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Christine Valters Paintner

Contributor

Christine Valters Paintner, Ph.D., is a Benedictine Oblate and the online Abbess of Abbey of the Arts, a virtual monastery without walls offering online classes in contemplative practice and creative expression and pilgrimages to Ireland, Germany, and Austria. She is the author of eight books on monasticism and creativity including *The Artist's Rule: Nurturing Your Creative Soul with Monastic Wisdom (*Ave Maria Press) and her forthcoming book The Soul of a Pilgrim: Eight Practices for the Inner Journey (Spring 2015, Ave Maria Press). Christine lives as a monk in the world in Galway, Ireland with her husband of twenty years.

Works by Christine Valters Paintner

Practicing Resurrection: The Gift of Holy Surprise

Christine Valters Paintner | May 12, 2016

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Practicing Resurrection: The Journey Home

Christine Valters Paintner | May 08, 2016

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Practicing Resurrection: Love and Peace as Holy Direction

Christine Valters Paintner | May 01, 2016

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Practicing Resurrection: Love One Another

Christine Valters Paintner | April 24, 2016

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Practicing Resurrection: Wandering for the Love of God

Christine Valters Paintner | April 17, 2016

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Practicing Resurrection: Seeing a World of Abundance

Christine Valters Paintner | April 10, 2016

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Practice Resurrection: The Holy Call of Doubt

Christine Valters Paintner | April 03, 2016

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Practice Resurrection: The Call of Easter

Christine Valters Paintner | March 27, 2016

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Holy Saturday: The Space Between

Christine Valters Paintner | March 24, 2016

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A Different Kind of Fast: Part Seven - Embrace Mystery

Christine Valters Paintner | March 20, 2016

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A Different Kind of Fast: Part Six - Embrace Organic...

Christine Valters Paintner | March 13, 2016

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A Different Kind of Fast: Part Five - Embrace Attention

Christine Valters Paintner | March 06, 2016

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A Different Kind of Fast: Part Four - Embrace Slowness

Christine Valters Paintner | February 28, 2016

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A Different Kind of Fast: Part Three - Embrace Trust

Christine Valters Paintner | February 21, 2016

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A Different Kind of Fast: Part Two - Embrace Vulnerability

Christine Valters Paintner | February 14, 2016

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Valentine's Invitation: Become "Body-Words of Love"

Christine Valters Paintner | February 12, 2016

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Feast of St. Gobnait: Go Seek the Place of Your...

Christine Valters Paintner | February 11, 2016

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A Different Kind of Fast: A Seven-Part Series for Lent

Christine Valters Paintner | February 07, 2016

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The Feast of St. Brigid

Christine Valters Paintner | February 01, 2016

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Welcome to The Sacred Art of Living

Christine Valters Paintner | January 25, 2016

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Hildegard of Bingen and God's Greening Power

Christine Valters Paintner | September 12, 2015

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Hildegard of Bingen and God's Greening Power

Christine Valters Paintner | September 11, 2015

What if your fundamental commitment was to only offer your body and soul that which is......

The Practice of the Holy Pause

Christine Valters Paintner | June 17, 2015

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The Practice of the Holy Pause

Christine Valters Paintner | June 17, 2015

When we pause between activities or moments in our day, we open ourselves to the......

Pilgrimage of Resurrection: The Gift of Holy Surprise

Christine Valters Paintner | May 20, 2015

...

Pilgrimage of Resurrection: The Gift of Holy Surprise

Christine Valters Paintner | May 20, 2015

If, when Pentecost arrives, you do not find yourself perplexed or amazed, consider......

Pilgrimage of Resurrection: The Journey Home

Christine Valters Paintner | May 13, 2015

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Pilgrimage of Resurrection: The Journey Home

Christine Valters Paintner | May 13, 2015

If entered into mindfully and with a whole heart, each encounter on the road has the......

Pilgrimage of Resurrection: Love as a Holy Direction

Christine Valters Paintner | May 07, 2015

In times when feeling disconnection and isolation is easier than ever, love calls us to......

Pilgrimage of Resurrection: Finding Fruitfulness in the...

Christine Valters Paintner | April 30, 2015

Resurrection calls us to experience the full weight and lightness of our physical being,......

Pilgrimage of Resurrection: Wandering for the Love of God

Christine Valters Paintner | April 24, 2015

What would it mean to wander and allow yourself to feel the vulnerability of being a bit......

