Dancing Monk Feast Days: Reflections, Creative Invitations, and Prayers

Dancing with holy people throughout the year.

Immerse yourself in a vibrant journey of faith and creativity in this essential resource from Abbey of the Arts. Featuring 52 colorful, playful icons of saints and mystics. Each icon offers reflections, creative invitations, and prayers that explore the depth of contemplative living. Organized around the rhythm of the feast days, this book invites you to engage in prayer and reflection throughout the year, making each moment a celebration of creative joy alongside your contemplative practice.

Christine Valters Paintner is the online Abbess at AbbeyoftheArts.com, a virtual monastery and progressive global community offering resources that integrate contemplative practice and creative expression. She is the author of over twenty books on spirituality including four collections of poetry. She is a Benedictine Oblate, poet, writer, spiritual director, retreat facilitator, teacher, and pilgrimage guide. Her fields of expertise include Christian spiritual practices, monastic spirituality rooted in Benedictine, desert, and Celtic lineages, and the expressive arts. Christine earned her PhD in Christian Spirituality from the Graduate Theological Union in Berkeley and her professional status as Registered Expressive Arts Consultant and Educator (REACE) from the International Expressive Arts Therapy Association (IEATA.org). Christine has lived in Galway, Ireland with her husband John since 2012. Together they lead a variety online programs including retreats, contemplative prayer services, prayer cycles of morning and evening prayer, and a book club. Christine wrote bios, meditation prompts, and reflection questions.

Melinda Emily Thomas is an author, poet, yoga practitioner and teacher writing at the intersection of earth-cherishing contemplative spirituality, mental health, and soul care. She is the author of Sacred Balance: Aligning Body and Spirit Through Yoga and the Benedictine Way which was named a Best Spiritual Book of 2020 by Spirituality and Practice. Her newest book is Elements of Being: A Spiritual Memoir in Verse. Melinda lives in North Carolina with her son and their cat and always has fresh flowers on the kitchen table. She writes poems and creative inspiration on The Journal of Elements and Seasons on Substack. Melinda wrote creative invitations and prayers. MelindaEmilyThomas.com

Marcy Hall is a Western Pennsylvania artist known for her whimsical interpretations of the world. Marcy lives in Owlstown, Pennsylvania, with her wife Erin and a growing menagerie of animals. Together they own Woods and River Coffee in Oil City, Pennsylvania, where you are always welcome to stop by to see some local art and have some great coffee! Marcy has been painting for about 20 years, is honored to have sold paintings all over the world, and enjoys collaborating with other writers, artists, and organizations. She accepts inquiries for commissions of icons, animals, and other art projects at marcyhallart@gmail.com. Marcy created the icons.