I am delighted to share another beautiful submission to the Monk in the World guest post series from the community. Read on for Christina Lelache’s visual art reflection on creating your own prayer book.
In her book, In the Sanctuary of Women, Jan Richardson tells about the discovery of prayer books that belonged to a convent of Cistercian sisters. Handcrafted by the nuns, each book was distinctive to the woman who had used it, each prayer and page reflecting her spiritual journey as she sought God in the layers of her life. Creating the books offered the sisters a way to actively choose and express their own spiritual path, while the pages themselves offered a threshold into prayer and sacred encounter. In recent years, as I’ve deepened into my own longing to make art, I’ve come to know and nurture it as a form of prayer. Revisiting collages and images I’ve made, or rereading things I’ve written, has taught me that this act of looking back helps me remember the grace I’ve experienced on my spiritual journey. It also draws me into God’s presence in the present moment. As I prepared to cross the threshold of graduation from a spiritual direction training program, I found that the story from Richardson’s book had germinated into a desire for my own prayer book, one that would celebrate and remind me of the beauty that comes from my practice and journey with God, even when it’s hard. I also wanted portals of prayer to help me return and center into the sanctuary of my heart and the deep truth within, so that I can continue to show up in these anxious times and offer my gifts with trust, love, and hope. These pages I have created, mixed with my own photography, art, and glimpses of grace from notes and journals over the past couple of years, are those portals for me, an offering from my practice of being present where I am and searching for God in the layers of my life. As I pray with these glimpses of grace, I hope they will remind me of inner wisdom and sacred love, anchoring me as I live and practice in the world.
Christina Lelache is a spiritual director, photographer, naturalist, and United Methodist pastor who creates space for others to connect with the sacred. She delights in exploring the connections between nature, creativity, and spirituality. Her writings, photography, and spiritual direction offerings can be found at wildgracestudio.com.
