Submitted by Rajai Atalla Last week I summarized the evolution of the connection between Holy Wisdom and Sarthi. In 2013, when Holy Wisdom adopted Sarthi as part of its overseas mission, we had just been asked for additional support for a 5-year-old who had been abandoned by his parents who went their separate ways. We were asked for an additional $480 to support him for one year. To make a gift to Sarthi, visit the giving page on our website https://holywisdommonastery.org/support/donate-today/ and select “SARTHI” on the designation drop-down menu. Thank you! Soon after that they began a program to prepare …
Evolution of Holy Wisdom’s relationship with Sarthi
By: Rajai Atalla Sometimes the Holy One moves us in ways we don’t anticipate! Our relationship with Sarthi started when our son Ian was travelling in India for language and cultural studies; it was the 2005/2006 academic year. Soon thereafter he was walking the streets of Delhi and saw a young boy about six years old, with a cleft palate. He seemed quite timid in comparison to other kids his age on the streets. Ian took the boy, whose name is Akshay, to a hospital nearby and asked what it would cost to have the cleft repaired. He was told …
New Chef Begins This Month
Our new Monastery Chef, Brian Maki, will have his first day of work at Holy Wisdom Monastery on Tuesday, April 25. He is looking forward to serving others with you, as part of the monastery’s mission. Below is a note from him: “Hello everyone! My name is Brian and I’m very excited to be starting my new chapter as the Chef for Holy Wisdom Monastery in the coming weeks. I wanted to write a short note to you as an opportunity to introduce myself. I started my career in the culinary field as a young dishwasher and instantly fell in …
ReStoryation – Food Sovereignty
By Sally Bowers and Julie Melton, Friends of Wisdom Prairie volunteers The story of Noah and the Flood is not unique to the Bible. There are three flood stories in Native American culture. In each one, the flood follows human failure to live in balance. Food sovereignty is about balance. Use what our Creator has provided, but use it sustainably, respectfully. Balance recognizes that we humans are but one of God’s creations. We are related to every other piece of creation from microbe to mountain. ReStoryation from the native people and their ancestral lands teaches us this importance. Food Sovereignty preserves …
Lost Lake, Sacred Space
Author: Julie Melton Lost Lake is living evidence of the last glacier in southern Wisconsin. As the glacier melted, huge chunks of ice were separated from the receding edge. Rivers of melt water gushed around it depositing 30 foot deep layers of silt, rock, and gravel. Lost Lake was born when the ice melted leaving a depression in the landscape. Ground water, rain, and snow fed it. After the glaciers receded, life returned, eventually greening the landscape. Ancestors of the Ho-Chunk who lived throughout this area were attracted to the lake. This space was so sacred to them that they …
International Women’s Day
The Sisters at Holy Wisdom Monastery, Madison, Wisconsin welcome and celebrate International Women’s Day. We are a small community of Benedictine women who enjoy and benefit from an international world view. Our community is a member of the world-wide Benedictine order begun in the sixth century. Our interests and work focus not only locally but on sisters’ communities and work in Africa, Asia, South America and Europe. Travel to these countries prompts a desire and understanding for collaboration. After a visit with sisters in Korea, Korean sisters came to our monastery to learn English. They attended classes at WESLI – …
Monitoring Bird-Window Collisions at the Monastery
Since the Fall of 2021, volunteers from Madison Audubon and Holy Wisdom have been monitoring windows at the Monastery and Retreat & Guest House for bird collisions. The volunteers detected 21 window collisions during fall 2022. This was more than the combined number of collisions documented during the fall of 2021 and spring of 2022. The greatest number of collisions occurred at glass doors at the Retreat & Guest House courtyard. Dr. Amy Alstad, the Director of Land Management noted “This is a protected area with vegetation that is attractive to song birds. As soon as it warms up, we …
Feast of St. Scholastica – A Reflection on Prayer
Feb. 10 is the Feast Day of St. Scholastica. Scholastica is the twin sister of her more famous brother Benedict of Nursia. They grew up in a wealthy family and they both founded monasteries in the sixth century. Everything we know about them comes from a book written by Gregory the Great after Benedict’s death. Scholastica is mostly known for her great love of the spiritual life and for her fervent prayer. The famous story is that these siblings would leave their monasteries once a year to meet for spiritual conversation. On the last occasion of their meeting, they spent …
Father Kenneth Smits, OFM Capuchin – 1938-2023
Father Ken Smits, Capuchin, Province of St. Joseph of the Capuchin Order, Detroit, Michigan, died on February, 4, 2023. He made a great contribution to the liturgical and ecumenical life of Holy Wisdom Monastery during the 14 years he worked at the monastery. Father Ken was hired as director of Benedictine life ministries in August of 1994. He served as the liturgist and program director at the Monastery of Saint Benedict Center (now Holy Wisdom Monastery) until 1998. That year he started dividing his time between the liturgy department (prayer & worship) and the spirituality department. Father Ken worked with …
Seeking Balance
By Pam Shellberg and Sister Denise West, OSB Sister Denise West and Pam Shellberg, director of spiritual nourishment at Holy Wisdom Monastery, enjoy regular conversations together about all things spiritual and Benedictine. In this blog post, they share a recent conversation and invite you to join them by leaving comments below. Sister Denise began the conversation: “If God does not build the house, in vain do its builders labor.” (Psalm 127) These lines grabbed my attention during midday prayer not long ago. It struck me that it had something to do not only with work but also with balance. Our …