Christine Valters Paintner approfondisce la pratica contemplativa e l'espressione creativa, riflettendo un profondo impegno nell'esplorazione spirituale e artistica. I suoi scritti illuminano profondi viaggi interiori, ispirando i lettori verso la crescita personale e la scoperta creativa. In qualità di badessa online e autrice prolifica, trasmette la saggezza della vita monastica nel mondo contemporaneo attraverso la sua letteratura e i suoi ritiri. Il suo approccio unisce abilmente antiche tradizioni spirituali con la pratica di una vibrante vita artistica.
Christine Valters Paintner, abbess of Abbey of the Arts, introduces us to the spiritual practice of breath prayer and offers beautiful poem-prayers for walking, working, dressing, cleaning, sitting in silence, doing the dishes, living in community--breathing the divine into our daily lives.
Organized around "The Canticle of the Creatures" by St. Francis of Assisi, Water, Wind, Earth, and Fire is the first book to consider the ways in which praying with the natural elements can enliven Christian spiritual life. Teacher, artist, and Benedictine oblate Christine Valters Paintner offers concrete suggestions and guided contemplative exercises; for instance, she suggests that readers take time to "watch the sunrise or sunset and breathe in the beauty of the fiery sky. Contemplate what those beginnings and endings have to say in your own life." Readers benefit from Paintner's extensive training in theology and Benedictine spirituality, as well as her unique work in bringing the expressive arts to spiritual direction.
Designed to help spiritual directors and others use expressive arts in the context of spiritual direction
How Angels, Saints, and Ancestors Walk with Us Toward Holiness
Exploring the impact of saints, ancestors, and angels, this book encourages readers to recognize both the conscious and unconscious influences these figures have on their lives. It offers a retreat-like experience within everyday life, focusing on healing ancestral wounds while fostering relationships with these spiritual guides. Led by Christine Valters Paintner, the text delves into Christian and Jewish teachings, Celtic wisdom of Samhain, and various cultural practices surrounding ancestor reverence and remembrance.
Exploring the theme of grief, the author shares her journey through loss and the concept of the "midwinter God," representing the perceived absence of divine presence during dark times. The book encourages readers to embrace spiritual growth by accepting the wisdom found in holy darkness and humility. It suggests that this darkness is not just a void but a fertile ground for spiritual renewal, inviting readers to approach their struggles with courage and vulnerability, ultimately leading to a sense of wholeness and joy.
Through personal reflections and poignant poetry, the author invites readers to reconnect with the enduring presence of love amidst life's challenges. By highlighting the beauty and wonder of the Creator's gifts, the book serves as a guide to navigating pain, loss, and uncertainty, encouraging a journey of discovery and hope.
"Discover your truest hungers and your deepest spiritual reserves as Christine Paintner, aka The Online Abbess, shares 6 unique fasts helping reveal harmful patterns and re-orienting us toward nourishing fulfillment. Drawing on desert wisdom and contemplative practice, Paintner helps us enter our own journey of spiritual growth"--
The distorted view of the perfect female body created by popular culture, television, movies, and the media often causes women to become uncomfortable with their own bodies. Christine Valters Paintner, popular author of nine books and abbess of the online retreat center Abbey of the Arts, draws from Celtic, desert, and Benedictine traditions to help women connect with their bodies through writing, visual art, and movement. In The Wisdom of the Body, Christine Valters Paintner focuses on the true meaning of the Incarnation--God became flesh--and points to the spiritual importance of appreciating the bodies God gave us. Each of the book's ten chapters is a mini-workshop designed to lead us to new ways of being in relationship with our bodies. Starting with the senses and shifting toward emotions and desires, Paintner explores their role as thresholds to discovering the body's wisdom. She draws from Christian tradition to offer principles and practices such as stability, hospitality, and gratitude to lead us on a journey that ends with a sense of deep peace and self-acceptance. Through expressive arts and creative movement, Paintner demonstrates a new a language and way of integrating and sharing our discoveries. By exploring the lives of women in the Bible and in the Christian tradition--including Eve, Mary, Hildegaard of Bingen, and Amma Syncletica--Paintner introduces us to companions that accompany us on our journey.
In this first book to explore photography as a spiritual practice from a Christian perspective, Christine Valters Paintner builds on the process of contemplative creativity introduced on her popular website Abbey of the Arts and in her book The ArtistA fs Rule. She considers how a camera can enable one to see with A gthe eyes of the heart.A h
Timeless and contemplative sayings from the earliest Christian sages of desert spirituality can be a companion on your own spiritual journey. The desert fathers and mothers were ordinary Christians living in solitude in the deserts of Egypt, Palestine, Syria and Arabia who chose to renounce the world in order to deliberately and individually follow God's call. They embraced lives of celibacy, labor, fasting, prayer and poverty, believing that denouncing material goods and practicing stoic self-discipline would lead to unity with the Divine. Their spiritual practice formed the basis of Western monasticism and greatly influenced both Western and Eastern Christianity. Their writings, first recorded in the fourth century, consist of spiritual advice, parables and anecdotes emphasizing the primacy of love and the purity of heart. Focusing on key themes of charity, fortitude, lust, patience, prayer and self-control, the Sayings influenced the rule of St. Benedict and have inspired centuries of opera, poetry and art. This probing and personal SkyLight Illuminations edition opens up their wisdom for readers with no previous knowledge of Western monasticism and early Christianity. It provides insightful yet unobtrusive commentary that describes historical background, explains the practice of asceticism and illustrates how you can use their wisdom to energize your spiritual quest.