Geographically Challenged

February 10th was one of our favorite feasts, little-known as it is: the feast of St. Scholastica--sister of Benedict, as the tradition claims.

And here is how she looked in our Memory Garden on her feast yesterday. Oh, I'm just kidding! This is her summer look, captured beautifully by our Bernadette Sullivan!



Here, on the other hand, is the look of one of our cars yesterday, with 6-7" of new snow. Looks nice on the evergreens behind it though.


If you are "geographically challenged" or just can't remember all those miscellaneous facts from fourth grade, here's one for today: Pennsylvania is a Mid-Atlantic state--the ones that have been in all the headlines for the last week for their unusual amount of snow. But, here in Erie, particularly, we are smack on Lake Erie and are really in the Great Lakes Plains region and its weather patterns. The conclusion? The 20-30" of snow that blanketed Washington, Baltimore and even Philadelphia and Pittsburgh brought us nothing---until this "little bit" yesterday from our usual west and north winds via Chicago and Canada. No schools closed and most of us made it to work--yes, on time!

And finally, a treat, as promised: here's our schola singing "Da Pacem" via YouTube. Hope you enjoy it.

In Memory

This is our necrology board. Because of our renovations it had to come down from its former location and was just recently put up again.

There are 246 names of our deceased sisters on it. The first name is Sr. Benedicta Riepp, the leader of the first German sisters who came to the US. Although she was one of the first sisters to come to Erie, she didn't stay here but kept on going west and settled in Minnesota founding St. Benedict's Monastery, about 60 miles west of Minneapolis near St. Cloud. She is buried there.

No sisters died during 2006, our 150th jubilee year and the beginning of these renovations. But since then seven have, including five in 2008 alone. Three were in their nineties, three in their eighties and one just 60. It's both comforting and meditative to see all their names, birth and death dates on this board again. Memories come flooding back and that is good. Nora, Mary Philip, Margaret, Corinne, Joanne, Ellen and Mary Ann--we miss you.



For those who know the Mount, you'll find this board right near the north elevator, in the little alcove where you can look out into the large library courtyard gardens.

St. Blase and the Bonsai

When a sister is the day's prayer leader she has the freedom to arrange the environment as she wishes. Often, if there is a feast or a particular season of the liturgical year (Lent, Advent, Christmas), the environment is set for the entire season, but on "regular" days we have more options.

One prayer leader this week is our resident bonsai aficionado and she had the opportunity to show us her three bonsai plants by adding them to the environment around the lectern. Very nice touch---on the feast of St. Blase.



And, from Mary:

Mozart, for Example

All the quick notes
Mozart didn't have time to use
before he entered the cloud-boat

are falling now from the beaks
of the finches
that have gathered from the joyous summer

into the hard winter
and, like Mozart, they speak of nothing
but light and delight,

though it is true, the heavy blades
of the world are still pounding underneath.
And this is what you can do too, maybe,

if you live simply and with a lyrical heart
in the cumbered neighborhoods or even,
as Mozart sometimes managed to, in a palace,

offering tune after tune after tune,
making some hard-hearted prince
prudent and kind, just by being happy.

February settles in

A week ago our schola sang "Da Pacem" at our Sunday liturgy. Afterwards a couple of our sisters who work in vocation and development ministries asked if they could video the schola singing it and then work at getting it uploaded on YouTube.

Here is the schola singing it again for recording. I'll announce when it gets uploaded onto YouTube. Seems it's time to have an updated group of Benedictine Sisters of Erie shown singing something other than "Kum-ba-ya"! (see Jan. 18 post)

Though you can hear our sisters singing the Benedictus and Magnificat on our prayer page.



A friend sent me dramatic photos of "icebergs" on Lake Michigan. Lake Michigan is having one of the coldest winters in recent decades and the water freezes the instant the wave breaks through the ice. The temperature of the water is already some degrees below freezing.

We here on Lake Erie feel much better when we see something like this! Our temp. dipped to 1 or 2 degrees this weekend, and we have ice dunes--but nothing even close to these "bergs"!

Haiti et al

Haiti is still primary in our prayers and in our hearts. Bishop Tom Gumbleton is leading a small medical group to Haiti this week. Here's a website that highlights not only this latest venture for this special priest, but contains a whole selection of his involvements, sermons, etc. Many of our sisters are friends of Tom's through his and their long association with Pax Christi USA in the 1970s and 80s.

The only Benedictine monastery in Haiti is a dependent monastery of an abbey in France. There is a running list of messages about their Haitian community on their website. It's in French, but if you have something like the google toolbar, it will translate the pages for you automatically. There is also a link to the monastery itself with photos of the place and the half dozen monks who live there. AIM USA is in contact with them and is sending a large donation to them that arrived unexpectedly at their offices this week.

Joan Chittister's NCR column this week is on her own trip to Haiti years ago. Both the column and the comments that follow it are excellent.

And now, to finish with a little beauty--from my Christmas gift poetry book, Evidence, by Mary Oliver:

The Trees

Do you think of them as decoration?
Think again.

Here are maples, flashing.
And here are the oaks, holding on all winter
to their dry leaves.
And here are the pines, that will never fail,
until death, the instruction to be green.
And here are the willows, the first
to pronounce a new year.

May I invite you to revise your thoughts about them?
Oh, Lord, how we are all for invention and
advancement!
But I think it would do us good
if we would think about these brothers and sisters,
quietly and deeply.

The trees, the trees, just holding on
to the old, holy ways.

Haiti and the Home Front

Last Monday our prioress put out a note to all sisters announcing a collection for Haiti that would go there through Catholic Charities. The offer also went to our lay employees and friends. She also stated that the community would match whatever is donated. As of Friday there was over $2,000 already in. Would be nice to get to a total of $5,000. We have been including Haiti in our prayer intentions almost every day at Morning or Evening Prayer.

On the home front there are also difficult things. In our Sunday paper yesterday there was a cover article on the homicides in the Erie area for 2009. There were four; all men---average age 32.

I was wondering about that because we knew that it had been a long time since we'd had a homicide and a Take Back the Site for Nonviolence vigil. Then in the last week of 2009 and the first week of 2010 don't we have two homicides close together.

The last one in 2009 was a "domestic dispute," one of the common reasons for violence. A 42-year old man was killed by his longtime girl friend.

The one pictured below was very sad. A 17-year old shot a 19-year old. Another common situation: disagreements and arguments that are brought to a head on the streets. A couple things made this one memorable. First, the girl friend of the slain boy, and mother of their baby, was a participant in two of our programs when she was in elementary school: the Art House and the Kids Cafe. And secondly, both of the boy's parents spoke at the vigil. The mother in particular has decided to start a local campaign of speaking in schools and to youth groups to share their experience and try in her own way to get guns off our streets.

You can also see from the second photo that it got a lot of media coverage, two TV mobile vans were set up there. There was also a very large crowd...75-100, with many sisters from the vigil sponsors (Our community, the Mercy sisters and the Sisters of St. Joseph) and many others--individuals and local groups that are speaking out and making appearances at events such as these that call for an end to violence.





Our BFP committee (Benedictines For Peace), that helps coordinate these vigils, has recently renewed its website.

New Monastic Venture

Trappist Michael Casey, OCSO, from Australia, gave our retreat a couple of years ago. He was outstanding....as are all his books on monastic life.

Here's a brand new site from him and his community...short audios on aspects of the RB. You can just listen or download. There seem to already be 4-5 "Episodes" available.


We have talented musicians!