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A volunteer helps extinguish a controlled prairie burn at Holy Wisdom
Monastery in April 2010. Photo by Carol Roche.
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Benedictine Bridge
A monthly newsletter of Benedictine Women
of Madison
Weaving prayer, hospitality, justice and care of the
earth
into a shared way
of life as an ecumenical Benedictine community
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BENEDICTINE WOMEN
OF MADISON
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Myth
#12: All Nuns are Catholic.
Not at Holy Wisdom Monastery. Our ecumenical Benedictine community
welcomes single women of any Christian tradition. Here, women do
not give up their denominations. We allow our faith to evolve within a
tradition of ecumenism rooted in Benedictine spirituality. Read our stories
on the web.
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PRAYER & WORSHIP
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All are
welcome to join us for daily prayer, Sunday worship or special
liturgies. For more information contact Lynn at llemberger@benedictinewomen.org
or (608)
836-1631, ext. 138.
Click on the following links for prayer and worship schedules:
The annual summer picnic returns at our new monastery!
All are welcome to join the Oblate and Sunday Assembly communities for
worship on Sunday, July 18, 2010 at 9:00 am, and food and fellowship
afterward. Beverages and entrée provided; bring a side dish or dessert
to share.
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RETREATS
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I
Hear Voices: A Journey of Faith, Family & Freedom
A day retreat
with public radio talk show host Jean Feraca on Saturday, July 24, 2010
at Holy Wisdom Monastery. Jean will share her experiences of Benedictine
hospitality and how it helped her become an authentic, loving presence
to all whom she encounters. Three presentations will be interspersed
with time for personal reflection and small group discussion. 9:30
a.m.-3:30 p.m. Click here for
more information or contact Jerrianne Bland at jbland@benedictinewomen.org,
608-836-1631 ext. 158.
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SPIRITUAL GUIDANCE
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Did you ever
wish you could tune in more easily and more often to God's presence? Or
perhaps, there's simply no one to talk to about how important your
faith is to you. Spiritual guidance
isn't just for times of crisis or doubt; even on ordinary days of our
lives, the listening ear of a spiritual guide can help you stay focused
on what's important and meaningful in your life. Holy Wisdom Monastery
has several spiritual guides on staff. Contact Jerrianne Bland, jbland@benedictinewomen.org
or 608-836-1631, ext.
158 to find out how spiritual guidance can become part of your journey.
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BENEDICTINE LIFE FOUNDATION
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Save
the evening of Thursday, September 16, 2010 for
the return of the annual fundraising concert known as Prairie Rhapsody!
From Celestial
Harmony to Conscience & Coffee is an entertaining
musical journey through the Renaissance and Baroque with master
musician Trevor Stephenson and members of the Madison Bach Musicians.
The $50 per person ticket includes an hors d' oeuvres and wine
reception. Look for registration information in the July issue of Benedictine Bridge.
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OBLATES
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James Finley
delivers a powerful message at his silent retreat Little Things That Fill the
Whole World: Gospel Metaphors of Spiritual Awakening
and participants leave feeling centered and at peace. Learn why
participants keep coming back for more Finley, September 17-19, 2010 at
Holy Wisdom Monastery. Click here to
learn more. This retreat is open to the public.
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CARE FOR THE EARTH
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Nature
Walks at
Holy Wisdom
Monastery!
On Tuesday
evening, July 13, our second in the series of Habitreks will be: A Kid's Walk: Frog's, Bugs
and More. Kids of all ages are welcome!
Conservation biologist, Susan Foote-Martin, will lead this fun,
hands-on trip around monastery ecosystems. Future walks include:
Prairies in Bloom on August 17; Indian Mounds, Geology and History on
September 7 and Fall is in the Air on October 5. The walks begin at
6:00pm and finish by 7:30pm. Meet at the new monastery building
entrance, 4200 County Road M,
Middleton, WI, to begin the walk. Click here for
more information or contact
Jan at
jlottig@benedictinewomen.org, (608) 836-1631, ext. 123.
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BUILDING NEWS
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Holy
Wisdom Monastery earns 63 out of 69 points on LEED-NC v2.2 scale!
... and the media is taking notice!
Here are a few samples of recent media coverage on the LEED
certification:
For more information on the LEED certification,
please visit our website.
Tours
Tour the 'green' Holy Wisdom Monastery! Take a self-guided or guided
tour. The next tour is on Tuesday, July 13 at 10:00 am with Greg
Armstrong. Click here for
more information or contact Mike at mikesb@benedictinewomen.org,
(608) 836-1631, ext. 124. To download a printable flyer of upcoming
tours, click here.
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HOLY WISDOM MONASTERY
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The
new Holy Wisdom Monastery is
spiritual
· home to Benedictine Women of Madison, North
America's first monastic community for single women of any Christian
denomination and a spiritual resource for all
environmental · built
to be one of the "greenest" buildings in the country
featuring geothermal heating and cooling, bamboo floors, green roofs,
natural lighting, water conservation and more
open to
all · public Sunday worship at 9 am, group
and individual retreats, meetings, nature walks, weddings, tours...
local · 4200 County Rd M,
Middleton, WI just 20 minutes from downtown Madison
Contact Debby at ddelciello@benedictinewomen.org or (608)
836-1631, ext. 141 for more information about reserving space at the
Monastery.
