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
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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
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Monk in the World Guest Post Series

Monk in the World Guest Post: Anne Knorr

I am delighted to share another beautiful submission to the Monk in the World guest post series from the community. Read on for Anne Knorr's reflection, "The Gift of Pilgrimage."

Arriving in Porto, Portugal with carry-on luggage in tow and feeling the anticipation of the adventure awaiting mixed with the fatigue and grogginess from jetlag, my traveling companion and I wandered through the modern airport where large expanses of glass let the warm Portuguese sunlight fill the space and exposed metal beams arched across the ceiling above. We rolled our twin red GoLite bags across the sleek gray tiled floor in search of an information desk and spotted a glassed-in room near the exit to the airport that looked promising.  A small, sturdy, Portuguese woman in her mid-sixties greeted us with a smile when we walked through the sliding door, clearly happy to have a customer.  She pulled out a stack of colorful glossy maps, detailed bus and train schedules, along with tri-fold flyers advertizing the highlights of the city that she enthusiastically displayed across the counter.  When I asked about where I might obtain a Passport for the Camino, a walking document, she directed me to the cathedral at the center of town and then drew an “x” on the map with a red marker indicating the spot near the harbor where we could start our walk the following day.  As we gathered our pile of information and left to hail a taxi she nodded and said, “Bon Camino.”

Her words startled me as it began to sink in that I was really going to do this – walk the Camino de Santiago.  It was no longer just an idea in my head, a far away dream of an enchanting trek to the ancient town of Santiago.  She was the first to speak the familiar blessing I would hear many more times along the way, “good journey,” and I was grateful for her kindness. A small, middle-aged driver with broad shoulders loaded our bags into the trunk of his yellow taxi parked along the curb then darted around traffic, expertly weaving his way through the narrow city streets as music played softly from the radio.  Looking out the window from the back seat of the taxi, I watched as local scenes passed me by. A blue and white tiled wall adorned the face of an historic building, laundry draped from ornate metal balconies of an apartment complex held in place by brightly colored clothespins– red, blue, yellow, and green, a sea of deep orange tiled roofs juxtaposed against the backdrop of the blue sky, and a cat sitting contentedly in a window sill peering over the city below – all of it adding to the charm and texture of the Porto architecture.

In the heart of the city, our hotel, Infante Sangres, stood in the midst of the bustling streets, a tall, pinkish stucco façade accented with stone trim around windows and doors.  We were greeted by a young desk clerk with dark brown eyes and hair neatly tucked into a bun at the nape of her neck. After handing over credit cards and signing receipts, she offered us two delicate glasses filled with deep auburn Port, a popular local drink.  She then escorted us to a delightful courtyard enclosed by white stucco walls with black and white tile flooring, and lush green potted ferns along the edges where we chose a small bistro table in the sun to unwind from our travels.  Relaxed in our garden chairs we soaked in the warmth of the sun on our shoulders and breathed in the moist coastal air, giving in to our travel fatigue.  We sipped on the rich sweet wine and let ourselves arrive – really arrive – body and soul, and I began to feel the subtle pull of the pilgrimage already working her magic on me as I eased into a more spacious relationship with time.  Rarely do I allow this pause of welcome and arrival throughout my day and I realized there is a harshness to being busy and rushing around as I focus on endless to-do list items, all the while blinded to moments of wonder that gently invite my attention. Here, in this courtyard garden, I sat contented without a sense of urgency about anything – no place to be other than here, nothing to see other than what was in front of me, nothing to do other than sit.  As I consider being a Monk in the World, I realize the simple practice of allowing moments of arrival throughout my day, moments to pause and savor, are indeed what make for a good journey, a Bon Camino.


Anne Knorr is an architect, spiritual director and author of the book Sacred Space at Home that explores the connection between architecture and spirituality. She lives in Boulder, Colorado with her husband Bill and spends several months a year on their boat, Mystic Dancer, exploring the coastal waterways of the Northwest.

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Leave a Comment June 10, 2020

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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