There is something spectacular about the grace of silence.   Starting this month, September, the Abbey is going to feature a monthly theme (click over to the Abbey blog to see the beautiful icon).  This month we are exploring silence, the first principle of the Monk Manifesto: “I commit to finding moments each day for silence and solitude, to make space for another voice to be heard, and to resist a culture of noise and constant stimulation.” Each month for the next seven months, we will take one of the Monk Manifesto themes for the entire month and it will shape

Hello my dear and beautiful monks, I have made the long journey across the ocean and am settling into my new home in Vienna, Austria.  More about the pilgrimage to be posted here soon as well as photos, but in the meantime I have a present for you! Don’t you just love presents! Pour yourself a cup of tea, close your eyes, and take three slow deep breaths. Then open your eyes, enlarge the Vimeo screen below, press play, and allow the meditation to take you into the landscape of the Monk Manifesto through art and music. Three and a half minutes inviting you to

University of St Andrews is hosting an art and monasticism symposium at their Transpositions blog.  I wrote about beginning again and again as an artist: As artists and creative people we are filled with the best of intentions. We are inspired with big visions and a longing to express ourselves freely and fully. We begin a project – whether writing a book, painting a canvas, or composing a song – with enthusiasm and full of confidence. Then somewhere along the way we find our energy waning, and the artwork we once felt such delight in has now become a source

I first met Dana when she attended a contemplative art retreat I led a couple of years ago.  I discovered not only a kindred spirit but a very wise woman with a multitude of gifts.  Dana has created a beautiful website called Sacred Life-Arts which is an online sanctuary, classroom, and resource center devoted to bringing creative inspiration and spiritual illumination to women.  Be sure to check out her free 7-day e-course on Living with Divine Awareness: Sacred Practices to Awaken the Senses. Leave a comment below for a chance to win a free signed copy of Our Turn Our Time:

Roy DeLeon is a fellow oblate with me at St. Placid Priory in Lacey, WA.  Roy is also trained as a yoga teacher and invites people into the physical poses of this practice as an embodied way of praying with the psalms and other scriptures.  Roy will be offering a weekly movement prayer as a part of the Advent 2011–Birthing the Holy: Becoming a Monk in the World online retreat (November 27-December 24, 2011). Leave a comment below and enter for a chance to win a free signed copy of Roy’s wonderful book Praying with the Body: Bringing the Psalms to Life.

I got to know Mary first through her books and then later had the joy of meeting her in person at a Spiritual Directors International conference.  She is an Episcopal priest and the author of several books on how Benedictine practice can be supportive of those living with illness.  In her writing I discovered a wise companion and guide and a doorway into the gifts of balance monastic wisdom offers. Leave a comment below and enter for a chance to win a free signed copy of her latest marvelous book on Celtic Christian Spirituality. “What is a monk in the