The national board of the Leadership Conference of Women Religious (LCWR) has met and issued its response to the April 18th assessment of the organization issued by the Vatican Congregation for the Doctrine of Faith. The full LCWR response can be found on the LCWR website. Additional background is available in an article published online today by the National Catholic Reporter. We, sisters of Benedictine Women of Madison, continue to stand with LCWR and all women religious in the US as sisters in Christ. We find most striking and poignant in the LCWR response their statement: “The report has furthermore …
Benedictine Life in the 21st Century
Young adult volunteers at Holy Wisdom Monastery in Wisconsin connect with God through nature and community by Elizabeth A. Elliott Originally published May 8, 2012 at www.BustedHalo.com, reprinted with permission Connection. It is something everyone desires and in today’s world it seems to happen 24/7 through the Internet and social media. But there are people who yearn for a different, deeper connection — with God, with nature, and with each other. Sara Jo Emmerich, a 30-year-old who lives in Washington, D.C., found that connection at Holy Wisdom Monastery in Middleton, Wisconsin. It was there, as part of the Volunteer in …
Honoring Hildegard of Bingen
Holy Spirit, giving life to all life, moving all creatures, root of all things, washing them clean, wiping out their mistakes, healing their wounds, you are our true life: luminous, wonderful, awakening the heart from its ancient sleep. ~ Hildegard of Bingen Illumination above by Hildegard of Bingen: Cultivating the Cosmic Tree Hildegard of Bingen was a Benedictine abbess, writer, musician and mystic. On May 10, 2012 the Vatican formally recognized Hildegard of Bingen by “inscribing her in the catalogue of saints.” Here at Holy Wisdom Monastery, she has been held in highest esteem for many years. Her …
United in Christ
An enormous controversy currently surrounds US Catholic women religious. A recent doctrinal investigation of the Leadership Conference of Women Religious (LCWR) concluded with the appointing of an archbishop to review, guide and approve the work of LCWR. LCWR is an association of the leaders of communities and congregations of Catholic women religious in the US, representing more than 80 percent of the 57,000 women religious in the US today. The actions of the Vatican’s Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith (CDF) have stirred deep emotions throughout the US and beyond and made LCWR a familiar acronym to those who …
Keeping your house light and easy to carry
What could a children’s book, the writings of Richard Rohr, and Benedictine simplicity have in common? Barb Abbott, oblate of Holy Wisdom Monastery, helped us weave these connections today at our final Women’s Lenten Lunch. We gathered for midday prayer and a delicious meal created in part from local produce (including apples grown here at the monastery). In true Benedictine style, a meditative reading was offered during the meal, including excerpts like these from Radical Grace, by Richard Rohr: “Soul knowledge sends you in the opposite direction from consumerism. It’s not addition that makes one holy but subtraction: gripping the illusions, …
An invitation to Benedict’s “little rule for beginners”
On March 21 we celebrate the Feast of Benedict and honor this holy man who became the founder of the Benedictine tradition. The beginning of his story is captured in this excerpt from St. Benedict and St. Scholastica, by Sr. Margaret Clarke, OSB: Benedict, whose name in Latin means “Blessed,” was born to a Christian family in the mountains to the northeast of Rome (A.D.480?). The Roman Empire was crumbling and the Goths and Vandals controlled Italy. As a youth, he was sent to Rome for schooling and there experienced a religious awakening which caused him to renounce corrupt secular …
Listening to my life
Another wonderful experience today in our third Women’s Lenten Lunch. Thank you to Carol Kretschman who served as reader during lunch, to Chef Barbara Wright who served us a simple and delicious noon meal, to Claudia Greco who offered us the opportunity to listen to our life through the shared experience of lectio divina, and to all the women present who took time to listen and share from the heart. Claudia framed our conversations in the opening lines of the Rule of Benedict: “Listen carefully, my child, to these words. Listen with the ear of your heart.” She shared a …
Stilling the wandering heart
Our Women’s Lenten Lunch speaker today, Carole Kretschman, focused on stability, balance and silence – opening the door to “stilling the wandering heart” (Joan Chittister) enough to make space for God. Carole helped us explore monastic stability in light of these thoughts from Jan Richardson, In the Sanctuary of Women: The monastic vow of stability recognizes that in committing ourselves to a particular place and staying rooted despite changes around and within us, we grow in a way that is different than if we are constantly on the move. Carole invited us to develop a sense of stability that might be …
Bearing with one another
Thanks to Trisha Day, member of Sunday Assembly at Holy Wisdom Monastery, for leading off our series of Women’s Lenten Lunches today. We were joined by 48 guests as Trisha offered a new perspective on Lenten disciplines. She suggests we give up some of our own self-interest and unhelpful patterns of relating to others in order to “bear with one another,” to show true compassion, to reverence what is sacred in others. Trisha references this spirit of compassion in a variety of writings: Finally, all of you, live in harmony with one another; be sympathetic, love as sisters and brothers …
Celebrating the gift of ecumenical Benedictine community
Today, February 17, 2012, marks the 6th anniversary of our official re-founding as an ecumenical Benedictine community for Benedictine Women of Madison. “A New World Order” is how the media sees it. “Welcoming women of all Christian traditions” is how we talk about it. “It is a gift to be welcomed into a community” is how a recent Volunteer in Community experiences it. The history that brings us to this day is rich and deep, as Sister Mary David Walgenbach recalls: The first steps were inspired by the decrees of the Second Vatican Council and the Community of Taize, France. …