Abbey of the Arts

Transformative Living through Contemplative & Expressive Arts

  • Welcome
    • 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
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  • 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
    • Walk the Ancient Paths: Pilgrimage
      • Monk in the World (Ireland)
      • Writing on the Wild Edges (Ireland)
      • Poetry and the Sacred Garden of the World (Ireland)
      • Vienna Monk in the World (Austria)
      • Hildegard of Bingen (Germany)
    • Live Programs and Spiritual Retreats
      • Awakening the Creative Spirit: Experiential Education for Spiritual Directors in the Expressive Arts (Northwest)
    • Community Online Retreats
      • Lift Every Voice: Contemplative Writers of Color
      • The Way of the Hermit:
        A Spiritual Survival Guide for Dark Times
        with Kayleen Asbo, PhD
      • The Spiral Way:
        Celtic Spirituality and the Creative Imagination
      • Journey with the Desert Mothers and Fathers (Lent 2021)
      • Sacred Time: Embracing an Intentional Way of Life (Spring 2021)
    • 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
  • Calendar
  • Reflections
  • Contact

Monk in the World Guest Post Series

Monk in the World Guest Post: Deirdre Ni Chinneide

We are thrilled and delighted to be releasing a brand new compilation of songs, curated from some wonderful musicians we know and love. These are songs for Celtic seekers as they are inspired by the tradition of pilgrimage in Ireland and accompany Christine’s newest book which will be released in September 2018 from Ave Maria Press – The Soul’s Slow Ripening: 12 Celtic Practices for Seekers of the Sacred. For six weeks we will be featuring the musicians from this album who so generously agreed to share their beautiful music with our community for this project.

Next up is Deirdre Ni Chinneide who wrote several songs for the Abbey. Read her whole reflection below and to hear a clip of the songs go to the album page at CDBaby here>>

Singing the Heart Home.

There is always a time for me , when  music calls for a stillness and a listening out of which a sound , a song , a prayer or a chant will emerge . It brings  with it an invitation to express from a deep place, which I often refer to as  the wisdom of the well of our own  heart. In the Celtic tradition , the well was seen as a place of deep healing, held in the womb of the earth and a place to which pilgrims journeyed through an ancient tradition called Na Turais. Inis Mor, the largest of the Aran Islands and  steeped in Celtic heritage, is the place where I live and facilitate  retreats in Celtic Spirituality .

It is my heart place, where the silence and landscape of the island open a doorway  to the richness of the Celtic Christian tradition. I sing oscail mo chroi (open my heart) during meditation, to  announce that I am listening to the stirrings of the Divine, making its felt presence known, in the singing and the silence between the notes and words. It has been a prayer all of my life and it is a piece that has been sung throughout the world. It touches my heart to know that this piece speaks deeply to people especially at challenging times in their lives.

These prayer chants  that I compose, have helped me through my own challenging and difficult times and  in their singing, encourage a movement to trusting and surrendering to the presence and the work of the Divine through all. The chant Surrender encourages us to let go, especially in the hardest of times and to enter in to the embrace of Love that will hold and bring us towards a softening and deepening of the heart. The term   Stór  is a charming Irish word used to lovingly address a child. Like little ones, we are called to surrender to the holding and the loving that can accompany us on our pilgrim journey through life.

Inis Mor is steeped in monastic energy.  The presence of ancient men and women who sought solitude and natural beauty to support their journey, is in the very fibres of the island. The landscape holds that sacredness to this very day. Living here in community, the place offers a sacred space to listen in contemplative prayer,  music and silence.  That  memory and presence is a music that begins the day at dawn and plays lyrically in the natural wonders of this magnificent island. I tried to capture that in the chant, I am here listening for you . . . not just that we are listening but that we are also being listened for. The Celtic Tradition holds strongly the belief that at certain times of the year, the veil between worlds is thin and the sound of our ancestors flows gently between this and the spirit world. Sharing this chant with others, particularly at times of bereavement and loss, has offered hope and a sense of loved ones being near in spirit.
Music is a language that throughout my life, has called me deeper in to the heart of who I am and can be and it is humbling and a great privilege to sing with others, through performance, retreat and ritual. All our voices are needed to harmonize with a sound that can create great beauty in the world. There are times when the creative well runs dry and the way seems dark and uncertain. Even in the midst of such darkness, the invitation has always been to be still and listen, trusting that in time, the open heart will reveal itself .

I hope that in this opening (oscail mo chroi), you the listener, will trust the surrendering, knowing that the wisdom of your own heart will reveal what is waiting, longing and listening for, as you return home, to the gift and beauty of who you truly are !

Open,
To the sound of the Song,
From somewhere far beyond.
Carried on the breath
That brought you into its First Cry.
New Born.
Here I am.
Look, listen, touch, taste.
Move and Mirror.
Stand in this place,
Like you are here again,
For the first, last and eternal time.
Hear . . .
I Am.


Trained as a psychotherapist spiritual director and workshop facilitator, Deirdre Ni Chinneie has worked all over Ireland, the U.S.A and Europe including Bosnia and Kosovo. Deirdre divides her time between the Aran Islands and the mainland offering retreats, workshops and performances  of Spiritual Music. The Aran islands with its unique history, culture and natural beauty provides a special setting for her retreat work and was the place of inspiration for Celtic Passage, a cd of music and song exploring   a journey of the heart, which Deirdre leads through music, reflection and prayer.
www.celticpassage.com
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Leave a Comment March 14, 2018

Upcoming Programs

The Way of the Hermit:
A Spiritual Survival Guide for Dark Times

January 22-24, 2021
with Kayleen Asbo, PhD

The Spiral Way:
Celtic Spirituality and the Creative Imagination

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

Recent Reflections

  • 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
  • Hildy Tales One: Dia dhuit, is mise Hildy! by John Valters Paintner, Your Online Prior
  • Celebrate the Earth Monastery Prayer Cycle podcast with us!
  • Join us for A Midwinter God & Epiphany! ~ A Love Note from Our Online Abbess

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