Christine was interviewed on the Faith Conversations podcast with Anita Lustrea about her latest book, A Midwinter God. In their conversation they talk about how we deal with darkness and grief in our culture and realize those moments are actually the path of true prayer. Listen to the podcast here.
A Blessing for the Feast of St. Francis of Assisi*Wild and dancing God, you gave us the example of Francisto show us what it means to embody love on Earth.He danced in celebration of everything that you created:the sun, moon, stars, water, wind, earth, and fire,he called them each brother or sister,he cherished the birds, the wolf, and the grasshopper,and even Death became an intimate companion,a teacher of how precious life is.Francis saw the whole world as his monastery,as the place where your sacred presenceshimmers forth like silver.Give us the courage to follow his exampleof holy foolishness, to find our
A Fool’s Blessing*God of upturned expectations,bless us with holy foolishness.Help us take ourselves less seriouslyand believe in what we did not think could be done: impossible situations,limited resources, injustices demanding rectification,traumas needing healing. Grant us a restless heart when we witness oppressionand exploitation, hunger and war,poverty and destruction. Kindle in us a need to extend our handsin service to a hurting world, joining with kindred souls in communities of care, knowing ourselves to not be alone. Help us trust in the tiny seeds we plant,that they grow vigorously and flourish,let the ripples we send across the watersof life be multiplied
We are pleased to offer a reflection guide for my latest book A Midwinter God: Encountering the Divine in Seasons of Darkness which releases on Friday, September 13th. Download the reflection guide here. About A Midwinter God: “I believe we all carry grief that has gone unnamed and unmourned,” writes best-selling author Christine Valters Paintner. “Nothing in our culture prepares us to deal with darkness and grief. We are told to cheer up and move on, to shop or drink our way to forgetting the pain we carry. Yet I believe that being faithful to our own dark moments is
I am delighted to share another beautiful submission to the Monk in the World guest post series from the community. Read on for Jodi Blazek Gehr’s reflection on her word for the year. Choosing a word to focus on each year has become a nourishing, soulful ritual. I love participating in an ancient practice of contemplation recommended by Christine Valters Painter: “This tradition (for desert mothers and fathers) of asking for a word was a way of seeking something on which to ponder for many days, weeks, months, sometimes a whole lifetime…A word was meant to be wrestled with and slowly grown
Dearest dancing monks, artists, and pilgrims, This coming Thursday is the Feast of the Assumption which is a day set aside to honor the archetype of Mary as Queen. She has been given the titles of Queen of Heaven, of Angels, and of Saints and her sovereignty is a gift and inspiration to us all. I will be leading a mini-retreat with singer and retreat leader Nóirín Ní Riain on calling on the sacred feminine in times of unravelling. We will explore Mary as Mother of the Keen, an Irish tradition of imagining Mary as the one who gifted the Irish people with that
Dearest monks and artists, Today we release the video podcast for Day 5 of our Soul of a Pilgrim prayer cycle. The theme for morning and evening prayer is The Practice of Being Uncomfortable and Embracing the Unknown. Pilgrimage always demands something from us. If we are not challenged by it, then we are merely on a trip or a vacation. This Friday, I will be leading an online retreat with two dear friends, Simon de Voil and Kenneth Steven. The retreat is titled Stretching of the Heart: A Celtic Mini-Retreat on St. Columba (known as Columcille in Ireland) and we will explore the ways pilgrimage
