Retreat Musings

Retreat is a good time to do some reading. I found a book that I hadn't read by one of my favorite writers, Rabbi Lawrence Kushner. The seven chapters bring us that wonderful Jewish midrash--seven different ways of reading the same biblical verse. In this case it's the Jacob's ladder story in Genesis 28 and in particular verse 16: "God was in this place and I, I did not know it," which is also the title of the book.

I love Kushner's writing and I love Jewish midrash, at least the little I've read of it, so this is perfect for this week. I'll be sharing tidbits from it for awhile. Here's the first one:

"Gershom Scholem, the master historian of Jewish mysticism who is not customarily on stage with American standup comedians like Abbott and Costello, nevertheless expressed this idea. He once told me that the ultimate question one can ask is not, What is the meaning of life? or even, Why am I here? but simply, Who? Like all questions, its syntax predetermines the range of possible answers. And the question, Who? is a request for either a name or a personal pronoun. The answer, in other words, must be personal. It must be a self.

Like the Zen monk who, after years of study, formulated what he thought was the ultimate question, Who am I? only to be surprised by the voice inside him that replied, Who is asking? You are looking for the one who is looking. In this sense, then, this tale is not so much a literary fantasy about the possible meanings of a biblical verse recorded centuries ago, but a journey into the "self" who is reading these words."

One of our tall processional crosses--this one by the St. John's Abbey oblate and liturgical consultant and designer, Frank Kacmarcik--as it is caught in the early morning sunlight from the clerestory. To read about this unique artist go to this article, page 4, written by one of our sisters.

Retreat Week

This week brings our annual community retreat. The presenter is Sr. Shawn Carruth, OSB, from the Benedictine Sisters of Crookston, Minnesota. Sr. Shawn is an associate professor in the Religion Department of Concordia College in Minnesota. Her specialties include the Sources of the Synoptic Gospels, Feminist Studies and Benedictine Monastic Studies. Her theme for the week is "Jesus Christ Dwelling Place of the Living."

The week includes eleven conferences by Sr. Shawn and specially prepared Morning and Evening Praise periods prepared by various community members. Silence and quiet is maintained throughout the monastery, except for the evening meal.

A lily pond at our Presque Isle State Park.

Seasons of the Spirit Begins

After 100 weekends of Spirit of the Seasons retreats, our retreat director extraordinaire, Carolyn G-K, introduced a new retreat program, Seasons of the Spirit: a time for prayer, meditation, presentations and creativity.

The first Seasons of the Spirit was held last weekend and brought old timers and first timers to the Mount for the "Greening of the Earth" themed retreat.

Congratulations to Carolyn, her assistants and retreatants for their seemingly endless source of ideas, shared wisdom and unique retreat experiences.


A prayer space from the first Seasons of the Spirit weekend. The next weekend is October 2-4: "The Mystery of Chaos and Change."

For information on Seasons of the Spirit or other day or weekend retreats, contact Sr. Carolyn at the Mount.

Our Daughterhouse Celebrates

In 1859, three sisters from the small fifteen member community of the Benedictine Sisters of Erie left Erie to start a community in Covington, Kentucky, across the Ohio river from Cincinnati, Ohio.

This weekend St. Walburg Monastery of Covington is celebrating its 150th anniversary as a Benedictine community. Five of our sisters traveled there to represent us. They took with them special gifts for this daughterhouse of ours: a Paschal Candle and a Processional Cross both made by our sisters.

Many Benedictine communities are beginning to celebrate their 150th anniversary as the first Benedictine women came to the US over a century and a half ago, in 1852.
















I believe these are wisteria. They hang down from the roof of an arbor-like structure in our Memory Garden. It includes two swings, a bench, a small fountain, four corner posts and a latticed roof that hold some beautiful growth.
















A sunset last Friday night seen right from our beach.

Hermitages

We are woods wanderers. Most nights we manage to spend 30 minutes to an hour roaming through the woods that surround the monastery, extend back to Benetwood Apartments and all the way across East Lake Road to the lake.

One of our favorite areas is near our hermitages, as that is the deers', too. It was a perfect location to build them, as our guests continually tell us of the wildlife they see out the windows and on their way to and fro.

Here is the signpost at the intersection of the paths. Can you see Scholastica hermitage through the woods in the right photo? There it is, on its stilts, when you get a little closer.

Good luck if you try for a reservation now. You might get lucky or catch a cancellation, but they are just about booked solid--April through October.






New Morning and Evening Prayer for Ordinary Time.

May did not disappoint

The month of May ended gloriously with Pentecost Sunday--a beautiful, spirit-filled celebration. Here is the poem that was read as part of the Vigil of Pentecost.

Apocalypse by Edith Lovejoy Pierce

God is coming!
Hear the wind of the Spirit
Rushing through the upper reaches of the mind.

Bolt no door, turn no key:
Roof will be shaken from floor.

Hear the crash of wall,
The fall of tree, and the sound of towers that smash.

Never came such a gale on earth,
Fanning spark to flame.

Nothing is safe but flung seed,
Spun spray, birds' wings
And flower petals that weigh nothing at all.

Nothing is safe but what flies, what sings;
Nothing dies but what is strong.

Prepare for the wheels of the wind
Racing through the upper air!

The atmosphere quivers and shakes,
The world quakes:
God is coming.
The Holy Spirit is here!

The outdoor world of spring continues with these final shots of May: a rainbow during an early evening soft rainstorm last Friday night. I acted just like a professional photographer--as I was driving when I saw it and pulled right off the road. It was the first time I wished I'd had a $1,000 camera!

Our night-blooming evening primroses are erupting. We must have a dozen plants now and this one actually had about a dozen flowers one night. It was overcast and a bit dark the morning after, about 7:15 a.m., when I caught this picture of 1/2 of them still open and 1/2 beginning to close and die after their one-night life. Our chief gardener told me she'd gladly give one of our many little primrose plants to anyone who would like one. Just let me know.

Photo by Columba Kim, OSB

Another sister from the Benedictine Sisters of Daegu, South Korea is visiting us for a month. The first night we took her on a long walk around our property and voila! a deer at the newly placed salt lick. She caught this with her camera.

New Morning and Evening Prayer for Ordinary Time.

Monastic Lexicon #11

"Out at Trinity"

The answer to the question, Where are your Sisters buried? is: "Out at Trinity."

Trinity Cemetery is one of four cemeteries owned and operated by the Catholic Diocese of Erie. Trinity is the oldest and is located about 11 miles west of the Mount at a busy intersection: 8th and Peninsula Drive. But, as with all cemeteries, as soon as you turn in you enter immediately into its quiet, calm and otherworldliness.

Keep driving along its circuitous paths and when you get to the road at the very back, you'll find us--in three separate areas, but close enough to be "together."

The first prioress, Mother Scholastica, and three dozen early Sisters are buried in one area, under one of Trinity's tall, stately old trees. About 300 feet from there is our largest section holding four rows of 200 or so graves. In between these two areas, in a newly constructed plot which will be for "the rest of us," are five newly added graves--our most recently deceased.

A few statistics of interest: 245 community members are listed in our necrology. The average age of the first 21 Sisters who died was only 27, with two in their teens. Living conditions and health care in the mid-19th century were rough, I'd say. And then there was an influenza epidemic--from 1915-1919 sixteen sisters passed away; another rough time for the young community. Over the last 75 years (half our community life) we've averaged only 2 deaths a year, but it varies considerably: in 2007 we had only one, in 2008 five.


First prioress: Mother Scholastica









Our new section.








Our largest section at Trinity Cemetery. Some now are double plots as an increasing number of Sisters are choosing to be cremated.