. . . Here at Holy Wisdom, I’ve been offered a different perspective on “labor”, on work in general. A different view on what it is and where its value lies. In the past two weeks, I have cleaned Swiss chard and washed the dirt off it. I have separated the purpley-pink and white stems from the green leafy parts and parboiled them. I have plunged them into icy water to stop the cooking process and then frozen it for use in the colder months. I have placed frozen roma tomatoes in hot water, slipped their skins from them and …
Place matters
Getting to know a new place is a lot like getting to know a new person. You can start out hesitant and shy. You can do a lot of observing and surreptitiously figuring of how that person thinks or what their sense of humor is like before you approach them. Or maybe, like a kid on the first day of school, you just jump right in. “Hi, my name is Sarah, Wanna be friends?” I have jumped right into Holy Wisdom monastery the way I jump into most of my relationships, with both feet. I want to live the fullness …
Roberta Felker’s Homily from July 24, 2011
Roberta Felker delivered the following homily at Sunday Assembly at Holy Wisdom Monastery on July 24, 2011. The readings from the common lectionary for the day were 1 Kings 3:5-12, Romans 8:26-39, and Matthew 13:31-33. Most of the gospel readings this month come from a collection of parables, sometimes called the sermon on the water or the Kingdom parables, stories that form the structural and thematic heart of Matthew. We can view them as concrete examples, intended to help us simple folks who might not otherwise understand these lofty spiritual matters. And it also may be that through parables, Jesus was reminding us …
The Singing Nuns (and non-nuns)
Then there is more singing. Up and down the notes go whizzing between Soprano, Second Soprano, Contralto. It is too high for my range and I find it hard to get enough breath in my lungs between lines. I keep trying. One of the volunteers has a gorgeous soprano and I think she must be careful to keep within the rhythm of the group so as not to break the unity of expression, which in some ways, is the goal. Then there is the Litany of Prayers, which I think is my favorite part. One of the Sisters calls for God …
Wayne Sigelko's Homily from Sunday Assembly on July 17, 2011
Wayne Sigelko delivered the following homily at Sunday Assembly eucharist at Holy Wisdom Monastery on July 17, 2011. The readings from the common lectionary that day were Isaiah 44:6-8, Romans 8:12-25, and Matthew 13:24-30, 36-43. Weeds and Wailing vs. Wheat and Waiting One of the realities of homily preparation in the 21st century is that you can type a passage into Google and instantly get a couple of dozen commentaries and sermons on the topic. In doing so with today’s gospel I found that the results could be divided into two neat, if unequal, categories. The first and far more …
Praise/Prays
. . . This is fascinating, this whole process-the chanting, the back and forth singing. The reactions it’s producing are almost physical in sensation. I feel rested after Centering Prayer, as if I’d just napped. The Singing of the Psalms and the Chanting (we alternate sitting and standing) puts me into a half-awake state and when I leave at the end I feel energetic and just…Good. After the chanting, there is a secular reading-this week the focus has been Hope. What is Hope? Can Hope be bad? How does one maintain Hope in a Cynical world? Is Hope foolish in the face of …
This praying thing
Our day at the monastery starts with Centering Prayer. We meet in the Oratory-a kind of small chapel- with an organ, a cross, a small lectern and a large candle at one end. There are four rows of chairs facing one another across a center aisle. One one wall there is an icon of Jesus looking all business-like and yet nice and patient. . . . The Oratory is silent, the large candle is lit and we file in for what begins our new day. Taking our seats we get comfortable and wait. When she is sure all are in, …
Scripture in the Rule of Benedict and Benedictine Tradition
One of the things that resonated with me when I began exploring community life at Holy Wisdom Monastery was the focus on Scripture that is so much a part of Benedictine life. The Rule of Benedict includes more than 300 quotations or allusions to Scripture — so many that some have described the Rule as the fruit of Benedict’s lectio on Scripture. Communally, we pray all the Psalms over a five-week period at the Liturgy of the Hours and read through the Bible at least once every two years. In addition to what we read in communal prayer, we also …
The Art and Practice of Lectio Divina
Lectio divina is an ancient way of praying the scriptures. It is more than just reading the Bible; it is reading scripture in a way that takes in the words, seeks out the meaning, responds to the message and rests in the fullness of the Word. Lectio divina is an integral part of the prayer life of Benedictines, along with Liturgy of the Hours, Centering Prayer and Sunday Eucharist. Lectio can be done privately or in a group. When done as personal prayer, it involves four actions. First, we actually read the scripture passage, taking in the words. We read slowly, often out loud. …
That is one Green building!
The monastery grounds are beautiful and spare and austere and lush all at the same time. Everything about the buildings is light and airy yet solid and secure. Kind of like the Swiss Family Robinson Tree House. The outside is sandy brick studded with solar panels and surrounded with prairie, gardens, fruit trees, and grass as soft as your grandma’s Berber carpet. There are flowers all around-riots of yellow coneflowers, purple prairie clover, and white milkweed, all nodding in the heat of the brilliant July noon. And everywhere there is tall and verdant Prairie grass. I imagine this must be what …