Coming Home to Your Body ~ A Love Note from Your Online Abbess
Dearest monks and artists, I was first diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis when I was 21 years old. The only other person I knew at the time with this disease was my mother and her body had been ravaged by the effects of deterioration, with multiple joint replacements and eventually use of an electric wheelchair for […]
New Year Blessings + Wisdom of the Body (starts in a week!)
Dearest monks and artists, It is a quiet Christmas season for us here in Galway. After returning from a beautiful trip to Prague and Vienna for ancestral pilgrimage, John and I both promptly got the flu. I spent all of Christmas day in bed with a fever, barely able to stand up. We were planning […]
Christmas Blessings ~ A Love Note from Your Online Abbess
The Risk of Birth This is no time for a child to be born, With the earth betrayed by war & hate And a comet slashing the sky to warn That time runs out & the sun burns late. That was no time for a child to be born, In a land in the crushing […]
Winter Solstice ~ A Love Note from Your Online Abbess
A major obstacle to creativity is wanting to be in the peak season of growth and generation at all times . . . but if we see the soul’s journey as cyclical, like the seasons . . . then we can accept the reality that periods of despair or fallowness are like winter – a […]
Wisdom of Mary and the Sacred Feminine (Advent retreat starts today!) ~ A love note from your online abbess
Dearest monks and artists, This reflection is an excerpt from the first day’s reflection in our Advent retreat online that begins today where we explore the various titles and names for Mary. Mary has gone by many names in the Christian tradition. My approach to these names is influenced strongly by Jungian thought on the […]
Sacramentality of the Senses ~ A Love Note from Your Online Abbess
Dearest monks and artists, The Catholic Mass, which is my own home tradition, is often described as “smells and bells.” A full liturgy will often meet and inspire every one of our senses: the scent of incense rising, bells ringing, stained glass windows, singing songs, embracing another at the kiss of peace, eating the bread […]
Gratitude as a Spiritual Practice ~ A love note from your online abbess
Dearest monks and artists, The United States celebrates the feast of Thanksgiving this week. I have always loved this time of gratefulness and sharing with loved ones. My heart overflows with gratitude for this beautiful community we have created together. I delight daily in knowing there are dancing monks all over the world. The 5th century […]