Reflections from a Summer Steward

Holy Wisdom MonasteryHospitality, Living in Community, Monastic Life, Prayer & Worship, Weekly Wisdom, Women Exploring Community 2 Comments

Submitted by Hannah Keziah Agustin In the beginning of our day, there is silence. We center ourselves on the presence of God in the basement of Holy Wisdom Monastery’s main building at 7:30 in the morning, our chairs facing toward each other as we pray. Outside of the windows, the prairie sprawls with the bloom of a Wisconsin summer – bergamot, coneflowers and butterfly milkweed decorate the fields in the day’s early sun. Here, Benedictine sisters, retreatants and community members gather for the hearing of the liturgy, the singing of worship and the reading of God’s word. Here, we come …

Summer Stewards Reflection By Grace

Holy Wisdom MonasteryLiving in Community, Monastic Life, Retreats, Women Exploring Community Leave a Comment

We were immersed in monastery life. We attended prayer, ate meals with the sisters and other retreatants, and shared in chores. The fresh vegetables we harvested in the morning became the dinner we enjoyed in the evening. We helped with restoration efforts on the prairie and in the pines.

Dear Holy Wisdom Community,

Holy Wisdom MonasteryLiving in Community 5 Comments

By Mary Chiang, guest of the sisters I will be leaving June 1, on a plane back to NYC. I need a good head start to say my farewells and want to say thank you for your warm hospitality and resilience to the faith, hope and love of our Lord. I have learned so much here. One lesson is how a binary point of view harms and limits understanding, compassion, and divides people. The life and practice of Benedictine values is a real discipline and I admire every person who devotes themselves to not giving up. It’s so easy to …

Mutually blessed

Denise West, OSBLiving in Community 1 Comment

Recently we’ve been blessed by interactions with three communities of youth and young adults in the Madison area. Earlier this year, Youth Director Becca Feldhacker, from Good Shepherd Lutheran Church in Verona, reached out to Sister Lynne to invite the sisters to participate in their spring youth retreats on the theme of rhythms, ritual and repetition. In Mid-March Sister Lynne and I joined a discussion panel for nearly 50 6th and 7th graders on the rhythms and rituals of Benedictine/monastic life. The students, parents and coworkers offered us hospitality, prayer and laughter at their beautiful church. We were delighted to reconnect …

This Most Holy Season: Passover, Easter, and Ramadan 2022

Holy Wisdom MonasteryLiving in Community 2 Comments

By Mary Chiang, guest of the sisters Every year, Jewish, Christians, and Muslims celebrate their holidays and feasts. But this year, the three Abrahamic religions celebrate their most holy tradition, in tandem. This only happens every 33 years. Each religion celebrates and remembers the very events which define their unique religious identity. The Jewish Passover (April 15- 23) recalls God’s deliverance of the Jews from slavery in Egypt; Lent and Easter (March 2-April 17) revisits the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ, as Messiah, Savior of the world; and Ramadan (April 2-May 1) the month on the Islamic calendar …

Breaking Out of Silence: An Invitation to Remember

Holy Wisdom MonasteryLiving in Community 12 Comments

By Mary Chiang With cups already full of all kinds of grief, it’s difficult for me to begin to express myself. Yet too many lives have been lost due to inaction, silence and distraction, I find myself unable to be as I have been, a “safe” and distant observer. I must begin somewhere even if I will stumble along. Because of the caring nature of the Holy Wisdom community, I hope to offer my experience of racialized trauma* from the Atlanta shootings last year. I invite you to honor the lost lives of the following victims of anti-Asian hate, gun …

A Celebration of Community Living

Holy Wisdom MonasteryLiving in Community Leave a Comment

Benedictine Sisters at Holy Wisdom Monastery Celebrate Community and Breaking Barriers Middleton, WI September 21, 2021 — A small community of Benedictine Sisters at Holy Wisdom Monastery celebrates a combined 151 years of religious life this weekend, Sept. 24-26, 2021, at their Celebration of Community. In addition, they welcome a new Sister into their community on Sunday, as Novice Everline Jeruto makes her first monastic profession. The Sisters at Holy Wisdom live together in community and follow the Gospel and the Rule of Benedict. For 68 years they have lived out their mission of weaving prayer, hospitality, justice and care …

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Living at a Monastery, ft. former Sojourner Sarah Wilkin Gibart

Brooke MoriartyCommunity of Benedict, Living in Community, Monastic Life, Podcast Leave a Comment

Want to be the first to hear every new episode? Click here to sign up for email notifications! In this episode, we sit down with Sarah Wilkin Gibart, a member of Sunday Assembly, to explore her experience as a Benedictine Sojourner – living among the sisters and working with them for half a year! Journey with us as Sarah shares how she learned of the Benedictine Sojourner experience, what she gained, and how it helped her grow as she stepped into the next phase of her life. If you’re interested in learning more about the sisters’ community and upcoming experiences, …

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‘Becoming Ecumenical: The New Spirit of Vatican II,’ The Holy Wisdom Podcast

Brooke MoriartyBuilding Community, Hospitality, Interfaith Relations, Living in Community, Looking Back, Monastic Life, Podcast, Rule of Benedict Leave a Comment

Want to be the first to hear every new episode? Click here to sign up for email notifications! In this continuation of Ep. 1, Becoming Ecumenical: Bringing Christians Together, we sit down once more with Sister Mary David Walgenbach and Sister Joanne Kollasch. Starting in 1966, the sisters take us along the hurdles and fundamental moments of growth into an ecumenical community throughout the 60’s, 70’s, and Vatican II. From welcoming retreat groups for many different Christian denominations to hosting the Dalai Lama, the sisters have embraced the hospitality of St. Benedict, calling it “the everyday path to God that …

Benedictine Practices for a Balanced Life

Lynne Smith, OSBLiving in Community, Uncategorized Leave a Comment

Benedictine spirituality aims at helping the sisters at Holy Wisdom Monastery live a balanced life. It provides time for prayer, work, leisure and study. We have time built into the day and week for solitude and time with others. The various activities of our days serve to integrate the body, mind, spirit and soul over the course of our lives. Manual labor and service to others keeps us from being in our head all day. Prayer keeps us from expending all our energy outward giving us time to go inward and reflect. Study stimulates our intellect and provides for growth …