Welcome to the Mewsletter!

All felines in the Cloister are glad that you are here! Welcome!



I’m Br. Ricky, Novice Master and Mewsletter editor. I bring you Benedictine wisdom from the Feline Cloister.

How are things coming along with your Lenten practices? Amma admits her faithfulness could use improvement. To help her (and maybe you, too?), this issue will focus on Lent.

Let's get started without another mew.

Mewsletter Contents

Here’s what you will find in the Mewsletter. Read it all or scroll down to the section you want to read.

An Urgent Prayer Request

Mewsings from the Feline Cloister - "Getting Back On the Wagon"

Felines Unpack the Rule of St. Benedict - "Embracing Joy in Lent: RB 49.5-6"

Monastery of the Mewsletter - Holy Wisdom Monastery, Middleton, Wisconsin



Wolrdwide Novice Update

Visit the Feline Cloister



An Urgent Prayer Request

Many of us are disturbed by the changes that have swiftly happened in the Federal government and with the fallout from these changes. People have been hurt through loss of jobs and incomes to support themselves and their families. Livelihoods are threatened.  Immigrants are deported without due process of the law. Relationships with allies of many years have been compromised. Massive destruction of life and property continues in the Ukraine and in Palestine. 

Our Lord gave us these instructions in a parable about the Judgement of Nations:

“Come, you that are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world; for I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, I was naked and you gave me clothing, I was sick and you took care of me, I was in prison and you visited me…

And the king will answer, ‘Truly I tell you, as you did it to one of the least of my sisters and brothers of mine, you did it to me.’” Matthew 25:34-36, 403

Regardless of our political affiliation, we are Christians first. While we fulfill our responsibilities as citizens of this country, our true citizenship is in Christ. From Him we take our way of living and the strength to follow Him. 

We must give from the abundance of what we have as asked by our Lord. And this can begin with ardent prayer on behalf of those impacted now and those who will be impacted in the future. We must pray. I offer no specific words. Pray from your heart for the protection of people and homes, here and abroad. Pray that we follow these words of the prophet Micah.

“He has told you, O mortal, what is good;

and what does the Lord require of you

but to do justice, and to love kindness,

and to walk humbly with your God.” Micah 6:8

May our prayer then guide our actions.

Jane

Holding the Light - A Song of Hope

Br. Ricky invites you to read about his conversation with Resident Novice Sebastian Thomas. The novice was having a tough time staying faithful to his chosen Lenten disciplines. He had become very discouraged with himself.

Resident Novice Sebastian Thomas has fallen off the wagon

Felines Unpack the Rule of St. Benedict

Four Worldwide Novices Discover Joy in Lent

Novice Humphrey Slocum Smith

Novice Felicity

Novice Mr. Pippin Marmalade

Novice Mimi

The four Worldwide Novices who researched joy in Lent are eager to share their discoveries with you. They have even found new energy in their Lenten practices.

Might you also need an infusion of energy and joy?

Resident Novice Sebastian Thomas' Aunt Flossie hisses yet again,

"Personally, I don't find much joy in Lent.

I've given up grumbling. No fun! Hiss!"

The Monastery of the Mewsletter

Holy Wisdom Monastery

The Benedictine Sisters of Holy Wisdom Monastery Mary David (back);

(front L to R) Everline, Joanne, Lynne

Holy Wisdom Monastery is an ecumenical Benedictine community in Middleton, Wisconsin. This community of Benedictine sisters, though small in numbers, has met changing times and new challenges with vision and faith.

Br. Ricky has put visiting the beautiful monastery of

Maria RIckenbach on his bucket list.

 In the later 19^th century Mother Gertrude McDermott became the founding prioress of a new Benedictine community in Sioux City, Iowa. Then, in 1952, they arrived in Madison, Wisconsin, to start a girls’ high school.

 The Second Vatican Council (1962-1965) opened the doors of the Catholic Church to dialogue with Christians of other traditions. In the early 1970s, inspired by their experiences of praying with people of other Christian traditions, the Benedictine sisters of Holy Wisdom Monastery began an ecumenical journey. When the sisters welcomed monks from the ecumenical community of Taizé who were in residence at the University of Wisconsin-Madison their ecumenical roots were established. 

In the 1980’s a question surfaced -

Are we being called to form an ecumenical monastic community

of Benedictine sisters? 

The vision became a reality in 2006, with the re-founding as Benedictine Women of Madison, the first ecumenical Benedictine community of sisters in the US. 

To read more about the history, jump here.

A Community of Communities

Holy Wisdom Monastery is not a community in isolation. The doors of the monastery are open to a variety of communities, groups of people who take inspiration from Benedictine monastic spirituality. This is called their “Community of Communities.” It consists of five distinct communities, rooted in the Benedictine tradition: The Benedictine Sisters, the Sunday Assembly, the Oblates of the monastery, Friends of the Wisdom Prairie and the Center for Clergy Renewal. 

You can read about each of these communities by tapping here.

The solar array at Holy Wisdom Monastery - Wow!

Striving for Diversity, Inclusivity and Equity so All May Be One

From the website -



“Holy Wisdom Monastery welcomes people into sacred space and our community of communities to pray, study and nourish one another. Compelled by the Gospel and rooted in the Benedictine tradition, we support personal and community growth as we live out our mission and values in a changing world.”

Sister Lynne, an ordained Presbyterian minister, baptizes

a new member at Sunday Assembly



Above information is from the Holy WIsdom website

Worldwide Novice Update