Event Schedule

Session 1, Feb. 5: Philosophy behind the 9 Phases plus learn and practice Phases 1-5
Session 2, Feb. 12: Review Phases 1-5 and learn Phases 6-9
Session 3, Feb. 19: Integrate the 9 Phases of Qi Cultivation with intention and affirmations

Consider extending your experience by staying longer and attending optional prayer and/or lunch at the monastery. There is a fee for lunch if you decide to stay.

• 11:45 am – Midday Prayer: All are welcome to join the sisters’ community and guests for communal prayer in the Oratory (lower level of the monastery building). Click to learn more about prayer at Holy Wisdom Monastery.
• 12:00 pm – Lunch ($19): Enjoy a delicious meal prepared fresh by our chefs. Email retreats@holywisdommonastery.org to reserve your meal 48 hours in advance. Please specify which date/dates you wish to stay for lunch.

Instructor – Sandy Salvo

Sandy Salvo is a Senior Faculty and Teacher-Trainer for the Institute of Integral Qigong and Tai Chi, a certified Mindfulness Meditation Teacher and founder of Centered-Connections.com. She enjoys sharing her love of Qigong and the mind-body-spirit benefits it can offer all who seek them.

Cost

$40/person

Register

Register by Monday, Feb. 2, 2026, with the button below. The registration fee is non-refundable.

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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 love with the professional kitchen. I still remember looking into the kitchen on my first day and feeling struck with awe from the aromas, high energy, colors and ingredients being used. I was instantly hooked and I knew it was the beginning of my long kitchen career. I slowly worked my way up the ladder in my early years, learning from everyone I could in the kitchen. I traveled and read books in order to learn more about cuisines whenever possible during my free time.

After a lengthy stretch of time working long evening hours and early mornings, I decided to make a change and move my career into corporate dining. My son Miles was about to be welcomed into the world and I needed to find a more suitable schedule for family life.

Shortly after making this decision, I found myself serving as Sous Chef for Google’s Madison office for the next four years, leading a team of professional cooks and providing a high standard of corporate dining to our guests. I left Google’s culinary program in 2021 and began a new position as Sous Chef for Exact Sciences’ new and evolving corporate catering program where our team worked as a farm to table operation as much as possible. It was a very exciting and new challenge to feed so many with a farm to table mentality and mission.

I believe there is a great opportunity with food to share stories and traditions from other cultures and perspectives, ultimately bringing us all closer together. This is what drives and inspires me everyday.

In my free time I love to be outdoors camping, hiking, kayaking, biking and snowboarding in the winter. Reading a book, caring for my houseplants and creating art is always a great escape for me in the evenings.

I’m very much looking forward to meeting all of you. Thank you for welcoming me into your organization.”

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The problem is, despite our good intentions and stated values of justice for all, when we don’t listen, we do evil, in the form of inaction that maintains the status quo and keeps the internal and external structures of racism undisrupted.

As I reflected on how my journey of faith has led me to become a little more aware of my internalized racism, I realized that the Benedictine values of humility, right relationship, community, listening and hospitality are among the spiritual tools that can equip us to respond to the cry for justice that’s no longer possible to ignore. In this post I’ll share my thoughts on how these values, which are after all Christian values, can lead us on a path to greater peace and justice.

Dialogue around race calls for humility on our part. Let’s not presume to know the experience of others. Let’s begin with the idea that maybe we don’t know much about our racist behavior.

We need to be in relationship with people who are not like us to show us what we are blind to. As I learned when I was newly arrived to Benedictine Women of Madison, intentional community has a purpose, one of which is to show us our growing edges. We quickly discover that even people with similar upbringings see the world in very different ways. How much more when we are raised in different cultures, one the dominant culture and the other oppressed. To be Benedictine means being open to hearing what others have to tell us about ourselves. That is, we need to listen to what people of color tell us about their experience of us.

Hospitality is needed during this time. First, to the experience of others, but – perhaps even more importantly – we must make room for our feelings that inevitably come up when we crack open the door to authentic race-related conversation. Defensiveness. Guilt. Anger. Rage. These are unpleasant feelings, and our natural and understandable reaction is to push them away. I didn’t create the problem of racism, but my feelings are my responsibility. If I’m serious about social justice, I have to work to let discomfort abide within as I look with curiosity at the meaning behind the feelings. Third, once we are walking this path of awakening, let us offer hospitality to those who have not yet arisen from sleep.  Dr. David Campt teaches that white progressives have a responsibility to be in relationship with people who disagree with us on racial issues. ‘Othering’ them only makes things worse for people of color.

Although I don’t think there is a ‘cure’ for racism, I believe that engaging my racist self in a process of discovery is healing. I may never be completely devoid of racism, but I can change and become a more whole human being.

