Visit the Abbey of the Arts online retreat platform to access your programs:

Login Here

Reflections

Category: Abbess love notes

Filter

Writing as a Spiritual Practice ~ A love note from your online abbess

Dearest monks, artists, and pilgrims, I am away on the wild edges of Ireland this week and John and I are leading a writing retreat with a wonderful group of writers and pilgrims. So I leave you with this reflection I wrote last year on “Writing as a Spiritual Practice.” I am deeply inspired by monastic tradition, one of the great contemplative and mystical strands of Christian heritage, and also present in other religions. Monks were the keepers of wisdom through their commitment to spiritual practice and to the art of writing. Manuscripts were illuminated, bringing word and image together,

Read More
May 8, 2016

Celebrate the Celtic feast of Beltaine ~ A love note from your online abbess

Dearest monks, artists, and pilgrims, In the Celtic Wheel of the Year, today is the feast of Beltaine and the very start of summer. This is an excerpt from our online self-study retreat Sacred Seasons: A Yearlong Journey through the Celtic Wheel of the Year (click link for details and registration): Beltaine (which means bright fire) is another of the cross-quarter days, representing the mid-point between the vernal equinox and the summer solstice and it is often experienced at the height of spring. In Ireland it is considered to be the beginning of summer and the beginning of the light

Read More
May 1, 2016

Embrace the wisdom of your inner orphan ~ A love note from your online abbess

Dearest monks, artists, and pilgrims, Illuminating the Way: Embracing the Wisdom of Monks and Mystics will be released very soon! In my newest book I explore twelve monks and mystics and how each of them invites us into a deeper connection to our own inner multitude, sometimes described as archetypal energies. Last week I shared an excerpt from my reflection on the Sovereign. This week I share from perhaps my favorite archetype of all, that of the Orphan, the tender and vulnerable part of ourselves we so often push away: The Orphan appears across myths, fairy tales, and popular culture,

Read More
April 24, 2016

Embrace your inner sovereign ~ A love note from your online abbess

Dearest monks, artists, and pilgrims, Illuminating the Way: Embracing the Wisdom of Monks and Mystics will be released very soon! I am very excited to share this work exploring twelve monks and mystics and the archetypes they embody and invite us to live more fully into. This week I share another excerpt from the book, this time on the archetype of the sovereign from the chapter on King David: There is a story about Sir Gawain and Lady Ragnell which expresses the heart of sovereignty well. Sir Gawain must decide whether he wants Lady Ragnell to remain beautiful by day

Read More
April 17, 2016

Illuminating the Way will be here soon! ~ A love note from your online abbess

Dearest monks, artists, and pilgrims, I am so excited that my ninth book will be out by the end of this month, Illuminating the Way: Embracing the Wisdom of Monks and Mystics (you can pre-order at the link). Here is an excerpt from the introduction: My husband John and I pray lectio divina most mornings together. We also pray what is known as lectio continua, or the ancient practice of choosing a book of the scriptures and then praying through a couple of verses each day until we reach the end. It is a version of monastic stability, of staying

Read More
April 10, 2016

Be nourished by the wisdom of Celtic monasticism – join us! ~ A love note from your online abbess

Yahweh says this: Put yourselves on the ways of long ago Enquire about ancient paths: Which was the good way? Take it then, and you shall find rest. -Jeremiah 6:16 Dearest monks, artists, and pilgrims, The overall theme for our upcoming Soul’s Slow Ripening online retreat is one that has been emerging in me for several years. I love the image of ripening as an organic and slow process. Discernment calls us to tend to those moments of ripeness, and when we want to pluck the fruit before it is ready, and so hasn’t developed its full sweetness. The ancient

Read More
April 3, 2016

Easter Blessings! ~ A love note from your online abbess

Dearest monks, artists, and pilgrims, We have arrived at the celebration of Easter and resurrection. What Holy Week teaches me is that surrender leads to the fullness of life, yielding our own agendas brings us to new possibilities we couldn’t have dreamed of for ourselves. The story of St. Kevin and the Blackbird is perhaps one of my favorites of all the Celtic saints. He was a 6th century monk and Abbott, and was soul friend to many, including Ciaran of Clomacnoise. After he was ordained, he retreated to a place of solitude, most likely near the Upper Lake at

Read More
March 27, 2016