connecting with the communities at Holy Wisdom Monastery
weaving prayer, hospitality, justice and care forthe earth into a shared way of life
Sisters & Sojourners|Sunday Assembly| Oblates| Guests & Retreatants
Friends & Supporters|Volunteers & Coworkers|New on our website| Calendar
November 2015
"Climate change is a global problem with grave implications.
There is a nobility in the duty to care for creation through little daily actions,
and it is wonderful how education can bring about real changes in lifestyle."
- Pope Francis,Laudato Si’
Creating a living lab for sustainable building operation
by Mark Hanson, director of sustainable services, Hoffman, LLC
Caring for the earth requires thoughtful decisions in design, construction and ongoing operation or stewardship of a building and the land it’s on. Holy Wisdom Monastery was diligent in building anew monastery buildingin 2009 and has since added considerably moresolar energy generation. The monastery is now searching for additional opportunities to reduce energy use, carbon footprint and cost in the operation of both the monastery and the retreat and guest house.
Why Holy Wisdom Monastery wants to do this flows from its mission of care for the earth. Chapter 5 ofPope Francis’ Encyclical on Climate Change & Inequalityspecifically encourages us to take such action.
How to do this is our challenge. In the case of the monastery, the best opportunity is to reduce some temperature settings in the coldest winter months. The estimated savings is approximately two to three percent for every degree F (Fahrenheit) that the indoor temperature setting is reduced. The best areas for doing this are in the larger spaces and rooms that are not regularly occupied. If the assembly room is only used for a weekend wedding andSundayAssembly, reducing the assembly room temperature from 70°F to 64°F during the week would result in substantial savings. Perhaps the gathering area and large dining room could be set at 67°Frather than 70°Fduring the months of December to March.
The question of what temperature is comfortable has no universal answer, as each person has their own “personal thermostat” or temperature at which they are comfortable. One person is too warm at 68°F, others are just right, and others are too cold. And the comfort range will even vary for a given individual with age. These points of comfort can be managed to a considerable degree by how we dress. A sweater, fleece, or wool coat are our age-old tools for providing comfort at different temperatures. We regularly observe how our personal thermostats change with the season. 75°Fduring a hot summer day feels cool, but by now it would feel too warm (for most of us) during the winter.
As a community we will deliberately use the monastery and retreat and guest house as a living laboratory during the winter of 2015/2016. We will work with coworker Eric Solberg who manages building controls to adjust some temperatures lower in different spaces and measure the impact on energy use and cost. We’ll report our findings after the monthly bills come in. If someone has a small office and tends to need more heat, we can set the temperature higher at 70 or 71°F. If another person is warmer, they may want to try a temperature at 67 or 68°F. If we have unoccupied spaces for many days such as the assembly room, we’ll try lower settings and schedule a warm up the day before an event. Eric can also work with coworkers to adjust office temperatures up and down as needed for a period of hours before temperatures return to the pre-set level. As we think about our personal energy management this winter, we will be keeping three things in mind:
- Provide suggestions and comments to Eric (who will share them with me as appropriate). We are counting on active participants in our living laboratory.
- In a room that is warmer than an adjacent space (say an office compared to the corridor), keeping a door closed or mostly closed will keep the higher heat in where it is needed.
- Floors of most areas of the monastery have in-floor or radiant heating. This tends to make you feel warmer at any given air temperature. The base level of heating that comes off of the floor is supplemented by fan coil units that further warm the air coming into the room in order to reach the temperature setting for the room.
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Mark Hanson is the director of sustainable services at Hoffman, LLC, the company that provided planning, design and management services for the monastery building.We are grateful to Mark and join with him in a continued commitment to caring for the environment.
#GivingTuesday: celebrating the season of giving
byCar McGinley, director of communications & IT
Photo by Kent Sweitzer
As many of you know, BlackFridayand CyberMondaykick off the buying season, but #Giving Tuesday, onDecember 1, 2015, kicks off the giving season! Join others who feel that giving is more important than buying, and donate to Holy Wisdom Monastery on #Giving Tuesday this year.
Your donation to Holy Wisdom Monasterymakes a difference:
- in the lives of women who come here as Benedictine Sojourners to experience living in community
- in the local environment as the prairies at Holy Wisdom filter pollutants and keep phosphorous out of area lakes
- in the spiritual growth of people who come here to pray, learn and retreat
- in the lives of the volunteers who find a connection with the land
For more information, visit our#GivingTuesdaypageor contact Nancy Sandleback r608-836-1631, x105. If you would rather mail in a donation,download our donationform and return it byDecember 1, 2015.
Remember, #GivingTuesdayis onDecember 1, 2015!