*Yes, I acknowledge that technically I’m not a nun. A Benedictine nun lives a cloistered life. But would ‘Racist Sister’ make sense to anyone?

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Ecumenism is defined as “the principle or aim of promoting unity among the world’s Christian Churches.” Led by this strive for unity, Holy Wisdom Monastery has long been welcoming people of a variety of denominations and religions.

Therefore, it made sense to sit down for a deeper look with the women who have led us here.

Thus, this first episode of The Holy Wisdom Podcast features Sister Mary David Walgenbach and Sister Joanne Kollasch. They begin by sharing their early memories of meeting people from other denominations. Then, they regale some of the early stories that led to the monastery becoming a retreat center.

One of these stories may involve some horses and some startled Monks of Taize.

Where to Listen?

You can listen to The Holy Wisdom Podcast at any of these online locations:

Our Blog, under the “Podcast” Category

Anchor.fm

Breaker

Google Podcasts

Spotify

RadioPublic

PocketCasts

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The Benedictine Women at Holy Wisdom Monastery, in solidarity with the Leadership Conference of Women Religious (LCWR) call for the humane treatment of migrants from Central American who are fleeing violence and seeking asylum in the United States (US).

We join LCWR in urging the administration in this country to manage refugee arrivals humanely and in a manner that respects their dignity and rights under US and international law, and to:

• Allow migrants to approach the border and ask for protection in the United States, and to be admitted for processing in a timely manner.
• Ensure that asylum seekers have access to legal counsel and receive a fair resolution of their claim.
• Guarantee that parents and children stay together after they are apprehended. Holding families indefinitely in detention or detaining parents while releasing their children violates the values of the United States and the standards set forth in the Flores settlement.*
• Abstain from detention of those awaiting adjudication of their asylum petitions in favor of alternatives that are more humane and more cost-efficient.
• Direct Homeland Security to cooperate with faith-based and humanitarian organizations who are prepared to assist asylum-seekers.

For further information, read LCWR’s public statement calling for the welcome and humane treatment of arriving migrants.

“We have come to understand that hospitality is a sacred duty and trust. It is God whom we receive, whether in the person of a stranger or a well-beloved friend.”
–Wisdom From the Tradition: A Statement of North American Benedictine Women in Response to Our Time

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Though it may appear that we are celebrating the past, I suggest that this is actually a celebration and welcoming of the future. Benedictine scripture scholar, Demetrius Dumm, OSB, now deceased, said: “In scripture, the entertaining of guests and the entertaining of strangers is the entertaining of mystery; this is to make room for that which is not known, for that which is potentially threatening for the future, ultimately for God. The greatest stranger is the future.”

For 65 years, we have been welcoming the stranger together. All of us can tell our stories of being welcomed and of welcoming others. Through this hospitality, and by the grace of God, we have entertained mystery and welcomed the Holy in each other and in strangers who come seeking welcome. These small and large acts of hospitality have helped us receive the future God desires to give us which is more than we could ever create for ourselves.

Tonight we give thanks for this gift of the future from God and pray for continued openness to listen, dialogue, pray, respond and be changed by the mystery that comes to us in each person and draws us into God’s future.

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Sister Paz Vital, standing, welcomes the staff from Centro Hispano to the monastery.

The sisters at Holy Wisdom have received a lot of guests recently. We greet the groups who come to use our space for their meetings and retreats. We get to know personal retreatants over meals in the community dining room. When I first came to the monastery, as an introvert, I found it taxing to have new people with us at every meal. Now I look forward to meeting them.

Saint Benedict says that a monastery is never without guests. Indeed, we wouldn’t really be a Benedictine monastery without guests. We are called to provide hospitality and serve others. Benedict also writes in his Rule that guests bring a blessing. We have been blessed richly by the guests we have gotten to know recently.

For two days at the end of April we hosted 200 people for a Mindful Self-Compassion training brought to Madison by UW Integrative Health. Our coworkers worked hard to provide for the needs of the guests. People from around the country and as far away as Hawaii attended. The presenters and many of the participants expressed their appreciation for the beauty of the space, for the nourishing food, for our hospitality, openness and care for the earth.

The following week we hosted the staff from Centro Hispano where Sister Paz is doing her ministry practicum for her studies in Hispanic theology and ministry. The staff was excited to learn about Holy Wisdom Monastery and the opportunities for prayer, retreats and walking the trails. Many plan to return.

That same week we provided the morning program for the Servant Leadership class from the UW Extension. Toby Grabs, one of our coworkers, gave them a tour of our facility, and I offered a presentation on how the values of listening and collaboration have guided the sisters’ leadership over the years. This group holds its classes at the monastery every semester because of their resonance with the values here.

Two of Sister Joanne’s nieces visited us for a few days of relaxation. We received a number of new members at Sunday Assembly and have gotten to know personal retreatants (Baptist, Episcopal, Evangelical, Presbyterian, Methodist and others) from Madison, Middleton, Appleton, Chicago, Champaign, IL and other places.

