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Reflections

Category: Dancing Monks Icon Series

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St. Gobnait and the Place of Resurrection ~ A Love Note from Your Online Abbess

Dearest monks and artists, Our featured self-study this month has been our virtual Celtic pilgrimage honoring Saints Brigid, Ciaran, and Gobnait. The pandemic inspired many new creative offerings and the virtual pilgrimages have been a favorite. (We have a brand new Celtic pilgrimage coming in late April for Beltaine where you can join us live for 9 days).  I only learned about St. Gobnait after moving to Ireland, but she is perhaps one of my favorite of the Irish saints. She is a fifth- and sixth-century monk who fled her home in County Clare and headed first for the island of Insheer. It is

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Sister Thea Bowman ~ A Love from Your Online Abbess

Dearest monks and artists, We are very excited to be hosting ValLimar Jansen this Friday for a mini-retreat. She is an extraordinary musician and performer and has a special love for Sister Thea Bowman, a Franciscan Sister of Perpetual Adoration and prophetic witness to the Black American Catholic experience who worked to break down racial and cultural barriers. ValLimar wrote a musical to celebrate Sister Thea’s life.  ValLimar shares this reflection with us that she wrote originally for Liguori Publications:  Sister Thea Bowman was a trailblazing African American Catholic religious sister. She was a powerful voice for social justice and a passionate

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Imbolc and Brigid’s Mantle ~ A Love Note from Your Online Abbess

Dearest monks and artists, February 1st-2nd marks a confluence of several feasts and occasions including: the Celtic feast of Imbolc, St. Brigid’s Day, Candlemas, Feast of the Presentation, and Groundhog Day in the northern hemisphere! (Imbolc is August 1st in the southern hemisphere). Imbolc is a Celtic feast that is a cross-quarter day, meaning it is the midway point between the winter solstice and spring equinox. The sun marks the four Quarter Days of the year (the Solstices and Equinoxes) and the midpoints are the cross-quarter days.  In some cultures, like Ireland, February 2nd is the official beginning of spring. As

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Ireland’s Mermaid Saint ~ A Love Note from Your Online Abbess

Dearest monks and artists, Next Saturday is the Feast of St. Muirgen, Ireland’s very own mermaid saint. Her story was written down in the 6th century and is a powerful metaphor for our own journeys of loss, descent, grief, and then finding our own sacred song. I will be leading a mini-retreat on Friday (the eve of her feast day) inviting you to explore her wisdom for your own life.  I am blessed to live by the sea. I go often to the water to listen to her ancient rhythms and the primordial voice whispering in the waves. I go because it is

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Dancing Monk Icon Cards: Remnant and Extras Sale 

We know many of you love our dancing monk icons created by artist Marcy Hall and have appreciated having sets of cards produced. This has become a bit more challenging over time as we continually add to our collection of images and some of you have our original sets of cards (which came either in a plastic wrapper or a green gauze bag and were shipped from Ireland) and some of you have the boxed set (which came in a custom box with a printed guide and were shipped from Seattle in the U.S.).  Currently we are not going to

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Dancing Monk Icon Cards, Prints and Journals

Dancing Monk Cards, Prints, and Journals We are pleased to offer our beloved Dancing Monk icons now available as prints, cards, and journals with the dancing monk, mystic, or saint of your choice through on demand printing with Redbubble. A portion of the proceeds goes to support Marcy Hall, the gifted artist who painted each icon.  Browse cards, prints, and journals.

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Easter Blessings! ~ A Love Note from Your Online Abbess

Dearest monks, artists, and pilgrims, We wish you radiant blessings of Easter and the joy of new life out of death! Next Saturday, Lerita Coleman Brown will be leading a retreat for us on the wisdom of Howard Thurman and the healing power of mystical love. Here is a brief excerpt from her wonderful book What Makes You Come Alive where she explores Thurman’s wisdom about anchoring ourselves in a radical trust in God’s love: *** One night in 1910, Howard Thurman’s mother woke him up and coaxed him outside. She wanted him to catch a glimpse of Halley’s Comet, which is only

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