SundayAssembly
Help us create our Advent wreath
byLynn Lemberger, director of worship & music
Advent begins this year onSunday, November 29, 2015. A special addition to ourSunday Assembly worshipduring the fourSundays of Advent is the presentation of each week’s Advent candle, brought into worship by one of our children. Each new candle is placed on our 6-foot Advent wreath, which stands in the front of the assembly room, in anticipation of the light that is coming into the world with Jesus’s birth on Christmas Day.
We will prepare the Advent wreath for the assembly room onWednesday, November 25, 2015, at9:30 am. You are invited to participate in this annual pre-Christmas event! The wreath is built on a metal/wood frame using freshly cut evergreen boughs that groundskeeper Paul Boutwell collects from the monastery grounds. It takes about 45 minutes to put the wreath together, less time with more helpers. Come join us before the Thanksgiving holiday weekend begins! All are welcome!
Join us for an Advent day
byLynne Smith, OSB, co-director of formation
Join us onThursday, December 10, 2015, 11:45 am–1:30 pmforReflections on Art and Prayer, an Advent day of reflection with David Giffey.David is an artist, iconographer, journalist and photographer who is currently exhibiting a selection of his work at Holy Wisdom Monastery.Reflections on Art and Prayerwill begin with midday prayer and lunch.
After lunch I will host a conversation with David as he shares some ideas gathered during 40 years of painting liturgical art. The presentation will include stories of travels and teachers, visual examples and a brief introduction to traditional Easter Christian prayer. A short time of silent meditation will be followed by a general discussion. More information and online registration is available on our website at:Reflections on Art and Prayer. Please register byNovember 25, 2015.
Guests & Retreatants
The gift of time at Holy Wisdom
byMonica Jefcoat, event & accounting assistant
Thanksgiving, Advent and Christmas are all approaching soon. What a wonderful time to give thanks and count our blessings. Life is fast-paced and we don’t always take the time we need to do these things. Whether it’s during the week or on the weekend, Holy Wisdom Monastery offers a contemplative environment with daily prayer opportunities, spiritual guidance and Sunday worship service.
To schedule personal time to reflect on all that is good, please send me anavailability inquiryor call me directly at608-836-1631, x158.
Looking for thoughtful gift ideas for those you love?Consider giving them a retreat at Holy Wisdom Monastery.One night stays in 2016 start at just $60. Overnights in our hermitage begin at just $83/night. To purchase a gift certificate, call me directly at608-836-1631 x158. More information about arranging for some personal time and space is available on thepersonal retreats pageof our website.
All of us in guest services at Holy Wisdom wish you happy, meaningful holidays ahead.
Volunteers & Coworkers
Welcoming a new coworker
byCar McGinley, director of communications & IT
This month we welcome LaRaeGavic as our operations manager, a new role at Holy Wisdom. As operations manager, LaRae is responsible for the day-to-day operation of the facilities, grounds and guest services as well as long-range operations planning and marketing. This is a position that pulls together responsibilities formerly assigned to the director of guest services and the chief operating officer. We are grateful to Jill Carlson, former guest services director, for her work at Holy Wisdom, and to Barbara Dannhausen, OP, our current chief operating officer, who will be moving into a consulting role for Holy Wisdom at the end of this year.
LaRae brings to Holy Wisdom a background in social work, management, business administration and marketing. As operations manager, she will work closely with coworkers and volunteers and will take on a leadership role as part of an administrative team responsible for communications, marketing, strategic/operational planning, finances, personnel and program planning.
"I live in Middleton and have often been drawn to the beauty of the monastery's grounds and to the mission and values here." LaRae comments. "I am very excited to now be a part of this wonderful place and am looking forward to many new adventures."
Please introduce yourself to LaRae the next time you visit Holy Wisdom Monastery.
Friends & Supporters
Membership in the Friends of Wisdom Prairie—a special gift idea
byGreg Armstrong, director of land management & environmental education
Why join theFriends of Wisdom Prairieor give a membership as a gift? This vital and growing group is making a significant impact on the care of the earth at Holy Wisdom while having a great time! Over the past year the Friends of Wisdom Prairie and the monastery partnered with Dane County, Madison Community Foundation, and other individuals who value caring for the earthto:
- burn 120 acres of prairie
- sow prairie seed on 35 acres of former agricultural land
- mow new prairie land to keep weeds from going to seed and to let light in for new prairie seedlings
- install a storm water detention facility covering 4 acres
- clear fencerows of weedy shrubs and trees in preparation for oak savanna restoration
- remove invasive weeds on 160 acres
- Provide environmental and eco-spiritual education through dinner lectures, monastery tours and outings to other natural areas
You are invited to join the Friends of Wisdom Prairie for 2016. Or—wouldn’t a membership make a very special Christmas gift for a friend or loved one?Friends of Wisdom Prairie brochureswith an application for membership are available at the monastery oron ourwebsite. Anonline registration formis also available on our website.