At the May Sacred Citizenship event we learned about the Wisconsin Farmers’ Union and the efforts family farmers in Wisconsin to advocate for sustainable prices for themselves in a market dominated by corporate farming. We hosted about 75 people at the reception for Lisa Seidman’s photography exhibit entitled Beneath the Surface.

When people ask what we do at the monastery, one of the things we tell them is that we provide hospitality and receive guests. That often doesn’t sound much like “work.” However, it is surprising how much energy hospitality takes on the part of the sisters, the coworkers and many volunteers. I have come to think of our hospitality as holding the space for others to do the inner or outer work that brings them to the monastery.

Occasionally our guests will tell us of the work they do while here. They write or paint or dream. They grieve or celebrate or sleep. They walk or sit or work on the prairie and woods. They plan for change or recover from too much change. They come home to themselves and to the love that holds us all. They bless us with their presence. I am grateful for our guests. I hope to see you at the monastery!

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The hospitality of Abraham and Sarah
– icons by Peter Pearson which grace the sisters’ dining room

In preparing some thoughts on hospitality to share with our Benedictine Women of Madison Board, I came across an article Sister Joanne Kollasch wrote in 1984 for a meeting of the American Benedictine Academy. She includes a quote from a conference by the late Demetrius Dumm, OSB, a monk and Scripture scholar from St. Vincent Archabbey, Latrobe, PA. It sent my thinking about hospitality in a new direction. Here is what Demetrius Dumm said:

In Scripture, the entertaining of guests and the entertaining of strangers is the entertaining of mystery; this is to make room for that which is not known, for that which is potentially threatening for the future, ultimately for God. The greatest stranger is the future. Primary characteristics of anyone with authentic faith is their attitude toward the future. Not because it is so promising but because it is from God. God gives us the future. The trademark of the monastic witness is a positive attitude about the future.

“The greatest stranger is the future.” This is the line that caught my attention. It adds another layer to a Benedictine understanding of hospitality. It also provides an intriguing and life-giving way to think about the future. With all that is happening in the world, some days the future seems quite intimidating. The future is certainly always an unknown mystery.

It hadn’t occurred to me that entertaining the stranger was a practice that opens me to entertain the future, but of course, that is exactly what happens in the biblical stories of entertaining strangers. Abraham and Sarah provide a meal for three guests who come in from the desert one afternoon and Abraham and Sarah’s future opens up with the promise of a son.

Pharaoh’s daughter welcomes the stranger as a Hebrew baby boy when she draws Moses out of the water and decides to raise him. With that act of hospitality the future of the Hebrew people (as well as the Egyptians) changes.

Of course, the ultimate act of receiving a stranger is humanity receiving Jesus as God incarnate. Whenever and wherever people have received him, their lives and futures are changed. In calling forth this act of hospitality God provides the opening for newness, change, challenge and growth in human life.

Novices and novice directors gathered in one group, including Lynne Smith (back row, 2nd from right), Paz Vital (front row, left) and Denise West (front row, right)

At the Novice and Director’s Institute that novices Paz Vital, Denise West and I attended in May, each of the novices was asked to make a presentation about their communities. One of the items they were to address was some community plans for the future.  As Paz and Denise prepared their presentation, we had a conversation together in the sisters’ community about how we all saw the future. Mary David and Joanne, who have the most experience among us of welcoming the future, talked about how our community has moved into the future through welcoming and listening to others.

They shared their experience of receiving the Lutheran missionaries for seventeen summers, praying with them, eating with them, talking together and sharing life those years. Through this and other experiences, Mary David and Joanne were stretched. Their hearts were changed. This became one of the experiences that led to their openness to welcome women of any Christian denomination into our community making our community the first ecumenical Benedictine women’s community in North America. The Spirit led them into the future through their exercise of hospitality and the monastic practice of conversatio – fidelity to the monastic way of life and openness to change.

Mary David and Joanne told other stories of welcoming immigrants from India, Vietnam, Guatemala, China and welcoming Missionary Benedictine sisters from many countries. Their hospitality went deep, beyond just providing food and shelter. It extended to opening their community living space and their personal lives to these strangers who brought blessings from the Spirit. Through this opening, their future took a turn in ways they could not have foretold when they joined the community fifty and sixty years ago.

When Paz and Denise gave their presentation and spoke about the community’s future, they said, “We don’t know what the future holds for our community, but we know how we will get there:

• Listen and dialogue with people of faith from all different backgrounds
• Maintain a commitment to prayer and excellence in liturgy
• Change with the times and respond to the needs of the world
• Continue to work for justice and a reverence and care for all creation
• Seek help in leadership; we can’t do it alone!”

