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Reflections

Category: Abbess love notes

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Feast of St. Patrick ~ A Love Note from Your Online Abbess

Holy Mountain* I want to climb the holy mountain ascend over weight of stone and force of gravity, follow the rise of a wide and cracked earth toward eternal sky, measured steps across the sharp path, rest often to catch my heavy breath. I want to hear the silence of stone and stars, lie back on granite’s steep rise face to silver sky’s glittering points where I can taste the galaxies on my tongue, communion of fire, then stand on the summit and look out at the laboring world. I want to witness earth’s slow turning with early light brushing

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March 11, 2018

St. Enda – New Dancing Monk Icon ~ A Love Note from Your Online Abbess

Dearest monks and artists, We are in the process of sharing our four new Irish saints which Marcy Hall has painted, inspired by my new book forthcoming this fall – The Soul’s Slow Ripening: Twelve Celtic Practices for Seekers of the Sacred (through Ave Maria Press.)  Each of the twelve chapters includes a story of an Irish saint. In addition to the release of new icons, we are also releasing an album of Celtic songs compiled from several friends of the Abbey. Please see more details below! This week I introduce to you St. Enda: St. Enda Arrives on Inismor

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March 4, 2018

St. Dearbhla – New Dancing Monk Icon ~ A Love Note from Your Online Abbess

Dearest monks and artists, We are in the process of sharing our four new Irish saints which Marcy Hall has painted, inspired by my new book forthcoming this fall – The Soul’s Slow Ripening: Twelve Celtic Practices for Seekers of the Sacred (through Ave Maria Press.)  Each of the twelve chapters includes a story of an Irish saint. In addition to the release of new icons, we are also releasing an album of Celtic songs compiled from several friends of the Abbey. This week I introduce to you St. Dearbhla: Dearbhla is said to have lived in the sixth century,

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February 25, 2018

St. Sourney – New Dancing Monk Icon ~ A Love Note from Your Online Abbess

Dearest monks and artists, In January I shared two of the new dancing monk icons of Spanish mystics Teresa of Avila and John of the Cross. We also have four new Irish saints which Marcy has painted, inspired by my new book forthcoming this fall – The Soul’s Slow Ripening: Twelve Celtic Practices for Seekers of the Sacred (through Ave Maria Press.)  Each of the twelve chapters includes a story of an Irish saint, so we added four more to our original eight. In addition to the release of new icons (which are available as prints or cards), we are

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February 18, 2018

Love and Radical Hospitality ~ A love note from your online abbess

Dearest monks and artists, A few days ago I received an email from a woman who is writing her dissertation and asked me to respond to the question: “If you had to choose one spiritual practice that is a non-negotiable for spiritual growth in the 21st century, what would it be and why?” My answer was supposed to be short and succinct. Here was my reply: “I would choose hospitality, both inner and outer, because I believe the welcoming in of all of the exiled pieces of ourselves to be essential for the healing of the world.” Of course, it

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February 11, 2018

Join us for an online retreat this Lent ~ A love note from your online abbess

Dearest monks and artists, I am delighted that John Valters Paintner will be taking the lead on our Lenten retreat online. He has a great love for the scriptures, and taught them at the high school level for many years. The upcoming retreat is the fruit of years of his reflection on exploring some overarching themes in the Bible. What follows is an overview of what the retreat will cover and the rich questions you will be invited to explore: Week 1: Introduction The Bible is not a single, declarative statement of fact. It is a series of competing voices

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February 4, 2018

Imbolc and the Feast of St. Brigid ~ A Love Note from Your Online Abbess

St. Brigid and the Fruit Tree There was the moment you could bear it no more. Your eyes brimming with great glistening drops summoned by the hunger of the world, the callous and terrible things men and women do to one another. Your tears splashed onto cold stony earth, ringing out like bells calling monks to prayer, like the river breaking open to the wide expanse of sea. From that salt-soaked ground a fruit tree sprouts and rises. I imagine pendulous pears, tears transmuted to sweetness. There will always be more grief than we can bear. There will always be

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January 28, 2018