“How to Paint a Portrait of a Bird” – a reflection on Benedictine life

Lynne Smith, OSBMonastic Life, Spirituality Articles 2 Comments

How to Paint the Portrait of a Bird First paint a cage with an open door next paint something pretty something simple something beautiful something useful for the bird next place the canvas against a tree in a garden in a woods in a forest hide behind the tree without saying anything without moving … Sometimes the bird comes quickly but it could just as well take long years before it decides Don’t be discouraged Wait wait years if necessary the speed or slowness of the bird’s arrival has nothing to do with the success of the painting When the …

60 Years of Living in Community

Car McGinleyBenedictine Bridge, Monastic Life Leave a Comment

Sister Joanne Kollasch celebrates her 60 years of living in a Benedictine community with family and friends. (Photo by Kent Sweitzer) Sister Joanne Kollasch has seen a lot of change in her 60 years of monastic life, but what hasn’t changed is Sister Joanne’s commitment to seeking God through a life following the Gospel and the Rule of Benedict. “Benedictine life is a tradition that has lived for so many centuries and on the one hand there are all the values that have come down to us through those 1,500 years, but on the other hand the reason the tradition …

Drawn to Community: Then and Now—People Join Communities Today and Through the Ages for Many Reasons

Mary David Walgenbach, OSBBenedictine Bridge, Monastic Life Leave a Comment

Community life balanced with prayer, work and study is lived out at Holy Wisdom Monastery in many ways. Women and men began intentional communities centuries ago in the deserts of Egypt. They came to practice ascetical disciplines or to escape the overwhelming responsibilities of life. For many, living alone and facing their personal demons propelled them to come together for ideological support. These intentional communities began in the second and third centuries before the Christian era. In her book, The Sayings of the Desert Fathers, Benedicta Ward cites the need for repentance for living a life of sinfulness and gives the …

Farewell and Blessings

Lynne Smith, OSBBenedictine Bridge, Monastic Life Leave a Comment

On April 15, 2014 sojourners, monastery guests, coworkers and sisters came together to say thanks and goodbye to four of the sojourers who lived in community with the sisters over the past 13 months.Four of our Benedictine Sojourners complete their time with us on April 21, 2014. Brenda Lisenby, Sarah Wilkin, Trish Stefanik and Vicki Wuolle have spent seven to thirteen months living in community, participating in and leading prayer, sharing in meals and leisure activities with the sisters and guests. We have been blest by their gifts as they have shared their lives with us and participated in various …

The Prairie Has Much to Teach Us

Holy Wisdom MonasteryBenedictine Bridge, Care for the Earth, Monastic Life, Volunteers Leave a Comment

The prairie teaches us to take time to slow down, develop and nurture deep roots.  The prairie has much to teach us. During the winter months prairie plants experience an important period of dormancy. With spring will come a rush of new growth, but first the prairie rests, gathering strength, while nature lies in a deep freeze. What a privilege to be surrounded by the restored Wisdom Prairie lands here at Holy Wisdom Monastery. Restoration of native species provides spaces with unique beauty, a balm for souls and healing and care for the natural environment, especially our precious lakes. Prairie …

Desert Wisdom: Discernment and Mentorship on NBC’s The Voice

Holy Wisdom MonasteryA Benedictine Sojourner's Journey, Living in Community, Monastic Life 5 Comments

I’ve tricked most of my house into following the popular NBC television show The Voice, which features four superstar music coaches who select teams of vocalists in blind auditions. The rivalries and ribbing between the coaches make it particularly entertaining, but the really fun part of the show is when multiple coaches want the same person on their team (photo, above, by Trae Patton/NBC). Then the power to choose a mentor shifts to the singer, who listens to each coach make their case— and finally, she gets to choose. One of those moments occurred on the opening night of the show last …

Encouraging Leadership at the Monastery

Lynne Smith, OSBBenedictine Bridge, Monastic Life Leave a Comment

The Benedictine Women of Madison have a long tradition of welcoming others as Christ and encouraging their leadership. Sunday Assembly, which meets for worship at Holy Wisdom Monastery (HWM), grew out of the sisters’ commitment to ecumenism but is primarily led each week by members of the assembly. This year, its Children’s Ministry team asked itself, “What would children’s faith formation within a monastic setting look like?” The answer that emerged integrates intergenerational learning, children’s meditation and children’s liturgy. Children participating in a Sunday Assembly worship service. This year the Children’s Ministry team will offer several intergenerational events. HWM’s Oblate …

Praying the psalms in the dark days of winter

Holy Wisdom MonasteryA Benedictine Sojourner's Journey, Living in Community, Monastic Life Leave a Comment

It has been an unusually cold January at the monastery. In the wake of a “polar vortex,” temperatures dropped well-below zero in the Madison area, forcing school and office closings. I know that for some the winter months are a delight, but the Wisconsin cold makes me feel a little trapped inside, like a kid desperate with cabin fever. I noticed that these feelings intensified as the monastery celebrated a Week of Prayer for Christian Unity, an international Christian ecumenical observance kept annually in late January. Each day we prayed for connections, relationships and appreciations to grow among our diverse …

Keeping the gifts of Christmas – in Ordinary Time

Holy Wisdom MonasteryA Benedictine Sojourner's Journey, Living in Community, Monastic Life Leave a Comment

I couldn’t help but feel a twinge of sadness as we put away the Advent/Christmas Liturgy books last week and replaced them with the Ordinary Time books. Google “post-Christmas blues” and you’ll discover that it’s listed in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders as a mild depression that commonly occurs after the winter holidays, when people feel a little sad and find it difficult to return to their daily rhythm. After the anticipation and excitement of the holiday season passes, the New Year seems to yawn open, a bleak expanse of time filled with resolutions to lose weight, …

All hands on deck

Holy Wisdom MonasteryA Benedictine Sojourner's View, Living in Community, Monastic Life 2 Comments

One of the articles written about Holy Wisdom Monastery describes the striking angles of the new green-designed building built in 2009, calling to mind a ship rising upon the prairie. When I returned from the holiday break, it was “all hands on deck” for the sisters, coworkers, sojourners and many volunteers. From January 2-15 of the new year Holy Wisdom Monastery was providing Benedictine hospitality to a five-day Tergar Buddhist Retreat with 85 people attending, a winter writing group of 15 people, 100 people participating in a Center for Mindfulness and Justice meditation retreat, and three-day meetings of the Wisconsin …