Joan Chittister, OSB, has written that if we live the present well, we will be prepared for the future. So I am encouraged to renew my practice of hospitality with an openness to what God is doing among our community of communities that will open up a future I don’t have to control because I can trust God will lead us as God has done in the past.

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Sunday Assembly has a number of gay and lesbian members. Jim Green and Bill Diederich have been worshipping and attending retreats with the sisters since the early 1970s. Bill and Jim recently celebrated their 40th anniversary together with affirmation from the Sunday Assembly community. Jim also initiated Solidarity Sunday in the early 2000s to coincide with the national program through Dignity USA that honors National Coming Out Day in October. Jim and Bill are two significant supporters of the Sunday Assembly community, inviting and welcoming everyone they meet who is looking for a spiritual home.

“Hospitality is on the top rung of all outreach for the sisters,” Jim said. “It’s been a journey for the sisters and they have learned a lot about sexual orientation and gender identity over the years [since I first started coming out here in the early 1970s].”

The Sunday Assembly community recently welcomed Phil Schleicher to its membership. Phil and his longtime partner of 22 years, Steve Schumacher, are planning a wedding ceremony here in October. Phil first heard about Holy Wisdom Monastery through Steve, who did a pro-bono video project on the development of the prairie in the late 1990s. Phil eventually got connected to worship at Holy Wisdom Monastery through Jim and Bill. He maintains a duel membership in a Roman Catholic church in Madison, but it doesn’t meet all his needs. He knows that they would never do a commitment ceremony for a gay couple at the Catholic church, which makes him feel that “the Church has left me,” as opposed to feeling like he has left the church. “The Roman Catholic Church used to be about peace and justice,” says Phil. “Holy Wisdom Monastery reminds me of this. There is a strong sense of community there.”

Holy Wisdom Monastery has also been the spiritual home for some who are experiencing transitions in gender identity. Heather Field began coming to Holy Wisdom Monastery for retreats and Sunday Assembly worship in 2005. She converted to the Roman Catholic Church in 1998 and fell in love with the rituals of the church, such as blessing with holy water and celebrating the Eucharist. In 2004 she came out as not fully male and began transitioning toward her gender identity as a female. It was during this transition that she lost her marriage, her house, her family, and her faith. After moving to Madison in 2005, she called the Diocese of Madison to find out options for ministry with transgendered people, and had no luck. She called the campus church, St. Paul’s, and again was met with no answers. She saw options for welcoming communities in the United Church of Christ (UCC) and the Metropolitan Community Church (MCC), but the rituals during worship were foreign to her. She met Jim Green and he told her to check out Holy Wisdom Monastery. She came out here in 2005, sat in the old sanctuary at Benedict House, and immediately felt at home.

At Holy Wisdom Monastery, she feels welcomed. “I wanted to be accepted, not just tolerated,” she said. She likes the gender-neutral, inclusive language used at the liturgy. Lately, she has been learning to incorporate the teachings of St. Benedict into her own spiritual life. She sees Holy Wisdom Monastery as taking a proactive approach to sexuality and gender issues, and hospitality is key to this. “All of us are charged with the responsibility of hospitality,” she said.

The call of hospitality to the GLBTQ community goes beyond Sunday Assembly. Domestic partners as well as heterosexual spouses of co-workers at the monastery are offered full health and dental benefits.

As part of the sisters’ ministry of hospitality at the monastery, space is offered for celebrations and ceremonies. More couples, including gay and lesbian couples, are seeking out Holy Wisdom Monastery as a site for their wedding, ceremony and reception. All couples arrange for an officiant for their ceremony.

The monastery is hosting a retreat here on August 27, 2011 called An LGBT Spirituality Retreat, which is being facilitated by Craig Mueller, an openly gay pastor from Chicago’s Holy Trinity Church (for more information on this retreat or to sign up, you can contact Jerrianne at (608) 831-9306). And of course, you are always welcome to attend Sunday Assembly Eucharist at 9 am to see this call to hospitality taking place.

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Sister Asella Kim (l) working with Mary David Walgenbach, OSB, in the sisters' vegetable garden.

In June 2009, Sister Asella Kim, a Missionary Benedictine from Seoul, Korea, came to live with the sisters at Holy Wisdom Monastery. She was here on a year’s sabbatical after serving a Korean and American parish in New Jersey for six years. Asella has known us since 1994 when she spent four years here learning English and continuing her education.

Because Sister Asella is a kindred spirit we count her as part of our community. She especially enjoyed walking in the prairie and working in the garden. She even requested a three-month extension of her sabbatical so she could help bring in the produce this summer. Asella spent several hours each day planting, weeding, harvesting or processing the vegetables as they come in. We are grateful for her quiet and supportive Benedictine presence and her work.

We thank Sister Asella, her prioress and community, and we sent our heartfelt blessings with her as she returned to Seoul on September 28.

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