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Reflections

Category: Pilgrimage

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St Colman, Solitude, and Pilgrimage ~ A Love Note from Your Online Abbess

Pilgrimage Blessing*Journeying One,you help us to navigate the path, placing one foot in front of the other, even when the way ahead is not visible. We set aside our desire for maps, GPS, and guidebooksand surrender to an inner knowing and directionsparked by the deepest longings of our hearts. We know the desire for new life we feel has been kindled by you.May we surrender our need to steer the courseand let every step we take carry us into greater intimacy with you.Help us to see others as fellow pilgrims on the waywith their own fears and struggles.Compel us to

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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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Update on In-Person Pilgrimages

Dearest monks and pilgrims, It seemed time for an update on our in-person pilgrimages as it has been a while since we posted about this on our website and we continue to get inquiries.  We have not scheduled any in-person programs since the pandemic and we won’t be doing so for the foreseeable future.  The reasons for this are many including the intensive time investment and financial risk of planning programs in uncertain times. Primarily though, it is because of my own health challenges over the last couple of years. Due to being immune compromised and ongoing fatigue and pain,

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Some Updates from Your Online Abbess

Dearest monks, artists, and pilgrims, This past Monday our Wisdom Council gathered together online for our semi-annual time of reflection, inspiration, and planning. We are extraordinarily blessed with a group of 14 members who are heart-centered, contemplative leaders committed to helping Abbey of the Arts continue to flourish and serve this community in challenging times.  We first created the Wisdom Council several years ago when John and I realized we wanted more support for what was emerging, we wanted it to be a truly collaborative vision. While we are not a registered charity or non-profit structure, primarily because we went that path

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Does Your Heart Long to Journey to Celtic Lands? ~ A Love Note from Your Online Abbess

Dearest monks, artists, and pilgrims, These northern hemisphere days when the nights grow longer and the sun lower in the sky is my favorite time of year. I especially love that the sun rises later and later so I am able to get up on calm mornings and stand at the threshold of sea and shoreline to witness the beauty that unfolds. (The photo above is from a recent October morning walk).  This is the time of year when the ancient ones honored the growing darkness as the season of mystery, rest, and incubation. It is the time when the

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Join Us On a Virtual Pilgrimage to Ireland ~ A Love Note from Your Online Abbess

Dearest monks, artists, and pilgrims, We are thrilled to be offering a second virtual Celtic pilgrimage starting a week from tomorrow which will be the eve of Samhain and the Feast of All Hallows. Journey with us over nine days as we deepen into Celtic wisdom and hear the stories of Kevin, Ita, and Enda. Each day’s live session (via Zoom) also includes film footage from various sacred sites in Ireland including Glendalough and two of the Aran Islands as well as our wonderful guides Dara Molloy, Deirdre Ní Chinnéide, Pius Murray, Fr. Michael Rodgers, Pádraigín Clancy, and Órla Mc Govern. (All

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Update About In-Person Programs ~ A Love Note from Your Online Abbess

Dearest monks and pilgrims, Now that the pandemic seems to be (at least temporarily) subsiding many of you are looking for meaningful travel opportunities. We decided early on in 2022 to cancel all of the in-person programs we had scheduled. There were several reasons for this — it takes an enormous amount of work to plan for these pilgrimages and to keep having them delayed the last couple of years hasn’t been sustainable for us so we have chosen to focus our energy in other directions for the time being. The pandemic is still ongoing and new variants can emerge

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