Lazy, Hazy Days

Hot summer August days have come to Erie and although our grass and bushes are not browned out nor has the city had to put out a schedule for non-essential water use like washing cars, the heat has hit us. For us, that's temperatures in the high 80s--with humidity.

These last weeks of August find many community members getting in their final days of vacation, welcoming visiting family members--especially from out of town, and just generally getting in last-minute summer events before the school year begins. Since for years and years many of our schedules revolved around the September to June school calendar "when school starts" or "after Labor Day" continue to be popular reference points that are hard to put aside even when we now work at the same ministry year round.

It's been a month since I shared a Mary Oliver poem, so here's one perfect for these August summer days.

Song of the Builders

On a summer morning
I sat down
on a hillside
to think about God--

a worthy pastime.
Near me, I saw
a single cricket;
it was moving the grains of the hillside

this way and that way.
How great was its energy,
how humble its effort.
Let us hope

it will always be like this,
each of us going on
in our inexplicable ways
building the universe.

Why I Wake Early
Mary Oliver


Our monarchs are beginning to gather to begin their migration south.

Vatican Visits

At the risk of sounding like a news report: Lots of interest and talk in our community--and indeed in the over 300 Catholic religious communities of women in the USA--is going on these days as we are in the midst of an apostolic visitation by the Vatican. If you Google "apostolic visitation" and then pare down your search by hitting News at the top, you'll find a long list of articles and opinion columns on the topic from members of religious communities, religion writers from the media, and "ordinary lay folk."

One that caught my eye, more because of his extensive background as the longtime religion writer for Newsweek magazine and as the author of the book, Double Crossed: uncovering the Catholic Church's betrayal of American Nuns, is an article on all this by Kenneth Briggs.

Just keeping up with the official announcements let alone the opinion columns and the dialogue on the internet: back and forth, pro and con, this way and that, would make a full time job--and probably will be a doctoral thesis or two somewhere.


I took this on an early evening walk around our place, which explains the darkness in the background. They really are quite striking.

Post-LLL Reflections

Richard (Rick) Gaillardetz, PhD, from the University of Toledo was very fine as a speaker for our LLL days last week. He adopted a "behind the scenes" posture for his Vatican II sharing and it was both entertaining and enlightening.

His other presentations on the Church were equally good and, to cut to the chase, beg a number of questions for our own reflection, one of which is surely: How can we as a Benedictine community of women model the church that we wish the Church could be?

As usual, the daily Liturgy of the Hours were marvelously creative, prayerful and moving. We are so blessed and "lucky" to have them. Both of our speakers for LLL mentioned them, as well as our Eucharistic liturgies.


I'm told these are amaryllis. I "discovered" them in our inner courtyard this week. Hardy little things--as they balance on a single stem, survive some fierce summer rainstorms, 80+ degree heat and everything else that comes in the day of a flower.


Anyone have a memory of the musical "The Music Man" and one of the little girls who taunted the little boy with a lisp who couldn't say her name--wasn't her name Amaryllis?

Part of our LLL Sunday environment.

The Rest of the Story

Here are a few more samples from the delightful Rule of Benedict by Mary Charles McGough. Click on them to see an enlargement--not for printing, please, but for details. Scroll down to the July 16 entry to see the cover.

It can be purchased from the Benedictine Sisters of Duluth at 1001 Kenwood Ave, Duluth, MN 55811. I think it retails for around $50 US.

Early August

Early August this year brings our annual LLL days (Learning, Leisure and Legislation) aka: Summer Community Days. As part of the upcoming week, Wednesday through Sunday, Dr. Richard Gaillardetz, a theologian from the University of Toledo in Ohio, will give four presentations to the community and oblates on "The Post-Vatican II Church."

For those who cannot always recite or who don't have easy access to a Morning and Evening psalter-based prayer, a shortened one using our inclusive psalter as well as other parts of the hours, can be found here: Morning and Evening Praise for Ordinary Time-August.

And finally, here is a site that I have in my Favorites. I don't go to it more than once a month but every time I do I think to myself, "Why don't I look at this site more often?" The answer, of course, is that there are just so many hours in the day. Regardless, it is a real beauty and I can't resist sharing it with you. Even if you only scroll down it for one minute, I think you'll agree with me that it is aptly named: Eye Candy



Here's our own "eye candy" right from our garden.

An Old-Fashioned Slide Show

I've been wanting to try this for awhile--share the opening of our Night-Blooming Evening Primrose. I know, I know--it should be video--but I just haven't found the time to conquer the uploading yet. So, meanwhile, here's an old-fashioned slide show! You remember those: one still picture after another and if you do them real fast they kinda' move--like those little stick cartoons you can make in the corner of a pack of papers and then flip them quickly--voila, action!

The real action here takes place every day around 8:30 pm in our inner courtyard garden. The night I caught these the final count was 50 flowers. When we got our first plant a couple years ago we'd all gather around, night after night, to see 3 or 4 flowers open. We were fascinated. Now, I fear, when that first plant has multiplied to seven or eight, most of us just walk right by--catching the final flowers after they've opened or in the early morning, right as they are dying after their one-night life.

The time lapse here is from 8:28-8:48 PM. The last one is 7:00 AM the next morning.

And now to South Hall

Thanks to a wonderfully successful Capital Campaign, the generosity of supporters of our ministries, and other favorable circumstances we decided it is the best time to consider some renovations to the remaining residence halls, first and second floor of South Hall.

Over two dozen sisters packed up and moved out for 6-7 months and the demolition phase has already begun. One big difference from the North and West Hall renovations: the dumpsters are in the back of the Mount building, hardly visible even from the back parking lot.

The windows, of course, have already been installed and the HVAC system is in, too, so the renovations will mainly be just bedrooms and plumbing.