Worlds Coming Together (a love note from your online Abbess)
Dearest monks and artists, This has been an incredible couple of weeks with our renewal of vows for our 20th anniversary where American friends and Irish friends gathered with us together to celebrate. It felt like our worlds were coming together in a beautiful way. Then, just before the pilgrimage began, a shipment of our things […]
Writing Songs for Monks and Mystics (guest post by David Ash)
For the last several months, we have been embarking on an exciting creative project and collaboration. It started with choosing 12 dancing monks to be a part of the original Dancing Monk Icon series painted by Marcy Hall. These icons were meant to depict some beloved monks and mystics in a joyful and colorful way, reminding us […]
New Dancing Monk Icons (a love note from your online Abbess)
Dearest monks and artists, I am just back in Ireland now after almost three weeks traveling in the U.S. for teaching and visiting family. It was a magical time away. I led two retreats – the Sacred Rhythms Writing and Movement Retreat in Cape May, NJ where 18 amazing dancing monks joined to dive deep into […]
Writing on the Wild Edges of the World:
A Creative Pilgrimage & Retreat in Ireland
with Christine Valters Paintner, PhD and John Valters Paintner, MTS May 8-14, 2022 | 6 days / 6 nights | FULL (contact us to be added to the waiting list) limited to 18 participants maximum Please join us for a journey to the far west of Ireland where we find many small islands off the […]
Community Lectio (Visio) Divina: St. Francis Dancing Monk Icon
Artwork: “St. Francis Dancing Monk Icon” © artist Marcy Hall at Rabbit Room Arts With May comes a new invitation for contemplation. This month I invite you into a visio divina practice, which is an adaptation of lectio divina. In visio divina we are invited to see with the eyes of our heart, much in the way lectio calls us to […]
Monk Medicine (a love note from your online Abbess)
To receive this love note straight to your in-box, subscribe here (and also receive a free gift!) Dearest monks and artists, The poem above has been shimmering for me, and at first I hesitated to share it here because we are entering the depths of winter in the northern hemisphere. But then I remembered my […]
New Art for 8th Principle of the Monk Manifesto! (plus revised video meditation)
NEW 8th principle of the Monk Manifesto: *I commit to being a dancing monk, cultivating creative joy and letting my body and “heart overflow with the inexpressible delights of love.”* And here is the revised version of the Monk Manifesto video with the 8th principle included: Monk Manifesto Meditation (8 Principles for being a Monk in […]