Your Online Monastery for Your Spiritual Practice

Monk in the World: Creative Joy 3 ~ Special CinemaDivina from Marilyn Freeman

Dear monks, artists and pilgrims, The Good Zeal of Monks is a villanelle inspired by the Rule of Benedict, chapter 72. Good Zeal is from CinemaDivina, contemplative video essays created especially for lectio divina practice. I am so pleased to introduce Marilyn Freeman who is a filmmaker in the Pacific Northwest of the U.S. whom I first met at St. Placid Priory in Lacey, WA, where Marilyn and I are Benedictine oblates. She has a true monastic heart and she brings it to a beautiful spiritual practice she calls CinemaDivina. Rooted in the contemplative prayer and listening of lectio divina,

June 7, 2020

3 New Poems by Christine

Christine has three poems in the newest edition of Impspired Magazine online! Click the link for “St Clare and the Cat,” “St Francis and the Wolf,” and “My Last Poem.” The first two are from her series of saint and animals poems. Click here to read the poems at Inspired Magazine.

June 5, 2020

Monk in the World Guest Post: Rita Simon

I am delighted to share another beautiful submission to the Monk in the World Guest Post series from the community. Read on for Rita Simon’s reflection, “Finding Treasures in Aimlessness.” For where your treasure is, there your heart will be. ~ Matthew 6:21 Walk and touch peace every moment. Walk and touch happiness every moment. Each step brings a fresh breeze. Each step makes a flower bloom under your feet. ~Thich Nhat Hahn I grew up the eldest of nine children in a small Wisconsin town. My mother did not drive until she finally got her license at age 60,

June 3, 2020

Pentecost and Holy Surprise ~ A Love Note from your Online Abbess

Dearest monks and artists, Today’s Pentecost reflection comes from the Abbey Archives. “What is serious to men is often very trivial in the sight of God. What in God might appear to us as ‘play’ is perhaps what He Himself takes most seriously. At any rate the Lord plays and diverts Himself in the garden of His creation, and if we could let go of our own obsession with what we think is the meaning of it all, we might be able to hear His call and follow Him in His mysterious, cosmic dance.” ~ Thomas Merton, New Seeds of Contemplation

May 31, 2020

Monk in the World: Creative Joy 2 ~ Scripture Reflection by John Valters Paintner, Your Online Prior

Dear monks, artists and pilgrims, During this Jubilee year of sabbatical we are revisiting our Monk Manifesto by moving slowly through the Monk in the World retreat materials together every Sunday. This is our eighth and final principle that we will explore for the next six weeks. Principle 8. I commit to being a dancing monk, cultivating creative joy and letting my body and “heart overflow with the inexpressible delights of love.” *quote is from the Prologue of the Rule of Benedict 2 Samuel 6:1-5 David Brings the Ark to Jerusalem David again gathered all the chosen people of Israel, thirty thousand. David and all the people

May 30, 2020

Monk in the World Guest Post: Ted Witham

I am delighted to share another beautiful submission to the Monk in the World guest post series from the community. Read on for Ted Witham’s reflection “Knocked for Six.” In the Australian idiom, I was ‘knocked for six’ last year by my first encounter with depression and anxiety. The mental illness shook me from my center. I closed down emotionally and physically, and only after six or eight weeks of gentle care from physician and psychiatrist I began again to find some equilibrium. One of my practices that was ‘knocked for six’ was my decades-long engagement with the Scriptures through

May 27, 2020

Monk in the World: Creative Joy 1 ~ Reflection by Christine – A Love Note from Your Online Abbess

Dear monks, artists, and pilgrims, During this Jubilee year of sabbatical we are revisiting our Monk Manifesto by moving slowly through the Monk in the World retreat materials together every Sunday. This is our eighth and final principle that we will explore for the next six weeks. Principle 8. I commit to being a dancing monk, cultivating creative joy and letting my body and “heart overflow with the inexpressible delights of love.” *quote is from the Prologue of the Rule of Benedict “What is more delightful than this voice of the Holy One calling to us? See how God’s love shows us the way of life.” —Rule

May 24, 2020

Monk in the World Guest Post: Pat Butler

I am delighted to share another beautiful submission to the Monk in the World guest post series from the community. Read on for Pat Butler’s reflection, “The Secret Place Studio.” “But when you pray, go into your room and shut the door and pray to your Father who is in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you.”—Matthew 6:6 Just as an artist needs a quiet studio to practice his or her discipline, a monk in the world needs a quiet studio to pray. We might call it a cell or prayer closet; I prefer to think

May 20, 2020

Finding Nourishment in a Time of Pandemic ~ A Love Note from Your Online Abbess

Dear monks, artists and pilgrims, I wrote this reflection last Sunday morning, Mother’s Day in the U.S.: Each day John and I walk with Sourney up the canal and down the river that slice through Galway. Yesterday the swan we’ve seen nesting across the smooth water for several weeks was out with her new babies, five tiny grey cygnets swimming behind her as she searched for food. Back at home, the starlings have nested again outside our building in the large fuchsia bushes as they do each May. The young ones old enough to fly come to our balcony with

May 17, 2020

Monk in the World: Conversion 6 ~ Reflection Questions and Blessing

Dear monks, artists and pilgrims, During this Jubilee year of sabbatical we are revisiting our Monk Manifesto by moving slowly through the Monk in the World retreat materials together every Sunday. Each week will offer new reflections on the theme and every six weeks will introduce a new principle. Principle 7. I commit to a lifetime of ongoing conversion and transformation, recognizing that I am always on a journey with both gifts and limitations. This week I invite you to ponder the following questions as guides for your practice of conversion. Are there areas of your life which could benefit from an infusion

May 16, 2020

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Monk in the World: Creative Joy 3 ~ Special CinemaDivina from Marilyn Freeman

3 New Poems by Christine

Monk in the World Guest Post: Rita Simon

Pentecost and Holy Surprise ~ A Love Note from your Online Abbess

Monk in the World: Creative Joy 2 ~ Scripture Reflection by John Valters Paintner, Your Online Prior

Monk in the World Guest Post: Ted Witham

Monk in the World: Creative Joy 1 ~ Reflection by Christine – A Love Note from Your Online Abbess

Monk in the World Guest Post: Pat Butler

Finding Nourishment in a Time of Pandemic ~ A Love Note from Your Online Abbess

Monk in the World: Conversion 6 ~ Reflection Questions and Blessing

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New Prayer Cycle Launch and 20th anniversary celebration! ~ A Love Note from Your Online Abbess

Monk in the World Guest Post: Rochelle Rawson Naylor

Easter and the Journey to Joy! ~ A Love Note from Your Online Abbess

Monk in the World Guest Post: Lori DiPrete Brown

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