Thomas Merton: “Contemplation cannot construct a new world by itself” cannot construct a new world by itself”
Thomas Merton, in the introduction to the Spanish language edition to his complete works: Contemplation cannot construct a new world by itself. Contemplation does not feed the hungry; it does not clothe the naked… and it does not return the sinner to peace, truth, and union with God. But without contemplation we cannot see what ...
Winner of Otherhood’s “The Artist’s Rule” Comment Contest: Cole Matson
For his comment on Otherhood Podcast: Episode 1 with Christine Valters Paintner, Cole Matson is hereby awarded a copy of Paintner’s book, “The Artist’s Rule.” The comments were all great, and the decision was a hard one. The passion and devotion Matson offers in his poetry really captured my attention, though. And I’m a sucker ...
Otherhood, the Podcast: Episode 1, Christine Valters Paintner and “The Artist’s Rule”
Otherhood, the Podcast: Episode 1, Christine Valters Paintner & "The Artist's Rule" [ 27:05 | 17.43 MB ] Meet Otherhood, the Podcast. In this, the first episode, I interview Christine Valters Paintner about her new book (the Artist’s Rule: Nurturing Your Creative Soul With Monastic Wisdom), the oblate life, and what it means to be both an artist and a monk. BTW, we’re giving away a free copy of the Artist’s Rule to ...
NY man sues Minn. monastery, alleging clergy abuse – WSJ.com
ST. PAUL, Minn. — A New York man filed a lawsuit Tuesday alleging that he was sexually abused at a Bronx church in the 1960s by a priest who went on to become abbot of a Minnesota monastery and helped found an institute to deal with the problem of clergy sexual abuse. via NY ...
Monks at Portsmouth Abbey Use Web in Recruitment – NYTimes.com
So the monks, who for centuries have shied away from any outside distractions, have instead done what many troubled organizations are doing to find new members — they have taken to the Internet with an elaborate ad campaign featuring videos, a blog and even a Gregorian chant ringtone. “We’re down in numbers, we’re aging, we ...
Theophane the Monk was an artmonk
Next week I’m heading to the Vedanta Society’s Olema retreat center in Marin County. One thing I’m definitely bringing is Theophane the Monk‘s Tales of a Magic Monastery. Here’s one of his tales: There’s a monk there who wears a red robe. I was wondering why, but it was my little son who dared to ...
“The monastery is neither a museum nor an asylum…
“The monastery is neither a museum nor an asylum. The monk remains in the world from which the monk has fled, and the monk remains a potent, though hidden, force in that world. Beyond all the works which may accidentally attach themselves to the vocation, the monk acts on the world simply by being a ...
A Benedictine vow ceremony
Some of the Labro artmonks recently visited the relatively new Benedictine monastery at Norcia, where an international group of monks sings the entire chant office in Latin every day. The Benedictines are not a centralized order. Rather, each house enjoys a considerable degree of autonomy, since it is the abbot who interprets the Rule for that ...
Christine Valters Paintner is an artmonk
[part of the "__ is an artmonk" series] One of the Art Monastery’s spiritual teachers, Dr. Joel Levey, just forwarded me a link to the Abbey of the Arts, the “virtual monastery” of Christine Valters Paintner OblSB, PhD, REACE. What I read on Paintner’s site resonates with so many of the conversations we have been having at the Art ...
Western Lineage
The Rule of Benedict draws on the Egyptian tradition (Eastern), such as the Pachomian rule; the Cappadocian tradition (Eastern), such as Basil’s rule; and the North African tradition (Western), such as Augustine’s rule. The third was a more direct influence than the second, but the first was the most influential, coming through John Cassian and then ...
