Do you hear your inner monk and artist calling? ~ A love note from your online abbess

Dearest monks, artists, and pilgrims,

The heart of human identity is the capacity and desire for birthing.

To be is to become creative and bring forth the beautiful.

– John O’Donohue

Discovering the monastic way has been one of the great joys of my life.  Years ago I thought the life of monks had nothing substantial to offer me in the world beyond the monastery walls.  Ironically, while growing up in New York City, one of my favorite museums was The Cloisters which is a branch of the Metropolitan Museum of Art on the north end of Manhattan overlooking the Hudson River.  It was created from elements of five different medieval French monasteries. I loved wandering the cool stone hallways, gazing at the pages of illuminated manuscripts, admiring the unicorn tapestries, sitting in the peace and refreshment of the medieval garden.  I was not aware of it consciously at the time, but the aesthetic dimension of monasticism had captured my heart long before I knew about the contemplative wisdom and rhythms of prayer that would one day become my spiritual home.

While I was in graduate school I became enamored with Hildegard of Bingen, the 12th century Benedictine abbess who was an artist, visionary, musician, theologian, preacher, spiritual director, and healer. I was captivated by her sheer creative breadth.  I felt a kinship to her expansive spirit.  She could be a wisdom guide for me across time. I grew curious about the context of her life and what supported her creative flourishing.  As the Abbess of a Benedictine community, she was of course deeply immersed in monastic life and practices and so this became the doorway into my own passion for Benedictine spirituality.

Through Hildegard’s guidance, I discovered that the way of the monk is deeply connected to my path as an artist and writer.  Monks have been the great preservers of literary tradition, saving many sacred texts from destruction and loss during the dark ages and illuminating manuscripts with gorgeous art.  They have offered their gifts in the service of creating beautiful spaces of sanctuary.  Monasticism has given us the great tradition of chant to immerse us in the continuous cascade of praying the hours.  These ways of being in the world have been cultivated over hundreds of years of practice and offer us tremendous wisdom about what it means to live a meaningful, vital, and creative life.

When my husband and I moved to Seattle after graduate school, I made the journey toward becoming a Benedictine Oblate. I have a deep love of Benedictine tradition, as well as the gifts of Celtic and desert monasticism.  The monastic way is my primary path through the world and the foundation of my work in spiritual formation, direction, and teaching.

You may arrive to the Abbey as an artist or writer seeking spiritual practices to help ground and support your creative expression. Or you may be someone who is already familiar with the treasures of monastic tradition, but looking for another window onto this way of life. Perhaps you have intuitively known the connections between contemplative practice and creative expressions and this book will feel like coming home.

You are most welcome here.

To dive more deeply into the Way of the Monk, Path of the Artist, join us for our 12-week online journey in community which begins tomorrow!

With great and growing love,

Christine

Christine Valters Paintner, PhD, REACE

Photo © Christine Valters Paintner at Corcomroe Abbey

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