Abbey of the Arts

Transformative Living through Contemplative & Expressive Arts

  • Welcome
    • Prayer Cycle
      • Introduction to the Earth Monastery Prayer Cycle
      • Day 1 Morning & Evening Prayer:
        Earth as the Original Cathedral
      • Day 2 Morning & Evening Prayer:
        Earth as the Original Scriptures
      • Day 3 Morning & Evening Prayer:
        Earth as the Original Saints
      • Day 4 Morning & Evening Prayer:
        Earth as the Original Spiritual Directors
      • Day 5 Morning & Evening Prayer:
        Earth as the Original Icon
      • Day 6 Morning & Evening Prayer:
        Earth as the Original Sacrament
      • Day 7 Morning & Evening Prayer:
        Earth as the Original Liturgy
      • Prayer Cycle Leader Resources
    • About the Abbey
    • About Christine Valters Paintner
    • About John Valters Paintner
    • About the Wisdom Council
    • Monk Manifesto
    • Join the Holy Disorder of Dancing Monks
    • Subscribe to Our Love Notes
    • Website privacy notice
  • Books
    • Sacred Time:
      Embracing an Intentional Way of Life
    • The Wisdom of Wild Grace: Poems
    • Earth, Our Original Monastery:
      Cultivating Wonder and Gratitude through Intimacy with Nature
    • Dreaming of Stones: Poems
    • The Soul's Slow Ripening:
      12 Celtic Practices for Seeking the Sacred
    • The Wisdom of the Body:
      A Contemplative Journey to Wholeness for Women
    • Illuminating the Way:
      Embracing the Wisdom of Monks and Mystics
    • The Soul of a Pilgrim:
      Eight Practices for the Journey Within
    • Eyes of the Heart:
      Photography as a Christian Contemplative Practice
    • The Artist's Rule: Nurturing Your Creative Soul with Monastic Wisdom
    • Desert Mothers and Fathers: Early Christian Wisdom Sayings Annotated & Explained
    • Lectio Divina–The Sacred Art: Transforming Words and Images into Heart-Centered Prayer
    • Water, Wind, Earth & Fire: The Christian Practice of Praying with the Elements
    • Awakening the Creative Spirit:
      Bringing the Arts to Spiritual Direction
    • Lectio Divina: Contemplative Awakening & Awareness
  • Poetry | Art | Music
    • Music + DVD
    • Poetry by Christine Valters Paintner
    • Poetry Videos
    • Dancing Monk Icons
    • Other Art Collaborations
      • Monk in the World art series by Kristin Noelle
      • Saints & Animals art series by David Hollington
      • Sacred Time art series by Alexi Francis
      • Mary block print art series by Kreg Yingst
  • Programs
    • Lift Every Voice: Contemplative Writers of Color Book Club
      • God Alone is Enough: A Spirited Journey with Teresa of Avila (Book Club – February 2021)
    • Community Online Retreats
      • The Spiral Way:
        Celtic Spirituality and the Creative Imagination
      • Journey with the Desert Mothers and Fathers (Lent 2021)
      • Dancing with Fear in Troubled Times
      • Novena for Times of Unraveling
      • Sacred Time: Embracing an Intentional Way of Life (Spring 2021)
      • The Two HT’s-Harriet Tubman and Howard Thurman-on Being Free
      • Writing Into Bloom
        with Christine Valters Paintner
      • Revelations: The Mysticism of Julian of Norwich and Margery Kempe
      • Poetry and the Sacred Garden of the World:
        An Online Writing Retreat
    • Self-Study Online Spiritual Retreats
      • Creative Flourishing in the Heart of the Desert:
        An Online Retreat with St. Hildegard of Bingen
      • Dreaming of the Sea:
        A women’s discernment journey through the story of the Selkie
      • Earth, Our Original Monastery
        A Companion Retreat to the Book (SELF-STUDY)
      • Exile and Coming Home:
        An Archetypal Journey through the Scriptures
      • Eyes of the Heart:
        Photography as Contemplative Practice
        (Companion retreat to the book)
      • Honoring Saints and Ancestors:
        Online Retreat for the Season of Remembrance
      • Lectio Divina:
        The Sacred Art of Reading the World
      • A Midwinter God:
        Making a Conscious Underworld Journey
      • Sacred Rhythms of Sky, Sun, Sea & Stone:
        A Creative Retreat with the Elements (SELF-STUDY)
      • Sacred Seasons:
        A Yearlong Journey through the Celtic Wheel of the Year
      • The Soul of a Pilgrim:
        Eight Practices for the Journey Within
        (a companion retreat to the book)
      • The Soul's Slow Ripening: 12 Celtic Practices for Seekers of the Sacred (a companion retreat to the book)
      • Water, Wind, Earth & Fire
      • Watershed Moments
        in the Hebrew and Christian Scriptures
      • Way of the Monk, Path of the Artist:
        A 12-Week Companion Retreat to The Artist's Rule
      • The Wisdom of the Body:
        A 10-Week Online Companion Retreat to the Book
      • The Wisdom of Mary and the Sacred Feminine
    • Live Programs: Pilgrimage & Retreats
      • Writing on the Wild Edges (Ireland)
      • Hildegard of Bingen (Germany)
      • Awakening the Creative Spirit: Experiential Education for Spiritual Directors in the Expressive Arts (Northwest)
  • Calendar
  • Reflections
  • Contact

Monk in the World Guest Post Series

Monk in the World Guest Post: The Rev. 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 Rev. Mary Anne Dorner's reflection, Spiritual Strength Training.


