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A Christmas Blessing ~ A Love Note from Your Online Abbess

A Christmas Blessing This blessing dances at the doorwayof light and dark, knows both as sacred:fertile womb space, miracle of blooming.This blessing breathesthrough those moments of laborwhen you too birth the holyinto this fragile, luminous, hurting worldas Mary did two thousand years ago,eyes wide, hands gripping,waters breaking like crashing wavesof the primordial seasending a prayer through timethat echoes still,pulsing like starlightin an enormous sky.This blessing rests a handon the back of the lonely disoriented lost hungry despairing persecutedto say your humanity is not an obstaclebut a threshold, to remind youthat the wound is a portalthrough which your gifts pour forth,that

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Returning from Sabbatical ~ A Love Note from Your Online Abbess

Dearest dancing monks, artists, and pilgrims, My time of sabbatical from teaching is come to a close. During my writing time I was able to complete two manuscripts: a fourth collection of poetry titled What Enters Through the Open Heart (to be published by Monkfish Publishing in fall 2026) and a book of devotions for the Easter season about practicing resurrection (to be published by Broadleaf Books in spring 2027). I also completed the final edits for A Book of Everyday Blessings: 100 Prayers for Dancing Monks, Pilgrims, and Artists (being published by Ave Maria Press in February 2026!) And of course my newest

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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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Christine Interviewed by The Center for Action and Contemplation about Her Book “Give Me a Word”

Christine Valters Paintner sat down with CAC’s Publications Manager Mark Longhurst to discuss themes from her new book Give Me a Word: The Promise of an Ancient Practice to Guide Your Year. How can we receive a “word?” Christine discusses practical tactics like contemplative listening, dreamwork, and embodiment. She also invites you to embrace nature and sacred thresholds to tune into the voice of God. Watch this video to discover more on this unique contemplative practice. Join us for our book launch celebration on Monday, September 22nd!

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Journey to Joy Audiobook!

The audiobook version of Christine’s fairy tale for thresholds and transitions is here! Narrated by Christine and several local actor friends in Galway along with some wonderful songs created by musician and wisdom council member Te Martin to companion the journey. Give yourself the gift of receiving this pilgrimage of the heart through the magic of oral storytelling and song.  You can order the audiobook from Bandcamp You can order the print version with amazing artwork from online and local booksellers  In the coming weeks it will also be available on Audible and Apple books, but to support independent artists, Bandcamp is best.

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Give Me a Word Reviewed by Library Journal!

Christine’s forthcoming book Give Me a Word: The Promise of an Ancient Practice to Guide Your Year was reviewed by Marjorie Mann at Library Journal. “The tradition of asking “Give me a word” is a spiritual and meditation practice rooted in early third-century Christianity, which Paintner (Journey to Joy: A Fairy Tale for Thresholds and Transitions) seeks to reintroduce to modern audiences. The practice is Christian in its genesis, but Paintner also pulls from other religious traditions to illuminate and guide readers through slowing down their lives and connecting with the divine via meditating on a word. This book is

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Joy and Rest + Prayer Cycle Podcast Day 5

Dearest dancing monks, artists, and pilgrims, At Easter I published a beautifully illustrated fairy tale titled Journey to Joy and later this month over the summer solstice I will be leading a two-day mini-retreat with guest musician Te Martin.  The story is about Sophia, a writer and woman in search of physical healing as she has experienced a long bout of illness and the joy in her village has also been depleted. I want to share an excerpt from it near the beginning, after Sophia decides to has to leave the village and find the Medicine Woman:  ***** At the river marking the eastern

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