The Soul's Slow Ripening: 12 Celtic Practices for Seeking the Sacred

What does God want for your life?

Christine Valters Paintner, bestselling Catholic author and online abbess for Abbey of the Arts, uses reflections, stories, guided activities, prayer experiences, and a variety of creative arts to help you patiently and attentively listen to God’s invitation.

Everyone wants to understand God’s will for their lives. Christine Valters Paintner shares one of the most ancient paths to understanding from her study of monasticism and immersion into Celtic spirituality while living in Ireland. The Celtic way, which Paintner distills into twelve practices, offers discernment that focuses on the environment rather than the intellectual focus present in other forms of discernment. It allows for what Paintner calls the “soul’s slow ripening,” coming into the fullness of our own sweetness before we pluck the fruit.

Each chapter begins with a story of a particular Irish saint—some well-known like Patrick or Brigid, others less so, such as Ita and Ciaran—and then introduces a helpful practice for discernment that the saint’s life illustrates. Paintner explores the call of dreams, the importance of thresholds, the practice of peregrination (wandering for the love of God), walking the rounds, learning by heart, soul friends, blessing each moment, and the wisdom of the landscape and the seasons. Readers are invited to explore these concepts through photography and writing. She invites us to contemplative walks with specific themes along with poetic writing prompts for expression.

As you explore an alternate way of discerning a spiritual path—one which honors the moment-by-moment invitations and the soul’s seasonal rhythms—you will discover that this book will help you become more aligned with creativity and wholeness.

• The Soul of a Pilgrim: Eight Practices for the Journey Within
• The Artist's Rule: Nurturing Your Creative Soul with Monastic Wisdom
• Water, Wind, Earth & Fire: The Christian Practice of Praying with the Elements
• The Wisdom of the Body: A Contemplative Journey to Wholeness for Women
• Dreaming of Stones: Poems (Paraclete Poetry)
• Awakening the Creative Spirit: Bringing the Arts to Spiritual Direction (Spiritual Directors International Books)
• The Flowing Grace of Now: Encountering Wisdom through the Weeks of the Year
• Listening for the Heartbeat of God: A Celtic Spirituality
• Eyes of the Heart: Photography as a Christian Contemplative Practice
• Christ of the Celts: The Healing of Creation