For years, my primary way of exercising was walking outdoors in the beauty of nature.  Then I read Christine Valters Paintner’s book Eyes of the Heart: Photography as a Christian Contemplative Practice. After that, I began stopping along my path so that I could take photos of flowers and trees, ponds and woods, sunrises and sunsets.  I noticed at times that our neighborhood “crow” would wait for me and accompany me on my walk.  Other birds would often sing their songs as I passed by.  Even the winds would talk to me of impending storms or whisper in my ear with warm tropical breezes.  My walks became spiritual journeys that bring me closer to God while also providing my body with needed physical exercise.
Last summer I was challenged to bump up my routine by adding strength training to my daily and weekly exercises.  Little did I realize how much I would benefit by adding a few simple exercises before and/or after walking.  It took only a few weeks to see improvement.   By now, my body is much stronger and I feel so much better!

Strength training has also become a metaphor for my spiritual life.  For many years, the Daily Office/Prayer was my basic spiritual practice.  At times, meditation and journaling were also part of my every day routine.  For the past few years, I have added various sacred arts and crafts to my spiritual practices.

This fall I added something new to this list ~ prayer stitching.  After decades of not picking up needle and thread except for mending purposes, I was inspired by a blog post by Sibyl Dana Reynolds to start stitching my prayers.

Now, in the quiet stillness of morning, I often find myself listening to the sound of my prayer stitching.  As I place fair linen within a blessed wooden hoop, I set my intention.  It could be praying for a friend who is battling cancer, or for a family member out of work, or a circle of sisters that I hold dear.  A sharpened needle stands ready to receive the colored thread before it begins its journey to pierce the cloth time and time again.

As I hear the needle whooshing through the tiny openings in the fabric, this sacred sound blends with far away musical notes and lifts my heart to prayer.  Ancient words of hymns and prayers readily come to mind: Ave Maria . . . Salve Regina . . . Glory Be.

As I sit and stich my prayers, I feel the sacredness of my task.  I sense that I am one with circles of women across time and space who have created garments for their families and communities, who have made altar cloths and vestments for churches and chapels, and who have stitched quilts and table linens for home and hearth.  There is a holy hush that envelops us all and brings us closer to our Beloved and to one another.

My stitching has become like spiritual strength training as I know that by adding this spiritual practice my prayer life is now more focused and stronger than ever.  It has easily become a part of my being a sacred life artisan.

What new spiritual practice is strengthening your prayer life?  Perhaps it is some form of exercise or hand work, photography, writing poetry and prayers, or just sitting by the fire and listening attentively to the wind howling in the night.  By adding something new to your routine, your senses will be awakened and your spiritual life will be strengthened in ways that you cannot even begin to imagine.  Oh that we may have eyes to see and ears to hear and hearts that discover spiritual practices that will draw us ever closer to Our Beloved.

Love and Blessings, Mary Anne Dorner+


Rev. Mary Anne Dorner is an extroverted monastic theologian and church historian who loves to party. When not off traveling the world with her husband of over 50 years she enjoys hosting Camp Grandma and Grandpa for her eight grandchildren. She is a "retired" Episcopal Priest who volunteers, leads workshops and retreats, and participates in book clubs. The book Ink and Honey by Sibyl Dana Reynolds inspired her to embrace “The Way of Belle Coeur.” She is passionate about writing and you can read her work at everydayblessingsplus.wordpress.com.  Check it out!

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4 Comments May 17, 2017

Upcoming Programs

The Spiral Way:
Celtic Spirituality and the Creative Imagination

Hosted by the Rowe Center
February 1-21, 2021
with Christine Valters Paintner, PhD

Journey with the Desert Mothers and Fathers
Retreat for Lent 2021

February 17-April 1, 2021
with Christine & John Valters Paintner and Betsey Beckman

Recent Reflections

  • Celtic Spirituality and the Spiral Way ~ A Love Note from Your Online Abbess
  • Hildy Tales 3: Ní heolas go haontíos ~ by John Valters Paintner
  • Humility + Join us today for live prayer! ~ A Love Note from Your Online Abbess
  • Hildy Tales 2: Tús maith leath na hoibre – by John Valters Paintner
  • New Book Club for 2021: Lift Every Voice ~ A Love Note from Your Online Abbess

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