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Reflections

Category: Contemplative Prayer Service

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Mary and the Month of May ~ A Love Note from Your Online Abbess

Dearest dancing monks, artists, and pilgrims, Tomorrow is our monthly contemplative prayer service and because Simon is in the middle of a big transatlantic move, I will be joined instead by Nóirín Ní Riain, a wonderful friend here in Ireland many of you know well.  Because it is the month of May and Nóirín and I both have such a devotion to Mary and the sacred feminine, Mary will be the focus of our prayer service, as well as the Celtic festival of Bealtaine.   In my book Birthing the Holy: Wisdom from Mary to Nurture Creativity and Renewal, I explore 31 names for

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May 10, 2026

Celebrating 20 Years in Community! ~ A Love Note from Your Online Abbess

Dearest dancing monks, artists, and pilgrims, We celebrate our 20th anniversary tomorrow! In honor of this celebration we thought we’d revisit the ways you can connect with our community.  Have you had a chance yet to engage with our Monk in the World” 8-Day Online Retreat. It’s our gift to you. You’ll receive a daily email to help you integrate the Abbey’s rhythms into your everyday life. Have you read and signed the Monk Manifesto? By adding your name, you join a global community committed to silence, slow living, and creative expression. And finally, there are many ways to join the ongoing dance

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April 26, 2026

When It Feels as if the World Is Ending ~ A Love Note from Your Online Abbess

When It Feels as if the World Is Ending*Holy Ground of Love,the world so often feels as if it is endingwith news of wars raging, children dying,fires burning, floods rising—so much suffering, so much cruelty.My heart feels like a tree rotting away,my throat is full of gravel,my gut a boulder,my eyes swollen with tears.With the future tangled with so much loss,it all feels impossible.Bless all those who are sufferingbecause of injustice, loss, and greed.Ease their painand grant them a vision of new life.Bless me with clarityto remember that your love is the foundation.Bless me with guidanceto be a vessel of

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March 1, 2026

The Wisdom of Mary ~ A Love Note from Your Online Abbess

Dearest dancing monks, artists, and pilgrims, During Advent we consider Mary in a special way, especially her role as the one who birthed Jesus into the world. This image of birthing the holy has long been close to my heart.  Our featured self-study retreat for December is the companion retreat to my book Birthing the Holy in which I explore 31 archetypes and images of Mary. Simon, Jamie, and I will also be leading a contemplative prayer service tomorrow on the theme of Mary as Mirror of Justice.  Here is an excerpt from the book: Mary appears throughout the Gospels, most notably at the beginning

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December 7, 2025

The Interconnectedness of All Things ~ A Love Note from Your Online Abbess

Dearest dancing monks, artists, and pilgrims, We are entering what the ancient Celtic tradition calls the dark half of the year. The feasts of Samhain, All Saints’, and All Souls’ Day coincide as we make a journey of descent into the gifts of darkness. Tomorrow, November 3rd, Simon de Voil and Polly Paton-Brown will lead our Contemplative Prayer Service on the theme of Mycelium.  Mycelium is the beautiful, root-like, branching, underground network of fungal systems that act, in part, as a communication highway for plants. Trees in particular communicate with one another through this mycorrhizal network, sharing information essential to their health and the health

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November 2, 2025