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Category: Online Retreats

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St. Ignatius of Loyola and the Contemplative Path ~ A Love Note from Your Online Abbess

Dearest monks, artists, and pilgrims, I am excited that we have been adding to our dancing monk icon series! We had paused for a while but now the creative juices and inspiration is flowing again and Marcy is hard at work. I am not sure when or if cards will be available (we are doing a special limited set of the 10 new cards for our Sustainers Circle supporters), but Marcy will make these available as prints as always.  I wanted to introduce Ignatius of Loyola first because his spirituality had a significant impact on me in my early years of

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Presence: Cultivating Embodiment with Christine Valters Paintner

Christine Valters Paintner will guide us as we explore the true meaning of the Incarnation—God became flesh—and points to the spiritual importance of appreciating the bodies God gave us.The invitation to be truly present to our own body is now louder and more relevant as we face divisions and disconnections. We are invited to cultivate a deeper and more grounded presence to our body so we can be more present to others and nature. We hope to learn how to become more comfortable in our own skin and more aware of our internalized trauma. Who is this for? Those who

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Soul of a Pilgrim Online Retreat in Community

with Christine & John Valters Paintner, and Jamie Marich Facilitated by Melissa Layer and Amber Andreasen April 13-June 7, 2020 You are also warmly invited to join us for The Soul of a Pilgrim, an online retreat in community starting April 13 for 8 weeks. We will deepen into our exploration of what it means to be a pilgrim in these challenging times and what wisdom the pilgrim way has to offer us and our world. Christine will be doing a weekly live session and our forum will be lovingly facilitated. Lots of creative practices as well. There is a

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Join us for Way of the Monk, Path of the Artist ~ A love note from your online abbess

Dearest monks and artists,  Be. Here. This Moment Now is all there is, don’t go seeking another. Discover the sacred in your artist’s tools, they are the vessels of the altar of your own unfolding. Look at this cup of holy water, washing clean the brushes. See the blank page, awaiting your blessing. Gaze on the colors before you, each one a name of God: Saffron, Cobalt, Azure, Ruby. Say each one slowly and taste its juice in your mouth. Let this be your prayer. Brush them across the page. First the small strokes, then the larger sweeps. Lose track

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Creativity and Social Transformation

Dearest monks, artists, and pilgrims, Last week I shared that 2016 marks the 10th anniversary of Abbey of the Arts’ existence as a virtual monastery. I will be reflecting back on some of my reflections from the Archives and tracing the development of the Abbey this year.  From the beginning, my heart has been sparked by the conversation between contemplative practice and creative expression and how it might be a force for transformation in the world. Here is a reflection I wrote in the first month of creating the blog on Creativity and Social Transformation: If in the Judeo-Christian tradition

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Sacred Time: An Online Retreat for Advent & Christmas

  Advent invites us into the holy practice of waiting and attending the birth that is coming. Christmas calls us to celebrate that birth with wonder and awe. Our culture tells us the season should be filled with shopping and rushing. The wisdom of ancient monastic practices tells us that this is a time for pausing, savoring, and soaking in awe and wonder. Instead of becoming overwhelmed this year during the holidays, let this be an opportunity to move into a new set of rhythms which cultivate slowness through seasonal awareness. Imagine arriving at the New Year, not exhausted, but

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