Pilgrimage of Resurrection: Seeing the World Anew

Christine Valters Paintner | April 17, 2015

We walk by a thousand ordinary revelations every day in our busyness and preoccupation.......

Pilgrimage of Resurrection: The Holy Call of Doubt

Christine Valters Paintner | April 09, 2015

Sometimes resurrection feels very far away and we cry out for some sort of proof that......

Pilgrimage of Resurrection: A Creative Journey through...

Christine Valters Paintner | April 03, 2015

The call of Easter is this simple invitation: to step forth across the threshold, to......

Ash Wednesday and the Practice of Truth-Telling

Christine Valters Paintner | February 18, 2015

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Letting Go During Lent: Seeing Death as our Friend

Christine Valters Paintner | February 17, 2015

This season I am being invited to fast from things like "ego-grasping" and noticing when......

Follow the Star: Spiritual Practices for the New Year

Christine Valters Paintner | January 05, 2015

As you cross this threshold into the New Year, what star beckons you in the night? How......

Welcoming Your Multitude: The Monastic Way and Inner...

Christine Valters Paintner | October 22, 2014

We are each a multitude of differing energies and personalities. A lot of our inner......

The Soul's Migration: Where Will You Fly?

Christine Valters Paintner | September 23, 2014

As autumn tilts us toward the season of growing darkness, consider this an invitation to......

The Great Wisdom of Autumn

Christine Valters Paintner | September 09, 2014

The great wisdom of autumn is in the falling. It calls us to imagine entering into the......

The Great Unraveling Toward Love

Christine Valters Paintner | August 26, 2014

Many of us live in fear of the cultural breakdown happening right before our eyes, and......

Read an Excerpt: Seeing with Eyes of the Heart

Christine Valters Paintner | June 01, 2013

"Part of the spiritual journey is learning how to see, not with our physical eyes, but......

Easter: Practicing Resurrection of the Body

Christine Valters Paintner | March 28, 2013

What does it mean for us to not just say we believe in a resurrected life, but to truly......

Embracing Mystery in the New Year: Ten Essential Practices

Christine Valters Paintner | January 02, 2013

Imagine if your New Year's wasn't about fixing or improving, but about deepening and......

Radical Hospitality and Holy Disruption

Christine Valters Paintner | September 30, 2012

What if everything that turns our preconceived ideas inside out is precisely where we......

Silence as the Union of Opposites

Christine Valters Paintner | September 12, 2012

In the silence, I remember that my life is not wholly good or bad here. The discomfort......

Ancestral Pilgrimage: Journeying to Places of Family...

Christine Valters Paintner | August 16, 2012

Consider making a pilgrimage to walk in the footsteps of your own ancestors. Spend time......

Giving Up a Too-Small God

Christine Valters Paintner | May 01, 2012

How to let go of the God of whom you are certain and open yourself to the One who is......

Making Space for the Divine: The Gift of Silence

Christine Valters Paintner | March 27, 2012

Silence of the heart is a profound place of moving beyond ego, judgments, and dualistic......

Sacred Fasting

Christine Valters Paintner | March 12, 2012

Fasting can be about food - or it can be about giving up words or ideas that are no......

Sit in Your Cell: Desert Reflections for Lent

Christine Valters Paintner | February 28, 2012

How fasting from distraction this Lent can make you conscious of the ways you avoid......

Body-Words of Love

Christine Valters Paintner | February 13, 2012

This Valentine's write a love letter to your body, offering both gratitude and......

The Sacred Art of Living

Christine Valters Paintner | February 03, 2012

To be a spiritual person, you must show up to the inner silence and the inner noise......

Creating Space for Love this Lent

Christine Valters Paintner | January 18, 2012

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Holy Birthing: Practices for the 12 Days of Christmas

Christine Valters Paintner | December 20, 2011

How is God being born in you? Some steps for making Christmas a season of retreat....

Ancient Wisdom for Today's Storms

Christine Valters Paintner | October 23, 2011

Stay awake and conscious in the face of life's storms. Breathe deeply and observe your......

Autumn: The Season of Paradox

Christine Valters Paintner | September 21, 2011

In the season of Autumn, we move toward our own ripening and let go of what no longer......

Cinema Divina: The Tree of Life

Christine Valters Paintner | September 06, 2011

What is the meaning behind the great losses of our daily lives? Where do they fit within......

Establishing a Creative, Contemplative Practice: A Book...

Christine Valters Paintner | August 15, 2011

Read the first chapter of "The Artist's Rule" and begin your creative journey....

