Bach Dancing & Dynamite Society co-producers Jeffrey Sykes and Stephanie Jutt bring their “chamber music with a bang” to Holy Wisdom Monastery on June 13, 2013 for the annual Prairie Rhapsody benefit concert. Photo by C&N Photographers. We are pleased to announce that Bach Dancing & Dynamite Society (BDDS) will bring their act to Holy Wisdom Monastery on Thursday, June 13, 2013 for the annual Prairie Rhapsody benefit concert. We are excited to see this come to fruition after being in conversation with BDDS about the possibilities since 2011! BDDS performs throughout the Madison area in June of each year, bringing their “chamber music with …
Volunteer Spotlight: David Fisher
David Fisher enjoys removing invasive plants at Holy Wisdom Monastery to keep the native landscape thriving. Photo by Kent Sweitzer. David Fisher has been instrumental in removing woody invasive species in the prairie for the past two years. His largest project includes removal of a 20 foot high x 40 foot long hedge comprised of honeysuckle and buckthorn, two woody invasive species which take over if left to grow. David has made this his mission and volunteered in weather extremes ranging from 5 to 100 degrees. “He works no matter what the weather is in removing invasive species,” Sister Mary David Walgenbach …
Celebrate the Risen Christ at Holy Wisdom Monastery
By Lynn Lemberger, director of prayer and worship and Carolyn McGinley, director of communications Processing to the baptismal font during the Easter Vigil. Come experience Holy Week at the monastery! Photo by Gregory Bleck Worship at Holy Wisdom Monastery is ecumenical, meaning the unity of Christians. Services follow the Christian tradition and are also shaped by Benedictine spirituality. All are welcome and encouraged to participate fully. This includes the prayer and worship services during Holy Week and Easter. As in most Christian churches, Holy Week is the most sacred time of the liturgical year at Holy Wisdom Monastery. During this week we offer …
What Does it Mean to be a Volunteer in Community?
Volunteers in Community Hershey Mallette (left) and Stephanie Borger (right) join Sister Lynne Smith in the monastery garden. This summer between June 10 and July 6, 2013 the sisters will welcome single women from various backgrounds to experience life in the monastery as Volunteers in Community. In the six years we have offered this program over 30 women have prayed with us, worked on the monastery grounds, and shared their stories with us. We have been challenged and enriched by the vitality and the faith they bring. If you know a woman who might be interested in becoming a volunteer this year, …
Donor Profiles: Millennial Giving at Holy Wisdom Monastery
One of the true joys of my job is being able to connect with our supporters who share a passion for the sisters’ mission and ministries. I have the privilege of many impromptu conversations and correspondence with some passionate people who are drawn to the works of the monastery. It’s always wonderful to hear about their life experiences, especially some of the folks who have been involved at the monastery since the 1950s when the sisters first settled here. Our donor records go back to 1970 and some of these original donors are still monthly donors today. There is strength in …
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 …
Benedictine Sojourners Coming and Going
Esther de Waal writes that the purpose of every Benedictine experience is to bring people together in community for mutual support on the spiritual journey, to teach them to live a balanced life and to enable participants to take their learning into their everyday life. This is what the Sojourner experience seeks to provide. On August 15, 2012, Linda Steg and Nancy Melin arrived at Holy Wisdom Monastery as our first two Benedictine Sojourners. During their time here they entered fully into the life of the monastery sharing common prayer, meals, work, study and leisure with the community. The sisters …
Dinner Theater Comes to Holy Wisdom Monastery
I’m pleased to announce a new event this year — Dinner with the Other Disciples — a fundraiser to benefit the sisters’ ministries at Holy Wisdom Monastery. The event came together near the end of last year. One of our fans and supporters, Mary Zaborski, brought a group of women from all over Wisconsin here on retreat for several days. The sisters enjoyed their camaraderie that week at meals and during prayer. The group had several artistic talents they wanted to share with the monastery. One of the gifts comes from Geri Luer, who is directing Dinner with the Other Disciples. She is …
In the Presence of a Nun on the Bus
Mary David Walgenbach, OSB (right), prioress at Holy Wisdom Monastery, and Barbara Dannhausen, OP, a board member with the Benedictine Women of Madison, pose in front of the bus in Sinsinawa, Wisconsin in June 2012. One of the leaders of the Nuns on the Bus tour, Sister Simone Campbell, will be at Holy Wisdom Monastery in February and you’re invited to come hear her speak. You may have heard of Sister Simone Campbell, SSS. As the executive director of NETWORK, she was one of the leaders of the Nuns on the Bus tour this past summer, which took an active stance against US Congressman Paul Ryan’s …
Many Forms of Membership
Holy Wisdom Monastery provides many ways for women and men to take part in the mission and vision of the sisters’ community. The oblates of Holy Wisdom Monastery are one group that shares in our mission and vision. The oblates are an intentional and ecumenical community of women and men in society. In a mutual relationship with the sisters, they seek God through the Benedictine tradition of a balanced life of prayer, work, leisure, and study. The oblate community provides its own leadership. The leadership circle attends to the on-going details of the life of the community. It chooses speakers …