Abbey of the Arts

Transformative Living through Contemplative & Expressive Arts

  • About
    • About the Abbey
    • About Christine Valters Paintner
    • About John Valters Paintner
    • About the Wisdom Council
    • Monk Manifesto
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  • Books
    • 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
  • Icons
  • Music & DVD
  • Videos
  • Programs
    • Walk the Ancient Paths: Pilgrimage
      • Monk in the World (Ireland)
      • Writing on the Wild Edges (Ireland)
      • Honoring Saints and Ancestors (Iona)
      • Vienna Monk in the World (Austria)
      • Hildegard of Bingen (Germany)
      • Sacred Rhythms of Sky, Sun, Sea, and Stone:
        An Embodied Writing and Voice Retreat (Ireland)
      • The Soul's Slow Ripening (Ireland)
    • Live Programs and Spiritual Retreats
      • Awakening the Creative Spirit: Experiential Education for Spiritual Directors in the Expressive Arts (Northwest)
      • Earth Monastery Intensive:
        Nourishing Intimacy with Nature for Soul Care Practitioners (Scotland)
    • Community Online Retreats
      • Jubilee Year Community Retreat:
        Exploring Sacred Rhythms of Time
    • Self-Study Spirituality Online Classes
      • 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
      • 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 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
  • Calendar
  • Reflections
  • Contact

Abbess love notes, Online Retreats, Path of the Artist

Join us for Way of the Monk, Path of the Artist ~ A love note from your online abbess

Dearest monks and artists, 

Be. Here. This Moment Now is all there is, don't go seeking another. Discover the sacred in your artist's tools, they are the vessels of the altar of your own unfolding. Look at this cup of holy water, washing clean the brushes. See the blank page, awaiting your blessing. Gaze on the colors before you, each one a name of God: Saffron, Cobalt, Azure, Ruby. Say each one slowly and taste its juice in your mouth. Let this be your prayer. Brush them across the page. First the small strokes, then the larger sweeps. Lose track of all time. This too is prayer. Listen for the words that rise up: Awaken. Envision. Sing. Alleluia. Place marks on the page saying I am here. Watch as word and image dance together. Luminous. Illuminated. This is your sacred text. This is where God's words are spoken, sometimes in whispers, sometimes in shouts. Be there to catch them as they pass over those sacred lips, tumbling so generously into your open arms.

Those words come from my book The Artist's Rule: Nurturing Your Creative Soul with Monastic Wisdom. In some ways this book is the closest to expressing the heart of what we do at Abbey of the Arts.

Bringing together the poet and the mystic, the artist and the monk, the dancer and the pilgrim – I believe these partnerships offer much grace and healing to our soul-starved world. In my own life, I am feeling the pull of the poet and the hermit quite strongly these days – hungry to sit and listen to the music of silence and offer what is revealed there to me back to the world.

In light of this, I thought I would share four of my own poems (three inspired by Celtic saints) which are published at various links. You might pour a cup of tea and read each one twice slowly and see what invitations arise. Perhaps your own inner artist longs to dance with the monk and mystic.

"Listen" at Anchor

"Dreaming of Stones" at Spiritus Journal (a poem inspired by St. Ita)

"St Gobnait and the Place of Her Resurrection" at Poetrystuff

"Holy Mountain" at Galway Review (a poem inspired by St. Patrick)

With great and growing love,

Christine

Christine Valters Paintner, PhD, REACE

Photo © Christine Valters Paintner (Claregalway Franciscan Friary in Ireland)

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Leave a Comment August 13, 2017

Upcoming Programs

Jubilee Year Community Retreat:
Exploring Sacred Rhythms of Time
(ONLINE)

June 2019-June 2020
with Christine & John Valters Paintner and Wisdom Council members

The Wisdom of Mary and the Sacred Feminine:
A 30-day self-study retreat
(Use code Mary20 for 20% off in December)
with Christine & John Valters Paintner, Betsey Beckman, Jamie Marich, and Sibyl Dana Reynolds

Recent Reflections

  • Monk in the World Guest Post: Jen Arendt
  • Monk in the World: Kinship with Creation 2 – Scripture Reflection by John ~ A Note from your Online Abbot
  • Featured Poet: Mary C. Earle
  • Monk in the World: Kinship with Creation 1 ~ Reflection by Christine
  • Dancing Monk Icons on Sale!

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