Call for art exhibitors
byNancy Sandleback, collections manager
The art exhibits at Holy Wisdom Monastery, hosted by the sisters in the spring and fall, tie in with Holy Wisdom Monastery’s mission of hospitality—welcoming artists of various backgrounds and media as well as those who view the art. Our current exhibit,Icons by David Giffey, runs throughDecember 24.
Last month we put out an open call for proposals to display artwork at the monastery for two months beginningFriday, May 6, 2016with a gallery reception. Submissions are dueNovember 30, 2015. If you are interested in submitting a proposal, contact Nancy Sandleback . Art gallery guidelines are available at
Please share this information with any artists you know.
Sisters & Sojourners
Experiencing monastic life for 6 months
byAnn Moyer, director of membership
Would you or someone you know like to experience the rhythm of monastic life—prayer, work, study and leisure—at Holy Wisdom Monastery for 6 months? We welcome single, Christian women, ages 21-50, to consider this possibility beginning in the fall of 2016. The first step to learning more is to come to an Exploring Benedictine Sojourners Retreat. Three new retreat dates are on the calendar for 2016:
•February 12-14, 2016(apply by2/2/2016)
•April 8-10, 2016(apply by3/29/2016)
•July 15-17, 2016(apply by7/5/2016)
More information aboutBenedictine Sojournersand theExploring Benedictine Sojourner Retreatsis available on our website, or contact Ann Moyer ,608-836-1631 x197.
Learn more about the Benedictine Sojourner experience from our current sojourners’ most recent blog posts (excerpts below, follow link in title to each full blog post):
Glory days, by Denise West
One of the hopes I havefor my six months at Holy Wisdom is to deepen my relationship with God or, more precisely, to find out what I meanwhen I sayI believein “God.” Though I’ve been on a path seeking God for a number of years, I have gotten to a point where I realizethat I am too often trying to generate a sense of God, rather than having a conviction of God’s presence....
From the lab bench to the prairie garden, by Paz Vital
Leaving the lab, my family and my friends to live here on the prairie was not an easy choice. But, I am here waiting to experience a northern winter for the first time in my life. I was and I am still excited and scared at the same time. I was born and lived in Mexico for the most part of my life. Then, six years ago, I moved to US and was living in Houston, Texas. So I don’t know what to expect about winter in Wisconsin. But the winter is not the only thing that scares me…
Sisters' community life blogs
Sisters Lynne Smith and Rosy Kandathil have added new posts to their blog series as well, providing additional insights into life in community at Holy Wisdom(excerpts below, follow link in title to each full blog post):
Finding the seeds of God's call in my life, by Lynne Smith, OSB
I believe that a call comes right out of one’s life. That means that rather than being something extraordinary that drops down from heaven to overwhelm a person, a call grows from the values, characteristics and dreams one has already begun to develop. My desire to care for the earth and feeling connected to God in creation was part of what brought me to our community at Holy Wisdom....
Loving commitments that change our lives, by Rosy Kandathil, OSB
There are some commitments that change our lives forever. ...As we dedicate ourselves fully and consciously to certain bonds, our whole world shifts—impacting every relationship in its scope. What, but love, could draw us to make such strong promises?...
Visitation, a time of grace
byMary David Walgenbach, OSB, prioress
Once every five years each monastery in the Federation of St Gertrude receives a team of sisters whose role is to review and support the ways in which Benedictine monastic life is carried out in their setting. In early December, Holy Wisdom will receive Joella Kidwell, OSB, a member of the Sisters of St Benedict, Ferdinand, IN and president of the Federation of St Gertrude(pictured near right), and Lorane Coffin, OSB, a sister from St Martin Monastery in Rapid City, SD(pictured far right)as their visitation team.
Benedictine federations provide a framework of mutual support among their member monasteries, guiding and supporting each other in the interpretation and adaptation of theRule of Benedictfor their particular time and place. Most of the Benedictine women’s monasteries in the US belong to one of three federations. Holy Wisdom Monastery is an ecumenical affiliated member of theFederation of St Gertrude.
“This is privileged time for you and your community,” notes Sister Joella, who also references Federation documents calling this "a time of grace, a call to celebrate life.” The Federation states that, “the purpose of the visitation is to assist the monastery in reviewing its monastic way of life in terms of monastic profession, prayer, common life, formation, fiscal management, and the works of the monastery.” We look forward to receiving the visitation team for this friendly visit from those who come to listen to and encourage us.
Oblates
Oblates consider Christian identity in a multi-faith world
byAnn Moyer, director of membership
The oblates of Holy Wisdom have a book recommendation to share—a book with a very long, but intriguing title: Why Did Jesus, Moses, Buddha and Mohammed Cross the Road? Christian Identity in a Multi-Faith World, by Brian McLaren. This book is the focus of conversations and sharing within the oblate community as they gatherfor a retreat this weekend,November 13-15, 2015.