Members from the various communities at Holy Wisdom Monastery come together to celebrate Sister Joanne Kollasch’s 60 years of monastic profession. Sister Joanne sums up community living, “in community you receive so much more than you give.” (Photo by Kent Sweitzer) As I reflect on the year 2014, I’m amazed at all that has emerged at Holy Wisdom Monastery in one short year. What rises to the top for me is the sense of community. Community living takes many forms here, from the monastic community to the Sunday Assembly worshipping community, to the oblate community, to the volunteer community, the …
Sisters continue to care for the earth by adding more solar panels
In 2010 the sisters at Holy Wisdom Monastery received a LEED-platinum certification for their new monastery building—one of the ‘greenest’ buildings in the country. The solar photovoltaic system that was part of the new monastery building generated 8% of the energy needed to operate the building. The goal was to eventually add enough solar panels to produce 100% of the energy needs. Fast forward to October, 2014 and the sisters are closer to this goal as Holy Wisdom Monastery becomes Madison Gas and Electric’s (MGE) largest solar customer with the addition of 463 solar panels estimated to produce 60% of …
60 Years of Living in Community
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 …
Adult Spiritual Enrichment Opportunities at Holy Wisdom
Breakout sessions allow for a more intimate conversation during retreats and can lead to spiritual deepening. Photo by Sandy Wojtal-Weber. In late 2012, at the invitation of Sister Mary David Walgenbach and the Benedictine Women of Madison Board, a small group of volunteers started working as two committees to enhance the spiritual enrichment opportunities for adults at Holy Wisdom Monastery. The committees shared a common mission: to sponsor speakers and develop programs that would help deepen the spiritual life of members of Sunday Assembly as well as the broader Madison community. The two committees recently joined to become the Spiritual Deepening Council of Holy Wisdom …
Volunteer Spotlight: Margaret Sommers
Most Wednesday afternoons you can find Margaret Sommers in the lower level monastery workroom printing, folding and collating 200 copies of the Sunday Assembly worship bulletin and inserts. Holy Wisdom Monastery is blessed to have a dedicated group of volunteers. Many of the volunteers help outside on the 95 acres of prairie. Margaret Sommers, on the other hand, almost always volunteers inside doing a variety of tasks related to Sunday Assembly worship. Margaret came to Holy Wisdom sometime in the early 1980s for Sunday morning worship. In the late 1990s she learned from Mark Johnson who was director of worship and music at …
Rekindle Your Spiritual Energy and Learn More About Benedictine Spirituality
Many of the people who come to Holy Wisdom Monastery return again and again. Some join communities such as Sunday Assembly, the worshipping community, or the Oblates of Holy Wisdom Monastery. Others volunteer, attend daily prayer, read in the library, live with the sisters’ community, come on retreat, walk the nature trails or attend events. The Benedictine sisters who run Holy Wisdom Monastery base their ecumenical, monastic community on the Gospel and Rule of Benedict and hope those who come here learn a little about Benedictine spirituality and take these values home with them. A group of volunteers who want to help …
Rest and Relaxation at Holy Wisdom Monastery—Brother Paul Richards, OSB on Sabbatical
Balance. How do we find balance in our hectic lives? One way is by taking a break from our ordinary lives, and going to a quiet, peaceful place. Many people come to Holy Wisdom Monastery in search of this peace and quiet and leave feeling rested and renewed. Brother Paul Richards, OSB is spending a sabbatical from his work at St. John’s Abbey, Collegeville, Minnesota, at Holy Wisdom Monastery from October 2011 until May 2012. And he is finding the rhythm of the day at the monastery provides him the rest and relaxation he is searching for. Why does a Benedictine …
An Amazing Ride: Neal Smith Retires After 25 Years
Benedictines take vows of stability, conversion of life and obedience. Neal Smith brought stability to the sisters and co-workers at Holy Wisdom Monastery with his leadership and accounting abilities. On July 1, 2011, Neal celebrates 25 years at Holy Wisdom Monastery and his retirement as executive director. Neal’s history with the sisters started in 1973 while he was still in school at the University of Wisconsin-Madison finishing a Bachelor of Business Administration Accounting degree. Neal was introduced to Sister Mary David Walgenbach who took Neal horseback riding. The sisters became one of Neal’s clients while he worked part time at …
Welcome, Sharon!
We are pleased to announce the arrival of Sharon Colby, our new director of administration. Sharon has taken over some of Neal Smith’s duties as well as supervising the guest services department. She has extensive experience with non-profit organizational development and has worked at the local, state and national level, in addition to working in four different countries. Sharon worked most recently in New Mexico with the Monastery of Christ in the Desert. She first heard about Holy Wisdom Monastery in 1974 when she was a student at UW-Madison. She didn’t visit at that time, but she followed the place …