Nature Notes Winter 2014-2015

Holy Wisdom MonasteryCare for the Earth, Homepage, Nature Notes Leave a Comment

What an exciting and eventful year 2014 has been for the land at Holy Wisdom Monastery. The Friends of Wisdom Prairie came into existence to assist the sisters in caring for the earth. And, wow, have they done a great job of doing that. They worked on the land, performing the many land management tasks that are needed to carry out ecological restorations and to sustain them over time. We had a huge prairie seed sowing on nearly 20 acres of what had been agricultural land. 98 volunteers had a wonderful experience of planting about 100 different kinds of prairie …

2014—the year of communities

Car McGinleyBenedictine Bridge, Care for the Earth, Homepage, Hospitality, Monastic Life, Oblates, Retreats, Sunday Assembly Leave a Comment

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 …

Friends of Wisdom Prairie — a personal profile

Holy Wisdom MonasteryBenedictine Bridge, Care for the Earth, Homepage, Wisdom Prairie Project Leave a Comment

From Benedictine Bridge, November, 2014 – featuring Ron Endres,   a founding member of the Friends of Wisdom Prairie Council Ron Endres (center), Will Mann (left), and Greg Armstrong (right) prepare seed packets for the Wisdom Prairie seeding day. Ron Endres declines to be called a prairie expert, but he truly knows and loves native prairie culture. Ron has spent more hours than he can estimate harvesting, drying, smashing, screening, weighing, bagging and labelling prairie seed which he can provide to non-profit organizations to create new expanses of prairie habitat. ​It was his generous donation of 80-90 species and 240 pounds of prairie seeds …

Teaching us how to live rightly on the earth

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Publishing in the Landscape by Calvin B. DeWitt We had driven through the Cotswold district of England a few days earlier, and now I was standing before an impressive group of scholars in nearby Oxford, ready to present a lecture on Creation stewardship. I had been welcomed to the lectern and was ready to begin with an academic introduction. But I put aside my notes, and announced to my audience, “I have just made what for me is an important discovery I want to share with you! It is a powerful and convicting publication on land stewardship. And yet, while …

Prairie Planting at Holy Wisdom Monastery

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Paraphrased from a document written by Ron Endres and Greg Armstrong for the Wisdom Prairie Planting Day The Friends of Wisdom Prairie had a very successful prairie planting on nearly 20 acres of what was agricultural land. We planted this prairie at this time of year so that the seed can over-winter in the soil and germinate in the spring. In general, this is the most successful time to plant. Fall plantings take advantage of cold moist conditions to break seed dormancy. We spread the seeds by hand so that the frost works the seeds into the soil, instead of …

Earthkeeping and con-servancy

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Homily by Calvin DeWitt, October 19, 2014 Readings:  Genesis 2:4-9,15; Colossians 1:15-20.   Our readings today from Genesis and Colossians help us to learn about our privilege and responsibility to care for the land God has entrusted to our care. Genesis 2:15 gives the commission to avad the Garden and to shamar it. And the hymn of Colossians, (1:15-20) tells us that is through Jesus Christ that God creates, sustains, and reconciles ta panta. The Hebrew word avad in Genesis is variously translated, till, tend, cultivate, work, and serve. It is a word with a constellation of meanings all centering …

Myth #209 – All nuns prefer black

Holy Wisdom MonasteryCare for the Earth, Living in Community, Myth busting Leave a Comment

Not necessarily. Benedictine Women of Madison prefer green. On October 15, 2014 we posted a link to an article about the newest solar panels on our “green” monastery building and retreat and guest house, but the story begins much earlier: “Benedictine women in Wisconsin are practicing new (and ancient) ways to save the earth, starting with the home front. New growth has a history of springing to life at Holy Wisdom Monastery in Madison, Wisconsin — and that’s just fine with the Benedictine sisters there.” These lines introduce Sister Act, an article by Betsy Shirley, published in Sojourners Magazine, which details the history …

Sisters continue to care for the earth by adding more solar panels

Car McGinleyBenedictine Bridge, Care for the Earth, LEED Certified Building Leave a Comment

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 …

Nature Notes Fall 2014

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Restoring the health of the land at Holy Wisdom Monastery The sisters, and their many friends, at Holy Wisdom Monastery have been working at renewing the ecological health of their land for nearly two decades. During that time they have restored over 95 acres of tall grass prairie, the kind that occupied some of this land prior to European settlement. In doing so, they have increase the biological diversity on their land; providing a place to live, and food to eat, for animals, birds, insects and many other organisms. The motivation of the sisters to care for the earth in …

Volunteer Spotlight: Karen Bate—Caring for the Bluebirds

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

Karen Bate monitors the bluebird boxes at Holy Wisdom Monastery.  Karen Bate has been caring for the bluebirds for 15 years. A Madison-native, Karen began coming here after the death of her daughter Robin. The bench at the top of the hill by the apple orchard is a memorial to Robin. Paul Boutwell, monastery groundskeeper suggested Karen would enjoy caring for the 19 bluebird boxes located around the property. Karen quickly learned about bluebirds, their habits and predators and is a wealth of knowledge. Before the bluebirds return from the south in March or April, Karen cleans the houses and …