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Category: Abbess love notes

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St. Francis and the Gift of Song ~ A Love Note from Your Online Abbess

Canticle*They sat in the convent gardenbreathing in rosemary and thyme,Francis ill and frail, his vision obscured.Clare had lost use of her legs,both their faces markedby lines that told stories—how their chosen povertyhad intensified their love,had freed them from unnecessary burdens.They talked for hours,stretched like a tent above them,their laughter and weepinghung in the air like rose garlands,interrupted by moments of stillnesswhen they paused and listenedto the way the breeze rustledthe world, coaxing forth its song.And when sunlight emergedthey turned their faces toward it like daisies,and when rain pouredthey huddled under the roofto hear how its rhythm echoed their hearts.As summer

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The Art and Wisdom of Savoring ~ A Love Note from Your Online Abbess

Dearest dancing monks, artists, and pilgrims, My newest book Give Me a Word: The Promise of an Ancient Practice to Guide Your Year has been published by Broadleaf Books! (You can download a free reflection guide or small group leader’s guide here).  In 2012, the year we moved to Europe, the word that claimed me was savor. I had been reading In the Company of Rilke by Stephanie Dowrick.  The German poet Rilke has been a teacher of mine for many years but that previous year his wisdom became even more necessary for my life.  Each morning as a part of my daily prayer and journaling time I

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Give Me a Word ~ A Love Note from Your Online Abbess

Dearest dancing monks, artists, and pilgrims, My newest book Give Me a Word: The Promise of an Ancient Practice to Guide Your Year has been published by Broadleaf Books! (You can download a free reflection guide or small group leader’s guide here.)  The dedication to my book reads:  “For all the ancient and contemporary wild-hearted ammas and abbas who let the desert work its power and who listen for the sacred word of Mystery emerge from within.” That includes you, especially if you are drawn to the wisdom of the desert and how it can support us in living in challenging times. The

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Autumn Equinox Deep Rest ~ A Love Note from Your Online Abbess

Dearest dancing monks, artists, and pilgrims, We live in times when it often feels like everything is coming undone. The Celtic hinge points of Autumn Equinox, Samhain, the Winter Solstice, and Imbolc offer the wisdom of living into a rhythm that honors the importance of times of rest as essential to our personal and collective wellbeing. This Friday, September 19th, we begin our Deep Rest series of mini-retreats with a gathering to honor the Autumn Equinox and the energy of surrender. Autumn is a time of transition, of the earth’s turning, with the balance of light and dark in the northern hemisphere tilting toward the

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Resting into Uncertainty and Harnessing Opportunity ~ A Love Note from Your Online Abbess

Dearest dancing monks, artists, and pilgrims, Tomorrow, September 8th we begin a four week journey for Resistance, Renewal, and Resilience: Resting into Uncertainty and Harnessing Opportunity with Kindred Spirits led by Wisdom Council members Aisling Richmond, Felicia Murrell, Jamie Marich, and Richard Bruxvoort Colligan. This retreat will guide you through contemplative and action-based practices to meet the challenging times in which we live.  Felicia Murrell offers this reflection. As a descendant of enslaved humans in America, I embody resistance, resilience and renewal. These energies live within me, blood memory genetically coded in my DNA, alive in every cell. I’ve been asking Sacred Presence to

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Resistance, Renewal, and Resilience ~ A Love Note from Your Online Abbess

Dearest dancing monks, artists, and pilgrims, On Monday, September 8th we begin a four week journey for Resistance, Renewal, and Resilience: Resting into Uncertainty and Harnessing Opportunity with Kindred Spirits led by Wisdom Council members Aisling Richmond, Felicia Murrell, Jamie Marich, and Richard Bruxvoort Colligan. This retreat was created to guide you through contemplative and action-based practices to meet the challenging times in which we live. Through rest and renewal we not only nourish ourselves, we settle into what is most important for our spiritual growth and our capacity for resilience.  Jamie Marich offers this reflection as inspiration. In a Worldby Jamie Marich The

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Trust in Abundance ~ A Love Note from Your Online Abbess

A Blessing for Trust in Abundance*Spirit of generous abundance,remind us there is always more than enough,enough food, enough love, enough time, enough resources. Help us to see how our patterns of livingseparate and disconnected amplifies our scarcity. Bring us into the joy and challenge of communitywhere bread divided multiplies, where laughter shared overflows. Empower us to share freely from our own abundance with others in need. Slow us down to see how time expandswhen we breathe and pay attention. Bless us in our efforts to trust in the goodness and love that pulses through the worldsustaining it moment by moment.

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