Your Online Monastery for Your Spiritual Practice

Summer Sabbath Time at the Abbey until August 6th ~ A love note from your online abbess

Dearest monks and artists, We like to take some Sabbath time each summer to step back from the work at hand and have time for play and free flow of ideas. Usually this happens in August, but because we will be traveling back to the States for a family visit in July, we decided to take our newsletter and posting break during this next month or so until early August. Sabbath is one of the principles of our Monk Manifesto: “The meaning of the Sabbath is to celebrate time rather than space. Six days a week we live under the

June 25, 2017

Monk in the World Guest Post: Sibyl Reynolds

I am delighted to share another beautiful submission for the Monk in the World guest post series from the community. Read on for Sibyl Reynolds’ reflection Gifts from Mary and Martha: Sacred Practices for a Recollected Life. Many people today are experiencing a call to live a contemplative life. The human spirit longs for peace, serenity, connection with the Holy One, and a return to the Self. In the midst of the tsunami of countless daily demands and the immediacy of email, social media, and information overwhelm, the contemplative heart awaits nourishment and intimacy with the Divine. Myriad responsibilities and life’s frenetic pace, fragment

June 21, 2017

Soul’s Slow Ripening Pilgrimage – Participant Poems (Maureen Winters Perry)

This past March/April we led one of our Soul’s Slow Ripening Pilgrimages based out of Galway City. We have been sharing some of the poems from the writing retreat which participants gave us permission to share over the last several weeks. But poems emerge on the pilgrimage as well. Here are a series of short poems by Maureen Perry. *I cannot sit still now Guide my feet on this journey Lord Let my mind, heart rest. *The smell of the sea The company of a dear friend And friends I don’t know…Yet. *Breathe on me breath of God Let my inhalation and exhalation

June 20, 2017

Celebrating the Summer Solstice + Self-Study Sale ends tomorrow ~ A love note from your online abbess

Dearest monks and artists, In the northern hemisphere we approach the celebration of the summer solstice, the longest day. The seasons are connected to the different cardinal directions, as well as the four elements. Hildegard of Bingen, a 12th century Benedictine Abbess, allied the direction of the south and the season of summer with the element of fire. We find a similar connection in the Native American Cherokee tradition and in the Irish Celtic tradition. We might think of summer as the season of fire and stoking our passions. It is the season of coming to fullness connected to the Hour

June 18, 2017

Monk in the World Guest Post: Anne Buck

I am delighted to share another beautiful submission for the Monk in the World guest post series from the community. Read on for Anne Buck’s reflection on “In Between Light and Dark.” It was the middle of the night and I was asleep. But maybe, just possibly I was awake. Maybe it was the pain medication or the muscle relaxant. It could have been exhaustion or chemotherapy or my imagination. In the fuzzy dark, I heard a trapped and caught animal, screeching for life and I could not open my eyes, I couldn’t move, even though I felt the life draining out of my bones

June 14, 2017

Writing on the Wild Edges – Participant Poems (Christine Davis)

This past April we led one of our Writing on the Wild Edges retreats on the beautiful island of Inismor off the coast of Galway. We will be sharing some of the writing which participants gave us permission to share here in the next few weeks. Up next are poems by Christine Davis. (If you’d like to join us, we have our dates open for 2018 – August 26-September 1) Focail do a Chara (Words for a Friend) Liturgy of Stillness and Rock Liturgy of stillness and rock, Tell me your stories. I am from a people who dream dreams of places they

June 13, 2017

Call for Submissions: Monk in the World Guest Post

We welcome you to submit your reflection for possible publication in our Monk in the World guest post series. It is a gift to read how ordinary people are living lives of depth and meaning in the midst of the challenges of real life. There are so many talented writers and artists in this Abbey community, so this is a chance to share your perspective. The link to the reflection will be included in our weekly newsletter which goes out to more than 11,000 subscribers. Please follow these instructions carefully: Please click this link to read a selection of the posts and get a feel for

June 12, 2017

Feast of St. Columcille + Self-Study Sale ~ A love note from your online abbess

Delightful to me to be on an island hill, on the crest of a rock, that I might often watch the quiet sea. That I might watch the heavy waves above the bright water, as they chant music to their Father everlastingly. That I might watch it’s smooth, bright-bordered shore, no gloomy pastime, that I might hear the cry of the strange birds, a pleasing sound. That I might hear the murmur of the long waves against the rocks, that I might hear the sound of the sea, like mourning beside a grave. That I might watch the splendid flocks

June 11, 2017

Monk in the World Guest Post: Jane Tomaine

I am delighted to share another beautiful submission for the Monk in the World guest post series from the community. Read on for Jane Tomaine’s reflection on Little Dresses for Africa. Sometimes it is just hard for me to get going. Tasks mill around my head like my cats before meal times, walking between my legs, mewing impatiently, rubbing on my ankles to make sure that I don’t forget them. But unlike the cats, there are tasks that I just can’t seem to get to. Have you experienced this dilemma? What is it that we cannot seem to begin? Is it a phone call that

June 7, 2017

Writing on the Wild Edges – Poems from Participants (Michelle Winter)

This past April we led one of our Writing on the Wild Edges retreats on the beautiful island of Inismor off the coast of Galway. We will be sharing some of the writing which participants gave us permission to share here in the next few weeks. Up next is are two poems by Michelle Winter. (If you’d like to join us, we have our dates open for 2018 – August 26-September 1) Orienteering Orienteering For getting our bearings: A compass is useful and a map to identify our latitude longitude our altitude and depth A poem, or two and, perhaps, Courage to help

June 6, 2017

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Summer Sabbath Time at the Abbey until August 6th ~ A love note from your online abbess

Monk in the World Guest Post: Sibyl Reynolds

Soul’s Slow Ripening Pilgrimage – Participant Poems (Maureen Winters Perry)

Celebrating the Summer Solstice + Self-Study Sale ends tomorrow ~ A love note from your online abbess

Monk in the World Guest Post: Anne Buck

Writing on the Wild Edges – Participant Poems (Christine Davis)

Call for Submissions: Monk in the World Guest Post

Feast of St. Columcille + Self-Study Sale ~ A love note from your online abbess

Monk in the World Guest Post: Jane Tomaine

Writing on the Wild Edges – Poems from Participants (Michelle Winter)

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Monk in the World Guest Post: Laura J. Collins

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

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