The Benedictine sisters at Holy Wisdom Monastery endorse the following statement from Leadership Conference of Women Religious (LCWR): Mourning is Not Enough: LCWR Calls for Action to Prevent Gun Violence February 23, 2018 On February 14 a very troubled 19-year-old took an AR-15 assault rifle to Marjory Stoneman High School and opened fire killing 14 students and three staff members. The shooting was a horrible tragedy that has become all too familiar to students, teachers, and parents across the country. The heartbreak in Parkland, Florida is far too common. A recent study of World Health Organization data published in the American …
Taize Prayer
Prayer in the style of Taizé is a ministry of Sunday Assembly and is organized monthly during the academic year. A rich contrast of silence and singing characterizes the prayer. Taizé prayer services are typically one Friday a month from 7:30-9:00 pm in the monastery oratory. Please phone ahead or check our website to confirm the date and time.
Gifts woven through time
When Pat Hilts responded to a posting on a bulletin board in the Home Economics Building on the University of Wisconsin-Madison (UW) campus in 1976, she had no idea that she was about to enhance the lives of many people for years to come. “The posting was from a place called St. Benedict Center and they were looking for someone to do some weavings for the monastery,” says Pat. “I had been spinning wool and weaving since 1968 so I decided to answer the ad.” Pat met with Sisters Mary David Walgenbach and Joanne Kollasch and Frank Kasmarcik, a consultant …
Home for the Holidays
My first semester at St John’s School of Theology ended with a whimper. Although I was officially back at the monastery for winter break, I had a final paper and an exam yet to submit online. It was confusing: my body was home, but my head was still at school. On the fourth Sunday of Advent, with two hours to my deadline, I finally pressed the send button and breathed a sigh of relief. It was done; all of my assignments were in. Now I can relax, I thought. The semester had been long and challenging in unexpected ways. It …
Awakening to Advent
There is such a thing as an Advent calendar, which counts down the days until Christmas. During Advent, Christians look forward to the birth of Jesus. Until recently, this was pretty much the sum total of my understanding of Advent. Observing the season is not part of my tradition–growing up, I didn’t even go to church for Christmas or Easter. If Advent was observed at my current home church, I must not have been tuning in. This year signs of Advent are unmistakable. Paz and I helped create the Advent wreath for Sunday Assembly, we set out the Advent prayer …
Desde la mesa de laboratorio hasta la pradera
PEQUEÑAS NOTAS DE UN VIAJE A LA PRADERA Dejar el laboratorio, mi familia y mis amigos para venir a vivir aquí en la pradera no fue una decisión fácil. Pero ahora estoy aquí esperando a disfrutar el invierno ártico por primera vez en mi vida. Estaba y sigo estando emocionada y asustada al mismo tiempo. Nací y viví en la Ciudad de México, la mayor parte de mi vida. Hace seis años, me mudé a Estados Unidos, y estuve viviendo en Houston, Texas. Así que no sé qué esperar del invierno en Wisconsin. Sin embargo, el invierno no es la …
It takes a village to raise a vocation to monastic life
Homily for the First Monastic Profession of Rosy Kandathil September 20, 2015 Texts: Sirach 51:12-20 Acts 4: 32-37 Mark 9:30-37 Stories can move people to live differently. Stories do this because our own experiences easily resonate with them. Our reflections on Scripture stories are an investment of time and energy in coming to know who we are, where we are going and who we are going with. This is part of the discovery process that Thomas Merton speaks of: finding yourself within God’s conception of yourself. Rosy chose today’s readings as an expression of her coming to know God in …