Each year for the past four years we have fostered a dog from one of the local shelters during our quiet season. Each year, when the time came to pass the dog we had grown so much affection for to their forever home, it was always with a mix of sadness and joy. I am grateful to all those families who keep in touch with photos of the life those dogs are loving. Chime arrived to us just after Imbolc, the first awakening of spring. We quickly realized the name didn’t work for her and started calling her Sourney after

We are thrilled and delighted to be releasing a brand new compilation of songs, curated from some wonderful musicians we know and love. These are songs for Celtic seekers as they are inspired by the tradition of pilgrimage in Ireland and accompany Christine’s newest book which will be released in September 2018 from Ave Maria Press – The Soul’s Slow Ripening: 12 Celtic Practices for Seekers of the Sacred. For six weeks we will be featuring the musicians from this album who so generously agreed to share their beautiful music with our community for this project. Next up is Simon

A love note from your online Abbess Dearest monks and artists, I thought I would send this bonus love note today, Ash Wednesday and Valentine’s Day, with a few links to past reflections on this season and time of year. Last year I shared a reflection for Valentine’s Day on Becoming Body Words of Love. And here are two poems for Valentine’s  – Saints Bowing in the Mountains by Hafiz and i carry your heart with me by ee cummings. Imagine me saying these words to you from the heart. Ash Wednesday: The Practice of Truth-Telling This is a reflection

Melinda Thomas has been working with the Abbey since 2015. She formats the newsletter and daily love notes, and uploads the blogs, including those from the Monk in the World Guest Post Series. Melinda has recently taken over managing the Abbey’s Dancing Monk email account. You can still reach Christine at that address but general queries and operational email replies will come from Melinda. Melinda is a writer, activist, and yoga instructor who lives in North Carolina with her young son. She is currently writing The Benedictine Path of Yoga: Integrating Monastic Wisdom with the Practice of Yoga, and blogs weekly at

The wonderful folks at the Intercommunity Peace and Justice Center in Seattle chose the theme of “New Monasticism” for their winter issue of Matter of Spirit. I am delighted to have my reflection “Living Monasticism” featured on the front page. Lots of rich reflections in there including one from Laura Swan, the former Prioress at St. Placid Priory where I am a Benedictine oblate. You can find my reflection as well as the whole issue here>> There is also an audio version for download narrated by someone else.

We posted new dates for our Monk in the World pilgrimage to Vienna, Austria just last week (November 10-18, 2018), but we have had such great interest there are just 3 rooms left right now! If staying in a Benedictine monastic guesthouse in the heart of one of the most beautiful cities in Europe — while Christmas markets open bringing their special magic to the air, companioned by an intimate group of pilgrims, and taking in art, architecture, music, and wonderful good — all sounds enticing, we invite you to consider joining us! Peruse the details below and email us

Starting January 8, 2018 we will be offering a 10-week online retreat for women – The Wisdom of the Body: An Online Companion Retreat to the Book. This retreat is for every woman who wants to reclaim her body as sacred, heal a lifetime of thoughts and judgments, offer compassion and love to this tender vessel, and remember that the incarnation means this body is holy. With weekly live webinars (recorded if you miss them), a vibrant and lovingly facilitated forum for sharing your experiences, and weekly offerings from some wonderful guest teachers. For three weeks, Christine Valters Paintner will be hosting