Women’s Christmas Retreat 2024: Curious about Joy

January 6, 2024

Image: Wise Women Also CameImage: Wise Women Also Came © Jan Richardson

Happy New Year and Merry Epiphany! In celebration, these three wise women are stopping by with a gift for you. You might know that some folks celebrate Epiphany (January 6) as Women’s Christmas. Originating in Ireland, where it is known as Nollaig na mBan, Women’s Christmas began as a day when the women set aside time to enjoy a break and celebrate together at the end of the holidays.

It has become a tradition for me to create a new retreat each year that you can download as a PDF and use on Women’s Christmas or whenever you need some time for reflection and regathering. The new retreat is hot off the press and waiting for you! This year’s theme is Curious about Joy. It includes readings, art, questions, and blessings. You can do the retreat alone or share it with friends. (And it’s not for women only!)

There is no cost for the retreat. It’s my Women’s Christmas gift to you, with deep gratitude for your presence on my path. To download the retreat, click this link to go to the Women’s Christmas page on my Sanctuary of Women site:

Women’s Christmas Retreat 2024: Curious about Joy

I would be delighted for you to share this gift with others.

I send much gratitude and many blessings for you. Merry Women’s Christmas!

[To use the Wise Women Also Came image or order it as a print, please visit this page at Jan Richardson Images.]

Posted in blessings, Christmas, Epiphany, sacred time | Leave a Comment »

An Illuminated Advent – 2023

November 20, 2023

ILLUMINATED 2023
December 3 – December 27
New for this Advent!

Beloved friends, I am so happy to share that registration for this year’s online Advent retreat is open! I can hardly begin to tell you all the ways this retreat holds my heart, and how much I am looking forward to it in this particular year. I would love to spend the season in your company.

In a chaotic time, this retreat will offer a space of elegant simplicity. Intertwining writing, art, music, and community, this online journey creates spaces of reflection and rest that you can enter into from anywhere you are, in the way that works best for you.

Info & registration:
ILLUMINATED ADVENT RETREAT

This online retreat is not about adding one more thing to your holiday schedule! It is about helping you enter deeply into a season that shimmers with mystery and possibility, solace and hope. It is especially designed to fit easily into whatever your Advent days might hold. We love hearing from people who say this retreat helps them breathe and engage the season.

Individual, group, and congregational rates are available. (And we have a very flexible definition of “congregation”!) We have gift registrations, too. Questions? Be sure to visit our Illuminated FAQ page.

I am grateful for you and sending you so many blessings as Advent draws near.

Posted in Advent, art, blessings, Christmas, sacred time | Leave a Comment »

Women’s Christmas Retreat 2023 – A Gift for You

January 5, 2023

Image: Wise Women Also CameImage: Wise Women Also Came © Jan Richardson

Happy New Year and Merry Epiphany, almost! In celebration, these three wise women are stopping by with a gift for you. You might know that some folks celebrate Epiphany (January 6) as Women’s Christmas. Originating in Ireland, where it is known as Nollaig na mBan, Women’s Christmas began as a day when the women set aside time to enjoy a break and celebrate together at the end of the holidays.

It has become a tradition for me to create a new retreat each year that you can download as a PDF and use on Women’s Christmas or whenever you need some time for reflection and regathering. The new retreat is hot off the press and waiting for you! This year’s theme is In the Light of a New Constellation. It includes readings, art, questions, and blessings. You can do the retreat alone or share it with friends. (And it’s not for women only!)

There is no cost for the retreat. It’s my Women’s Christmas gift to you, with deep gratitude for your presence on my path. To download the retreat, click this link to go to the Women’s Christmas page on my Sanctuary of Women site:

Women’s Christmas Retreat 2023: In the Light of a New Constellation

I would be delighted for you to share this gift with others.

I send much gratitude and many blessings for you. Merry Women’s Christmas!

[To use the Wise Women Also Came image or order it as a print, please visit this page at Jan Richardson Images.]

Posted in blessings, Christmas, Epiphany, sacred time | 7 Comments »

An Illuminated Advent – 2022

November 9, 2022

Illuminated Advent Retreat

ILLUMINATED 2022
An Online Journey into the Heart of Christmas
November 27 – December 27

Beloved friends, I am thrilled to share that registration for this year’s online Advent retreat is open! I can hardly begin to tell you all the ways this retreat holds my heart, and how much I am looking forward to it in this particular year. I would love to spend the season in your company.

In a chaotic time, this retreat will offer a space of elegant simplicity. Intertwining writing, art, music, and community, this online journey creates spaces of reflection and rest that you can enter into from anywhere you are, in the way that works best for you.

