Monastic community on a trial basis
Must we lose monastic communities before we realize how profound their presence is in our lives?
The April 4 issue of the Century offers Ruth Burrows's witness to her life as a contemplative Carmelite; it also includes an homage to a community of students shaped by their experience with Trappist monks, which in turn shaped Faith Matters writer Stephanie Paulsell in her faith and thinking.
Yet Carmelite, Benedictine, Trappist and other monastic communities find themselves in a precarious place these days, with many of them closed or closing. Must we lose these Catholic (and Protestant) communities before we realize that they are a profound presence to those of us out wandering in the world?
In the midst of declining numbers, Holy Wisdom Monastery in Middleton, Wisconsin, dares to pursue a vision for growing an ecumenical Benedictine monastery. Its sisters envision a community that welcomes Christian women of any denomination who seek to live a reflective life in community. Accordingly, Holy Wisdom has kept its affliliation with Benedictine monasteries, but after years of prayerful deliberation, it cut formal ties with the Roman Catholic Church in 2006.
