

Dearest monks, artists, and pilgrims, This Saturday, August 20th, Wisdom Council member and friend Dr. Jamie Marich is leading a retreat on Healing the Wounds of Spiritual Abuse. Jamie is the founder of the Institute for Creative Mindfulness, the practice of Dancing Mindfulness, and has presented this creative movement in many of our programs. For this retreat Jamie combines faith and scholarship with her expertise in trauma therapy and creative mindfulness as a modality for healing. Read on for Jamie’s reflection on healing the wounds of spiritual abuse. *** On the very week in 2015 when marriage equality for LGBTQ+ individuals became the

August 14, 2022

Monk in the World Guest Post Series

Monk in the World Gust Post: Rachel Grandey

I am delighted to share another beautiful submission to the Monk in the World guest post series from the community. Read on for Rachel Grandey’s reflecion “As kingfishers catch fire.” Birdwatching never used to be a spiritual practice for me. As a child on family hikes I grew bored when my parents took out their binoculars, and frustrated if we stopped to watch any but the most dramatic birds. Life was all about reaching the next horizon as quickly as possible. Despite this, glimpses of special birds – Peregrine Falcons, Golden Eagles, Nightjars – etched themselves onto my earliest memories.

August 10, 2022

Abbess love notes

St. Ignatius of Loyola and the Contemplative Path ~ A Love Note from Your Online Abbess

Dearest monks, artists, and pilgrims, I am excited that we have been adding to our dancing monk icon series! We had paused for a while but now the creative juices and inspiration is flowing again and Marcy is hard at work. I am not sure when or if cards will be available (we are doing a special limited set of the 10 new cards for our Sustainers Circle supporters), but Marcy will make these available as prints as always. I wanted to introduce Ignatius of Loyola first because his spirituality had a significant impact on me in my early years of

August 7, 2022

Lift Every Voice Book Club

Lift Every Voice: Contemplative Writers of Color – August Video Discussion and Book Group Materials Now Available

Join Abbey of the Arts for a monthly conversation on how increasing our diversity of perspectives on contemplative practice can enrich our understanding and experience of the Christian mystical tradition. Christine Valters Paintner is joined by author Claudia Love Mair for a series of video conversations. Each month they take up a new book by or about a voice of color. The community is invited to purchase and read the books in advance and participate actively in this journey of deepening, discovery, and transformation. Click here to view this month’s video discussion along with questions for reflection. This month’s selection is The Spiritual

August 4, 2022

Monk in the World Guest Post Series

Monk in the World Guest Post: Jamie Marich

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 Jamie Marich’s reflection and poem on healing spiritual wounds. Jamie will be leading a mini-retreat on Healing the Wounds of Spiritual Abuse on Saturday, August 20th. Several years ago during my own trauma therapy, the memory that I share about in this poem came rolling back for me as I worked through the wounds of my own spiritual abuse–specifically experienced for me as growing up with one Catholic parent and one Evangelical Protestant parent.

August 3, 2022

Uncategorized

Lughnasa and Gathering the Fruits ~ A Love Note from Your Online Abbess

Dearest monks, artists, and pilgrims Lughnasa (pronounced Loo-nassah) is one of the ancient Celtic feasts celebrated on August 1st marking the time of the beginning of the harvest and the gathering in. It is said to honor the Celtic sun-god Lugh who was an ally to the farmer in the struggle for food. With the Summer Solstice six weeks before, you can start to really feel the shortening of the days in August in Ireland. There is a subtle shift in the light and the air that leans towards autumn’s crispness and cooler days. The energy in the world is changing.

July 31, 2022

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Visit the Abbey of the Arts online retreat platform to access your programs:

Reflections

Filter

Hildy Tails: Jesus Curses the Fig Tree + New Dancing Monk Icon ~ A Love Note from Your Online Abbess & Prior

Monk in the World Guest Post: Elaine Breckenridge

The Mystical Heart: Love as a Creative Force ~ A Love Note from Your Online Abbess

Monk in the World Guest Post: Julie Ferraro

Healing the Wounds of Spiritual Abuse + New Dancing Monk Icon ~ A Love Note from Your Online Abbess

Monk in the World Gust Post: Rachel Grandey

St. Ignatius of Loyola and the Contemplative Path ~ A Love Note from Your Online Abbess

Lift Every Voice: Contemplative Writers of Color – August Video Discussion and Book Group Materials Now Available

Monk in the World Guest Post: Jamie Marich

Lughnasa and Gathering the Fruits ~ A Love Note from Your Online Abbess

Upcoming Programs

Recent Reflections

Monk in the World Guest Post: Starr Regan DiCiurcio

Blessing of the Elements ~ A Love Note from Your Online Abbess

Monk in the World Guest Post: Diana Turner-Forte

St Patrick and Answering the Call ~ A Love Note from Your Online Abbess

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