Binoculars Available to Borrow While Exploring at Holy Wisdom Monastery

Amy AlstadCare for the Earth, Friends of Wisdom Prairie, Hospitality Leave a Comment

Friends of Wisdom Prairie is pleased to share a new opportunity: Holy Wisdom now has binoculars available for all to borrow. Bird watching is a lovely activity that perfectly complements Benedictine spirituality. It invites you to appreciate the beauty of creation. It pairs well with silence, stillness and contemplation, and connects you to the many birds flourishing here as a result of our work caring for the earth. To borrow a pair of binoculars, visit the front desk in the Monastery building and speak with the porter (front desk volunteer). Binoculars are available Monday-Friday starting at 10:00 am and must …

Picnic on the Prairie

Car McGinley Leave a Comment

How can the land nourish us? Share in a spiritual conversation about our relationship with the Earth. Join us at Holy Wisdom Monastery for a picnic on the prairie. Put on your walking shoes, meet others and experience the beauty of the prairie. Learn more and register at https://holywisdommonastery.org/picnic-on-the-prairie/

Picnic on the Prairie

Car McGinley Leave a Comment

How can the land nourish us? Share in a spiritual conversation about our relationship with the Earth. Join us at Holy Wisdom Monastery for a picnic on the prairie. Put on your walking shoes, meet others and experience the beauty of the prairie. Learn more and register at https://holywisdommonastery.org/picnic-on-the-prairie/

Picnic on the Prairie: Ecospirituality, Community, Sharing

Car McGinley Leave a Comment

Join the sisters at Holy Wisdom Monastery for a picnic on the prairie. Put on your walking shoes, meet other women and experience the beauty of the prairie in July. Share in spiritual conversation about our relationship with the earth. A picnic meal is provided. This event is open to single, Christian women, ages 20-40. Cost: $10 Registration: Register by July 3, 2021 Online registration coming soon

Restoration and hope

Lynne Smith, OSBCare for the Earth, Living in Community Leave a Comment

Restoration is a powerful antidote to despair. Restoration offers concrete means by which humans can once again enter into positive, creative relationship with the more-than-human world, meeting responsibilities that are simultaneously material and spiritual.  –Braiding Sweetgrass, by Robin Wall Kimmerer (p. 328)   I made a quick trip to Illinois to visit my brother and his wife and my sister and her husband last week. It was fun to see them and get caught up even if for just a few days. It rained the three days I visited my brother and his wife in Naperville, Illinois. Since we couldn’t go …

Holy Wisdom Monastery to Restore Lost Landscape

Holy Wisdom MonasteryCare for the Earth Leave a Comment

  This November Holy Wisdom Monastery will begin restoring 30 acres of its land to oak savanna, considered by the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources to be Wisconsin’s rarest plant community. Oak savanna is characterized by widely spaced oak trees (between 10-50% tree canopy) with primarily grasses covering the ground. Before European settlement it was one of the most common plant communities in Wisconsin but now only a fraction remains. “Before Europeans arrived, oak savanna was more common than forest or prairie in southern Wisconsin,” explained Holy Wisdom Monastery’s Director of Land Management and Environmental Education, Greg Armstrong. After European …

Newly blossoming lupine on the prairie. Always we begin again.

Always we begin again

Rosy Kandathil, OSBLetters home, Living in Community 3 Comments

I stopped short, confused. The sign read: “New Prairie Planting. This is no longer a trail.” But this was the path I always took, what had happened in my absence? As I continued walking, I encountered identical signs all over the north prairie of the monastery. The little meandering side paths I used to travel were no longer available to me. Instead a large central path had been recently mown, clearly directing the way I should go. The signs were evidence of a new trail design, but I couldn’t get past my frustration. Things had changed. I wanted what I’d …

Spring prairie tour

Car McGinley Leave a Comment

Join Sylvia Marek and Greg Armstrong for a tour of the prairies at Holy Wisdom Monastery. May is a wonderful time for a tour as we may see migrating warblers and other birds. We also hope to come across lupine, shooting star, prairie phlox and spiderwort in flower as we walk the prairie. Leaders Sylvia Marek, expert naturalist and one of the best birders in our area. Greg Armstrong, director of land management and environmental education at Holy Wisdom Monastery. No registration necessary, just come. Learn more about what we might discover on the tour in Sylvia’s May phenology (monthly nature …

Wisdom Prairie Workday

Car McGinley Leave a Comment

Volunteer with the Friends of Wisdom Prairie at an upcoming workday. Help improve the ecological health of the land, meet new people, work outside with old friends and have fun. Meet at the monastery building entrance at 9:00 am and come prepared to work outside. Wear sturdy shoes, long pants a hat and gloves. We will work until noon, but will take a break mid-morning with a snack and conversation. Bring your friends! Register 1 days before the workday(s) you wish to attend. Register online  

Wisdom Prairie Workday

Car McGinley Leave a Comment

April 12, 2017 workday canceled due to prairie burn We hope you can attend a different workday. Volunteer with the Friends of Wisdom Prairie at an upcoming workday. Help improve the ecological health of the land, meet new people, work outside with old friends and have fun. Meet at the monastery building entrance at 9:00 am and come prepared to work outside. Wear sturdy shoes, long pants a hat and gloves. We will work until noon, but will take a break mid-morning with a snack and conversation. Bring your friends! Register 1 days before the workday(s) you wish to attend. Register online