Contemplation and Creativity: An Interview with Christine...

Christine Valters Paintner | August 14, 2011

Whether or not we live in a monastery or spend each day in an art studio, we can all......

The Holy Pause: Spiritual Practices for a Time-Obsessed...

Christine Valters Paintner | July 26, 2011

We don't need more hours in the day. We need to shift our relationship to those hours....

Savoring Summer's Sweet Slowness

Christine Valters Paintner | July 11, 2011

Summer's sweetness is "an invitation to respond," says poet Lynn Ungar. How are you......

The Call to Holy Surprise: Reflections on Pentecost

Christine Valters Paintner | June 07, 2011

The story of Pentecost asks us a question: How do I let my expectations and cynicism......

The Spiritual Practice of Being Uncomfortable

Christine Valters Paintner | May 24, 2011

So much of what passes for spirituality these days is about making us happy and having......

A Canine Horarium: Praying the Hours with My Dog

Christine Valters Paintner | May 10, 2011

In monastic tradition, praying the Hours is a fundamental part of moving through the day......

Holy Saturday: The Space Between

Christine Valters Paintner | April 18, 2011

Much of our lives rest in the space between loss and hope. Our lives are full of Holy......

Mid-Way through Lent: Beginning Again

Christine Valters Paintner | April 05, 2011

No matter how far I stray from my practice, there is always an invitation to begin......

Entering the Season of Blossoming

Christine Valters Paintner | March 15, 2011

"I believe the seasons have a great deal of spiritual wisdom to offer us if we make......

Dancing with Scripture

Christine Valters Paintner | March 11, 2011

...

Ash Wednesday: Practice Truth-Telling

Christine Valters Paintner | March 01, 2011

This Lent, my practice will be truth-telling. I will inhabit my places of grief, the......

Stirring in the Belly: Listening for New Life

Christine Valters Paintner | January 26, 2011

The holidays of Candlemas and Imbolc are traditionally a time to look forward. What does......

Advent Practices: Considering Our Earthiness

Christine Valters Paintner | December 17, 2010

Let our preparation for Christmas be one of wonder and delight in the ways we can foster......

Advent Practices: Water's Wisdom

Christine Valters Paintner | December 08, 2010

We are called in this season to tend to the places in our own lives where we need to......

Advent Practices: Following the Fire

Christine Valters Paintner | December 01, 2010

Creation is crying out for us to release our worship of consumption and return the fire......

Advent Practices: Tending to Creation

Christine Valters Paintner | November 23, 2010

In this first week of Advent, how are you being called to awaken to a deeper sense of......

Does God Really Talk to Us?

Christine Valters Paintner | November 15, 2010

I don't ask if God is speaking. I ask if there can be any place void of God's sacred......

The Invitations of Autumn: Spiritual Practices for the...

Christine Valters Paintner | September 16, 2010

Change is always with us, but autumn brings us to a deeper awareness that we live in a......

Sacred Artist Interview: Matthew Whitney

Christine Valters Paintner | March 29, 2010

If we are made "in the image of God," then creating images ourselves can help us see......

The Exquisite Tenderness of Bodies

Christine Valters Paintner | January 06, 2010

We are invited to embrace the beauty of our entire human reality, the dying and the......

New Year, New Beginnings

Christine Valters Paintner | December 21, 2009

More people are taking the celebration of New Year's as a time for reflection on what......

Uncovering What Has Been Hidden

Christine Valters Paintner | November 30, 2009

We are invited to awaken to the sacred possibilities being birthed deep within us to......

Beauty and Spirituality

Christine Valters Paintner | October 22, 2009

When we see a beautiful work of art or a radiant sunset we are confronted with the......

Mandalas (Part 2)

Christine Valters Paintner | September 22, 2009

The ancient Christian mystics often used mandalas to describe their encounters with......

Mandalas

Christine Valters Paintner | July 28, 2009

Mandalas, or sacred circles, offer us a template for the interior journey to the heart......

Art and Spirit in the Church

Christine Valters Paintner | July 10, 2009

This week in our on-going series on the connection between art and spirituality,......

Pray with Music: Audio Divina

Christine Valters Paintner | January 01, 2000

For many of us, music is often a transcendent experience, lifting us above the worries......

Opening the Heart for Lent

Christine Valters Paintner | January 01, 2000

On Ash Wednesday we always hear the words of the prophet Joel: "Return to me with your......

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