Info & registration:
ILLUMINATED ADVENT RETREAT

This online retreat is not about adding one more thing to your holiday schedule! It is about helping you enter deeply into a season that shimmers with mystery and possibility, solace and hope. It is especially designed to fit easily into whatever your Advent days might hold. I love hearing from people who say this retreat helps them breathe and engage the season.

Individual, group, and congregational rates are available. (And we have a very flexible definition of “congregation”!) We have gift registrations, too. Questions? Be sure to visit our FAQ page for the retreat.

I am grateful for you and sending you so many blessings as Advent draws near.

Posted in Advent, art, blessings, Christmas, sacred time | 4 Comments »

Women’s Christmas Retreat 2022 – A Gift for You

January 4, 2022

Image: Wise Women Also Came © Jan Richardson

Happy New Year and Merry Epiphany, almost! In celebration, these three wise women are stopping by with a gift for you. You might know that some folks celebrate Epiphany (January 6) as Women’s Christmas. Originating in Ireland, where it is known as Nollaig na mBan, Women’s Christmas began as a day when the women set aside time to enjoy a break and celebrate together at the end of the holidays.

It has become a tradition for me to create a new retreat each year that you can download as a PDF and use on Women’s Christmas or whenever you need some time for reflection and regathering. The new retreat is hot off the press and waiting for you! This year’s theme is A Path Called Solace. It includes readings, art, questions, and blessings. You can do the retreat alone or share it with friends. (And it’s not for women only!)

There is no cost for the retreat. It’s my Women’s Christmas gift to you, with deep gratitude for your presence on my path. To download the retreat, visit this page at my Sanctuary of Women site:

Women’s Christmas Retreat 2022: A Path Called Solace

I would be delighted for you to share this gift with others.

I send much gratitude and many blessings for you. Merry Women’s Christmas!

[To use the Wise Women Also Came image or order it as a print, please visit this page at Jan Richardson Images.]

Posted in blessings, Christmas, Epiphany, sacred time | 4 Comments »

An Illuminated Advent – 2021

November 2, 2021

Illuminated Advent Retreat

ILLUMINATED 2021
An Online Journey into the Heart of Christmas
November 28 – December 27

Beloved friends, I am thrilled to share the news that registration for this year’s online Advent retreat is now open! I can hardly begin to tell you all the ways this retreat holds my heart, and how much I am looking forward to it in this particular year. I would love to spend the season in your company! In a chaotic time, this retreat will offer a space of elegant simplicity. Intertwining writing, art, music, and community, this online journey creates spaces of reflection and rest that you can enter into from anywhere you are, in the way that works best for you.

Info & registration:
ILLUMINATED ADVENT RETREAT

This online retreat is not about adding one more thing to your holiday schedule! It is about helping you enter deep into a season that shimmers with mystery and possibility, solace and hope. It is especially designed to fit easily into whatever your Advent days might hold. I love hearing from people who say this retreat helps them breathe and engage the season.

Individual, group, and congregational rates are available. (And we have a very flexible definition of “congregation”!) Questions? Be sure to visit our FAQ page for the retreat.

I am grateful for you and sending you so many blessings as Advent draws near.

Posted in Advent, art, blessings, Christmas, sacred time | Leave a Comment »

Women’s Christmas Retreat 2021 – A Gift for You

January 4, 2021

Image: Wise Women Also Came © Jan Richardson

Happy New Year and Merry Epiphany, almost! In celebration, these three wise women are stopping by with a gift for you. You might know that some folks celebrate Epiphany (January 6) as Women’s Christmas. Originating in Ireland, where it is known as Nollaig na mBan, Women’s Christmas began as a day when the women set aside time to enjoy a break and celebrate together at the end of the holidays.

It has become a tradition for me to create a new retreat each year that you can download as a PDF and use on Women’s Christmas or whenever you need some time for reflection and regathering. The new retreat (our tenth!) is hot off the press and waiting for you! This year’s theme is The Sanctuary Between Us, and it offers an invitation to ponder how we hold space for one another across the distance. It includes readings, art, questions, and blessings. You can do the retreat alone or share it with friends. (And it’s not for women only!)

There is no cost for the retreat. It’s my Women’s Christmas gift to you, with deep gratitude for your presence on my path. To download the retreat, visit this page at my Sanctuary of Women site:

Women’s Christmas Retreat 2021: The Sanctuary Between Us

I’d be delighted for you to pass along the gift by sharing the link with others.

I send much gratitude and many blessings for you. Merry Women’s Christmas!

