Rosy Kandathil shares reflections on the Rule of Benedict

Celibate intimacy – a real question

Holy Wisdom MonasteryLetters home, Rule of Benedict, Spirituality Articles 2 Comments

“How do you experience intimacy as a celibate?” She looked up at me quizzically from her notebook. The young woman’s question caught me by surprise. I had just finished an interview with Pastor Pete Scazzero at New Life Fellowship church in New York City, where I’d been a member for nine years before coming to Holy Wisdom Monastery. My life at the monastery remained a mystery to many of the people I served at the church, people I still cared deeply about. I hoped that my answers might help bridge the gap for this busy urban church where monastic life might …

Sister Lynne, hoe in hand, working in garden, caring for the earth

Why care for the earth?

Lynne Smith, OSBBuilding Community 1 Comment

Why care for the earth? Monday morning, while I am working in the garden, a turkey hen appears from behind the compost pile, shepherding two very young chicks across the grass toward the garden. The hen stops and turns back when she sees me, but the chicks continue ahead and take cover under the rhubarb plants. As I walk away trying not to scare them, the mother clucks softly to her chicks and they come running out of the grass and into the woods with her. Tuesday morning I see them again from my office window as they enter the …

Sisters at prayer (Photo © Andy Manis)

Benedictine life: new ways of valuing persons, things and time

Joanne Kollasch, OSBLiving in Community, Rule of Benedict, Spirituality Articles 1 Comment

What contributions has Benedict made to society?—a presentation by Joanne Kollasch, OSB to the Benedictine Women of Madison Board of Directors, July 26, 2016. I owe a great deal to Mary Collins, OSB for my reflections with you today. Scholars may continue to argue whether Benedict was counter-cultural or not. Settling this question doesn’t really matter so much because, from the beginning, the monastic way of life involved a re-valuation of persons, things and time, according to a set of standards that are different from those of the dominant culture. Monastic re-valuation can be clearly seen in the Rule of …

Sisters and guests seated around the dinner table

Being Christ to each other

Lynne Smith, OSBBuilding Community, Living in Community 6 Comments

Since Rosy’s homily on June 12, 2016, I’ve been pondering the meaning of the incarnation. The Rule of Benedict teaches us to see Christ in one another and to receive one another as Christ. It takes a lifetime to explore what it means to us that God came to us in the flesh. This past month I have had occasions to notice the significance of the incarnation in everyday life. Missionary Benedictine Sister Marie Songmun from the Daegu priory in South Korea visited us for a week in June. I feel a special kinship with her because she arrived here …

Monastic profession in a time of violence, division and fear

Holy Wisdom MonasteryLetters home, Living in Community 4 Comments

Openness to change is a cornerstone of Benedictine life, reflected in the vow of conversatio morum, traditionally understood as “conversion to the monastic way.” Conversatio points Benedictines to an openness of the heart, a commitment to conversion—a deep-seated orientation toward the Spirit’s call. At its best, Benedictine life is a fluid and flexible form, inspired by a 1500-year history and the examples of those who have gone before. Last week over 100 monks, sisters, nuns, oblates and students of theology attended the 2016 Monastic Institute hosted by Saint John’s School of Theology and Seminary in Collegeville, MN. Reflecting on the theme …

Lector with out-stretched arms leading the worshiping community at Holy Wisdom Monastery.

A passion for wisdom

Lynne Smith, OSBBuilding Community, Living in Community Leave a Comment

“Wisdom has built her house and spread her table.” —Proverbs 9 This is a phrase we sing frequently as an antiphon in our Liturgy of the Hours. It was also the text chosen for an address, which we re-discovered recently, by Sister Donald Corcoran, OSB, CAM. As a member of our Ecumenical Board in the 1990’s, Sister Donald spoke at the blessing of the renovated monastery building (now our Retreat & Guest House) on May 21, 1995. I found wonderful connections between Sister Donald’s comments and the ways we continue to embody a passion for wisdom here at Holy Wisdom Monastery. Benedict …

Sister Rosy after first profession and in the garden

Becoming a Sister – Rosy

Holy Wisdom MonasteryLetters home, Living in Community 12 Comments

“So, do you go by ‘sister’ now?” The question never fails to pulls me up short, hesitating. In the uncomfortable silence that ensues, I wrestle internally to come up with an accurate response. My first profession was over 9 months ago, so the answer is technically yes. But the truth is more complex. The question touches an emerging part of my identity that is still feeling its way into the world. I struggle to introduce myself as “Sister Rosy” without pinching myself in disbelief. Whose life is this?  What’s in a name? First profession marks an important transition from the …

Sisters walking together outdoors

Passionate about building community

Lynne Smith, OSBBuilding Community, Living in Community Leave a Comment

Sister Joanne often says, “Building community is one of the things we do around here.” Indeed it is. You could say we are passionate about building community at Holy Wisdom Monastery. In the sisters’ community and the oblate community, in Sunday Assembly, among coworkers, Benedictine Sojourners and Friends of Wisdom Prairie—we seek to foster personal connections where people can find a welcome acceptance for who they are and a vibrant place to give and receive personal gifts and experience the divine. Many people today express a desire for community in a society where they experience so much divisiveness and isolation. …

Bee resting on a pink clover head

Lectio divina on the “book of creation”

Joanne Kollasch, OSBBuilding Community, Living in Community, Spirituality Articles 4 Comments

This post is transcribed from an oral presentation made by Sister Joanne Kollasch to the Benedictine Women of Madison Board of Directors on March 29, 2016, part of the sisters’ continuing mission to build community and share Benedictine values. A Spirituality for the Easter Season by Joanne Kollasch, OSB In morning prayer today we recited these words: Let all creation bend to you: For you spoke, and they took shape; you breathed: they came alive. Nothing can resist your voice. Or, in words recently shared by Margaret Mandernach, OSB:  “There is only one life, one love, one energy…namely, God. All of creation …

Painting of St Thomas inspecting the wounds in Jesus's side

An awkward season

Holy Wisdom MonasteryLetters home, Living in Community 6 Comments

The beginning of spring is always awkward. Saturday, I woke up to snow. Sunday morning, the sun was shining in a warm blue sky, putting the chase to winter. But by Monday morning, I could see frost on my window panes again; it was 27 degrees. With all these clumsy up and downs, I can’t figure out what season we’re in. I haven’t written for a while. To tell the truth, it’s been a long and draining semester. I’ve felt buried by schoolwork and haven’t had the energy or motivation to reach out. Most of my resources have been focused …