Schedule

6:00 pm – Taizé will begin

Cost and Registration

There is no cost to attend the Taizé prayer, but please register below by May 21st so we may plan accordingly.

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Taizé Prayer will replace midday prayer on March 20 in the assembly room. Please join us following prayer for lunch in the dining room.

Schedule

11:00 am – Taizé will begin

12:00 pm – Lunch

Cost and Registration

There is no cost to attend the Taizé prayer, but please register below by March 13th so we may plan accordingly for lunch.

The post Lenten Taizé Prayer & Soup Lunch appeared first on Holy Wisdom Monastery.

Please join us following Taizé prayer for lunch in the dining room.

Schedule

11:00 am – Taizé will begin

12:00 pm – Lunch

Cost and Registration

There is no cost to attend the Taizé prayer, but please register below by March 13th so we may plan accordingly.

The post Lenten Taizé Prayer Service appeared first on Holy Wisdom Monastery.

The monastery’s theme for 2022 is beauty. Fyodor Dostoevsky wrote in The Brothers Karamozov: “The world will be saved by beauty.” The first image that came to me as I pondered this was that of Vedran Smajlovic playing Albinoni’s Adagio in G Minor in the bombed streets of Sarajevo in 1992. He played each day for 22 days to mark the death of the 22 people killed standing in line for bread during the siege of the city. Hear the story from BBC news.   

Beauty can keep the human heart and spirit alive in the midst of suffering. The PBS Newshour on March 7, 2022, reported on ways this is happening in Ukraine in the midst of the bombing. A young girl sings “Let It Go,” the theme song from Frozen, for her shelter mates. Outside the Lviv train station, a piano is set up, and a young woman plays “What a Wonderful World” by Louis Armstrong as people fleeing their homes wait in line to buy tickets.  

In a basement bomb shelter in Kharkiv, the violinist, Vera Lytochenko, plays for the eleven others in the shelter. Lytochenko, called the “cellar violinist” has posted her concerts on social media where thousands of people in Ukraine watch. “Many people text me now saying that my videos give them such support and hope. They can see that someone stays here [in Kharkiv]. Someone is alive and someone keeps hope and is optimistic.” 

In speaking about the Way of Beauty (Via Pulcritudinus) initiative by Pope Benedict XVI, Elizabeth Lev, professor of art history at Duquesne University, said Pope Benedict noted that “beauty wounds.” It creates a little opening where the Holy Spirit can get in.

I have experienced that wounding of beauty, that opening, as a moment of awe, of mercy and grace. For me, that wounding of beauty often comes with tears. The first time I entered the empty assembly room after the monastery building was completed, I was touched by the beauty of its simplicity. It felt like a sacred space, and I was moved to tears. I felt embraced by the Holy. Perhaps you who are parents have experienced this at the birth of a child. We might experience this in nature or in witnessing courage in the midst of suffering. 

It is said that wherever there is Truth, Beauty and Goodness, there is God. These days, people are experiencing quite a bit of despair, hopelessness, fear, hatred, meaninglessness. Beauty can save us. The beauty of the Olympic athletes captivated our attention even in the midst of political tension. The beauty of the murals on the plywood boarding up the windows on State Street in Madison, WI showed the hope of the human spirit for an equitable world after the killing of George Floyd by police in Minneapolis in May 2020.  

Lia Howard writes: “It is brave to create beauty where there is fear and it may just save someone else” (11/2/2020 blog). This Lent, I invite you to include in your prayer one beautiful thing or encounter that catches your attention. Spend time with it; let it touch your heart and create a little opening in you. Stay with that moment. How does the Spirit move in you? How might you share it with others? 

If you like, share your story by responding here. 

We hope you enjoyed this Benedictine Reflection. Learn more about the sisters’ mission and the Year of Beauty by clicking the button below.

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“The life of a monk ought to be a continuous Lent.” So begins Benedict’s brief chapter on the observation of Lent. We should always be preparing for the appearance of the risen Christ. We should always be seeking to rid ourselves of bad habits, practicing self-denial, realizing our faults and living each moment in gratitude for God’s abundant love that pours down on us just as we are.  

Since few, however, have the strength for this, we urge the entire community during these days of Lent to keep its manner of life most pure and to wash away in this holy season the negligences of other times.”                                                (Rule of Benedict, chapter 49) 

The season of Lent is limited in time and at the end come death and resurrection. Likewise, human life is limited in time. At the end come death and, we hope, resurrection. In Benedict’s worldview, we do not have to wait until death to experience the reign of God. As we progress on the spiritual path we get a taste of heaven here on earth. But we must progress! Much of the year, I act as though I’m going to live forever, as if I have endless days to practice the ‘tools of good works’ that will curb my appetite for comfort and nurture a fondness for self-denial. Benedict instructs us to ‘keep death daily before our eyes,’ to live every moment with an awareness that our time here on earth is limited. One day we will be no more. This is a mindset that must be intentionally developed; death is a reality we routinely ignore. Though we are beings limited in time and space, by nature we imagine ourselves invincible and immortal – like God. Lent is an opportunity to cultivate humility, to remember that every day, every minute, every breath is a gift freely given and without notice may be taken away. It is not to be squandered or taken for granted.  

When I imagine the moment of my death I wonder, Will I be able to willingly surrender and embrace the mystery to come? Or will I experience ‘wailing and gnashing of teeth,’ raging in vain for more time even as the end draws near? 

Lent reminds me of my mortality and of my desire for God. And vice versa. My desire for God motivates me to practice abstinence. By nature I’m a weak-willed, undisciplined person. So it’s only with proper motivation that I can restrain my self-gratifying, distraction-seeking behavior. Lent provides me with the proper motivation.   

The practice of abstinence, of denying myself the satisfaction of my desires and compulsions, is a choice to live with discomfort. Saying ‘no’ to a full stomach, ‘no’ to lolling in bed, or ‘no’ to scrolling through the headlines on my phone helps me say ‘no’ to reacting to an ill-timed comment. It trains me to ‘bear injuries patiently.’ It teaches me to endure the discomfort of learning our country’s shameful racial history. During the season of Lent, I remember that the choices I make have cosmic consequences. 

As Christians, we are here to build up the body of Christ and to grow in love for the sake of the world. To love as Jesus did is to surrender a sense of entitlement to a long, comfortable life. Lent is a time to live with a sense of urgency. “Remember that you are dust, and to dust you shall return.” Life is finite. Now is the time to set limits on the ego’s rapacious desires. Now is the time to forgo satisfactions. Now is the time to put God first, for the sake of Love. 

We hope you enjoyed this Benedictine Reflection. Learn more about the sisters’ mission and the Year of Beauty by clicking the button below.

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