P.S. Our festive Advent discount on annual subscriptions to the Jan Richardson Images site continues through Epiphany Day on January 6. An annual subscription enables you to download any images for use in worship during the year. Advent rate: $125 (regularly $165). Click Subscribe to sign up.

[To use the Wise Women Also Came image or order it as a print, please visit this page at Jan Richardson Images.]

Posted in blessings, Christmas, Epiphany, sacred time | 2 Comments »

An Illuminated Advent – 2020

November 11, 2020

Illuminated 2020-banner

ILLUMINATED 2020
An Online Journey into the Heart of Christmas
November 29 – December 26

Beloved friends, it has been hard to wrap my head around what the season of Advent might look like this year. But I do know this: I will be offering a new online Advent retreat, and I would love to spend the season in your company! Registration is now open for the Illuminated 2020 Advent Retreat. In a chaotic time, this retreat will offer a space of elegant simplicity. Intertwining writing, art, music, and community, this online journey creates spaces of reflection and rest that you can enter into from anywhere you are, in the way that works best for you.

I am excited that this year, for the first time, the Illuminated Retreat will be based on my book Night Visions: Searching the Shadows of Advent and Christmas. Whether you are new to Night Visions or are someone who returns to it each year, I invite you to join us for this unique chance to travel through it together. (Purchasing the book is not necessary.)

Info & registration:
ILLUMINATED ADVENT RETREAT

This online retreat is not about adding one more thing to your holiday schedule! It is about helping you enter deep into this season that shimmers with mystery and possibility, solace and hope. It is especially designed to fit easily into whatever your Advent days might hold. I love hearing from people who say this retreat helps them breathe and engage the season.

Individual, group, and congregational rates are available. (And we have a very flexible definition of “congregation”!) Questions? Be sure to visit our FAQ page for the retreat.

I am grateful for you and sending you so many blessings as Advent draws near.

Posted in Advent, art, blessings, Christmas, sacred time | 7 Comments »

Just released! Sparrow: A Book of Life and Death and Life

July 14, 2020

Beloved friends, today is the day! It is a bittersweet joy to announce the release of Sparrow: A Book of Life and Death and Life. I am so pleased to say that in celebration of this day, I sat down with my amazing friend and editor, Christianne Squires, to record a conversation about Sparrow to share with you. In this video, you’ll hear about how Sparrow came to be, what makes it different from my other books, and how grief is the least linear thing I know. (Spoiler alert: also one of the most graced.) (For my email subscribers: If you don’t see the video player, click here to go to The Painted Prayerbook, where you can view it in this post.)

For info and to order Sparrow in hardcover or as an eBook, visit janrichardson.com/books. Many thanks to all who have already placed an order! If you live outside the United States, please know that you can order books directly from my website. We are always happy to ship internationally.

Please note that if you’re ordering through Amazon, they might show a significant delay in the delivery date. This is likely due to Covid-19 delays. While we don’t expect it will take as long as they might indicate, you can always order via the Books page on my website, and it will be shipped promptly. For immediate access, you can order Sparrow as an eBook.

On this Sparrow release day, I am so grateful for the graces you bring to the path and for your companionship that has helped make this day possible. I am sending so many blessings for you.

Posted in books, mystery, writing | 8 Comments »

Coming soon! Sparrow: A Book of Life and Death and Life

June 17, 2020

Sparrow-book jacket

Beloved friends, I am torn between wanting to whisper this to you and wanting to shout it from the rooftops. I have a new book! It’s called Sparrow, and it is a story of making a life in the wake of Gary’s death. I feel wildly tender about this one. It is my most personal book—hence the impulse to want to whisper the news, to be quiet about it, because in many ways it is different than anything I have written before, and this is not entirely comfortable.

Sparrow tells so much of what my heart has held since Gary’s death: the aching absence, the stubborn hope, the strange graces that come in deepest loss. It tells of unexpected solace and shelter. And it tells of a conversation that has not entirely ended but continues to inspire the life I am making now.

Sparrow will be released on July 14, into a world very different than I could have imagined. In the intense chaos and grief that have come to us in these months, I am holding on to what I came to know in my bones as I wrote this book: that, ultimately, love is more fierce than grief. And that is something I need to say in these days. Maybe even shout it from the rooftops.

I would love to put this book into your hands. For info and to pre-order Sparrow in hardcover or as an eBook, visit janrichardson.com/books.

As these days unfold, I am sending so many blessings for you, with deep gratitude.

P.S. I’m regularly posting at my author page on Facebook (@janrichardsonauthor) and on Instagram (@janrichardsonstudio) and would love to connect with you there!

Posted in books, mystery, writing | 13 Comments »

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