The Artist's Rule: Nurturing Your Creative Soul with Monastic Wisdom, by Christine Valters Paintner, author of Water, Wind, Earth, and Fire, invites readers to discover and develop their creative gifts in a spirit of prayer and reflection. This twelve-week course draws on the insights and practices of Benedictine spirituality to explore the interplay between contemplation and creativity. Artists of all stripes and stations in life—poets or painters, potters or photographers—will discover how traditions of Benedictine, Celtic, and desert spirituality can offer new sources of inspiration for their work. Foreword by: Macrina Wiederkehr, O.S.B.

In Walking On Water, Madeleine L'Engle addresses the questions, What makes art Christian? What does it mean to be a Christian artist? What is the relationship between faith and art? Through L'Engle's beautiful and insightful essay, readers will find themselves called to what the author views as the prime tasks of an artist: to listen, to remain aware, and to respond to creation through one's own art.

Many Christians, wary of creating graven images, have steered clear of artistic creativity. But the Bible offers a robust affirmation of the arts. The human impulse to create reflects our being created in the image of a creator God. Art and the Bible has been a foundational work for generations of Christians in the arts. In this book's classic essays, Francis Schaeffer first examines the scriptural record of the use of various art forms, and then establishes a Christian perspective on art. With clarity and vigor, Schaeffer explains why "the Christian is the one whose imagination should fly beyond the stars." 96 Pages. Paperback.

The Artist’s Way is the seminal book on the subject of creativity. An international bestseller, millions of readers have found it to be an invaluable guide to living the artist’s life. Still as vital today—or perhaps even more so—than it was when it was first published one decade ago, it is a powerfully provocative and inspiring work. In a new introduction to the book, Julia Cameron reflects upon the impact of The Artist’s Way and describes the work she has done during the last decade and the new insights into the creative process that she has gained. Updated and expanded, this anniversary edition reframes The Artist’s Way for a new century. 237 pages. Paperback.

Troy Bronsink shows how the rhythms of God's creative work can be rediscovered through design thinking and creative processes. By understanding God in this new way, Christian creatives are then invited to be "drawn in" to the creative, ongoing, divine work. Exercises throughout the book invite participation in God's life and redemptive rhythms. This holistic approach will shift how Christian creatives and church leaders think of mission, worship, collaboration, and everyday discipleship. 164 Pages. Paperback.

This is Bl. Pope John Paul II's Easter 1999 letter to Church artists, musicians, and architects. Here he invites all artists to use their creativity to serve both the Church and the world. In these pages you will find a discussion of the vocation of artist, an exploration of how art and the word intersect, a brief history of the use of art in worship, and more. For study, for inspiration and for reflection, this book belongs in the library of all building or renovation committee members, parish environment and art committee members, liturgy committee members, musicians, performing arts groups and anyone who seeks a deeper understanding of the profound relationship between art and worship. Paperback, 7 x 10, 22 pages.

From 1903 to 1908 Ranier Maria Rilke wrote a series of remarkable responses to a young would-be poet, on poetry and on surviving as a sensitive observer in a harsh world. Accompanying the letters is a chronicle of Rilke's life showing what he was experiencing in his own relationship to life and work when he wrote these letters. Every page is stamped with Rilke's characteristic grace, and the book is free of the breathless effect that occasionally mars his poetry. His ideas on gender and the role of the artist are also surprisingly prescient. Those looking for an alluring image of the solitary artist - and for an astonishing quotient of wisdom - will find both in Letters to a Young Poet.

This volume marks the first translation of these prayer-poems into English. Originally written in 1899, Rilke wrote them upon returning to Germany from his first trip to Russia. His experience of the East shaped him profoundly. He found himself entranced by Orthodox churches and monasteries, above all by the icons that seemed to him like flames glowing in dark spaces. He intended these poems as icons of sorts, gestures that could illumine a way for seekers in the darkness. As Rilke here writes, "I love the dark hours of my being, / for they deepen my senses." 112 Pages. Hardcover.

Beauty will save the world," said Dostoyevski. This book is a unique and unprecedented study of two powerful ways in which true beauty shines upon the world - in the lives of the saints and in the works of Christian art: "the beauty of holiness and the holiness of beauty". Professor John Saward has provided his readers a great service by his careful treatment of the connection between sacred art, the heroic virtue of saintly people and the fullness of truth taught by Christ and His Church. The numerous citations of Catholic artists, poets and musicians demonstrate how the Catholic Faith elevates civilization.

Icons are a doorway to prayer that will deepen your relationship with God. Icons point us beyond themselves. They are different from paintings. An icon speaks to both the mind and the soul. We respond in belief, or praise, or wonder, or encouragement, or simply - prayer. In "Praying with Icons" you will discover: What makes an image an icon. The history of icons in the Orthodox Church. How to get started incorporating icons into your life of prayer. By: Linette Martin

The Open Door: Entering the Sanctuary of Icons and Prayer provides an illuminating guide into the meaning of icons and their place in Christian worship, prayer, the history of the universal Church, the Liturgical Year, and the everyday life of the Christian. Author Frederica Mathewes-Green focuses on twelve of the world’s most significant icons in orthodoxy: The Christ of Sinai, The Virgin of Vladimir, The Transfiguration, The Old Testament Trinity, and more. Illustrations included. Paperback.

Now, and for the first time, The Abbess of Andalusia affords us an in-depth look at Flannery O'Connor the believer. In these pages you will come to know Flannery O'Connor not only as a writer and an icon, but as a theologian and apologist; as a spiritual director and a student of prayer; as a suffering soul who learned obedience and merited grace through infirmity; and truly, as the Abbess of her own small, but significant, spiritual house. For decades Flannery O'Connor the author has touched her readers with the brilliance of her books. Now be edified and inspired by the example of her life. By: Lorraine V. Murray | Forward: Joseph Pearce

The Province of Joy is a book of hours rooted in the rich theological imagination of fiction writer, Flannery O'Connor. A lifelong Catholic devoted to liturgical prayer, O'Connor was also an avid reader and thinker who lived a rich spiritual life. Cutting a broad swath through spiritual and theological texts of every stamp, O'Connor engaged ideas about the nature of prayer and its many forms on a daily basis and often shared them in her correspondence, essays, and stories. This book brings together O'Connor's practice of prayer and the rich spiritual context within which O'Connor lived and out of which she wrote.