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Interchurch
Families: Christian Unity
Made Visible in Our Households
By: Fr. George Kilcourse
From Friday, July 9, through Sunday, July 11, the American
Association of Interchurch Families (AAIF) will convene for its
biennial national conference at Holy Wisdom Monastery near Madison,
Wisconsin. AAIF, now in its third decade, undertakes ecumenical
advocacy and support roles on behalf of the growing number of
interchurch marriages and families around the United States. In
some areas, marriages between Catholics, Protestants, and Eastern
Orthodox Christians are not only no longer rare, they are proving to
be the new majority.
Interchurch families and their pastoral advisers define an
interchurch marriage as one in which: (1) two baptized Christians
from different church traditions are joined in marriage; (2) each
spouse participates actively in her or his particular church, and to
various degrees in one another's church; and (3) each spouse takes an
active, conscientious role in the religious education of their
children.
The keynote speaker for the July 9-11 conference will be Prof. Lynn
Turner of Marquette University. She will address participants on
Saturday morning, July 10 from her expertise in "family
systems" theory and practice and its contributions in improving
healthy communications among family members. Prof. Turner's practical
application of family systems to the lives of interchurch families
will also bring insights to help us to improve relationships among
the "family of Christian churches"--no less a victim of
miscommunication across its diverse spectrum. Her presentation will prove
helpful to interchurch couples and children as well as those from
same-church families.
The Benedictine Women of Madison, who form the unique ecumenical
community at Holy Wisdom Monastery, will address and orient AAIF
participants and other guests on Friday evening, July 9. There
is a genuine convergence in the genesis of AAIF households and these
Benedictine Women who have opened their monastic community to members
of other Christian churches and traditions. Both groups palpably
give witness to a visible unity which our respective churches
scandalously accept while they remain divided, contrary to Jesus'
prayer: "I pray not only for them, but also for those who will
believe in me through their word, so that they may all be one, as
you, Father, are in me and I in you, that they also may be in us,
that the world may believe that you sent me" (John 17:20).
On Saturday afternoon, July 10, an ecumenical pastoral panel will
reflect on the gifts and challenges of interchurch families, in light
of the Benedictine Women at Holy Wisdom Monastery's story and the
insights of Prof. Lynn Turner about "family
systems." An Open Forum on Saturday evening will afford
ample time and opportunity for participants to raise questions,
discuss strategies, and narrate ecumenical pastoral events in their
lives as interchurch families. The evening will conclude with a
social hour for new friendships and reunions to be cultivated among
participants from various parts of the country.
Following the Friday evening meal, Fr. Ernest Falardeau, S.S.S., a
Blessed Sacrament priest from New York City and an AAIF pastoral
adviser, will speak on "Eucharist: A Challenge for the
Churches." Following the Saturday evening meal, Fr. George
Kilcourse, an AAIF pastoral adviser, will speak on the recent mid-March
conference at Leuven University, Belgium on the "Domestic
Church" and IFIN (The Interchurch Family International Network)
developments.
Oblates and other friends of Holy Wisdom Monastery are especially
welcome to join AAIF for this July 9-11 national
conference. Clergy, pastoral associates, educators, and laity or
members of local and regional churches are also encouraged to
attend. Activities such as hiking at nearby sites, tours to
local points of interest, activities for children at nearby recreational
facilities, and a Sunday evening boat ride and dinner-are all
detailed on the AAIF web site. The environs, with Holy Wisdom
Monastery's ecological reverence for the earth and creation, and
their certified green commitment to energy conservation, will add a
new perspective for participants at the conference. Equally
contributing to spiritual renewal is the ethos of contemplative
prayer that the Holy Wisdom community shares-both in the Liturgy of
the Hours and the Sunday Assembly Eucharist, to which all are
invited.
For complete information on the program, registration, meals, travel
directions, and a letter of welcome from our Co-Chairs, Laura and
Franz Green of Virginia Beach, VA., see the AAIF web site: www.aifusa.org
For an international perspective on interchurch families, links to
diverse national interchurch family associations, and documents from
international and national ecumenical meetings see the web site: www.interchurchfamilies.org
Fr. George Kilcourse is a Catholic priest of the Archdiocese of
Louisville and Professor of theology at Bellarmine University,
Louisville, Kentucky. He is the founder of AAIF and serves as
one of AAIF's pastoral advisers.
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Lived Ecumenism at
Holy Wisdom Monastery
"The ecumenism of the Benedictine Women of Madison is a
practical ecumenism, grounded in hospitality. It is grass roots
ecumenism. It is the kind appropriate to a monastic
community."
Ken Smits, OFM Cap., former pastoral minister
For years, we have
welcomed people of all religious backgrounds at Holy Wisdom
Monastery. We have received their blessing and offered our blessing
in return. Many people pray with us and, when invited, we pray with
them. It is through these exchanges that we believe God has called us
to form an ecumenical community.
Seeking God through a life following the Gospel and the Rule of
Benedict, we honor diversity among our members and in the communities
we help create: the Benedictine Women
of Madison, Oblates of Holy
Wisdom Monastery, co-workers, volunteers and our Sunday worship
assembly. We live, pray and work together and welcome other single
Christian women to explore life with us.
More of the ecumenical history of the Benedictine Women of Madison
can be found on the National
Catholic Reporter's website.
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Save 15%
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Holy Wisdom Monastery is offering a 15 percent discount on
guest rooms in our Retreat and Guest House weekdays during the
summer. This offer will continue until August 31. Please come
and let us share the beauty of the Monastery and its grounds with
you. We welcome the opportunity! To redeem this coupon, please
contact Gloria at (608) 836-1631, ext. 101 or monastery@benedictinewomen.org.
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Offer Expires: August 31, 2010
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