There Is Room in the Inn!

 

With all the refugee families coming from Afghanistan, we made it known to the refugee agencies that we had space available to house one or two families, depending on their size.  St. Joseph House, the three-story house next to the monastery building has plenty of room.  There is a fully equipped kitchen, dining room and two living rooms on the first floor.  There are 8 bedrooms on the second and third floors.  It is ideal for housing a family rather than individuals

    We were anticipating the arrival of some folks.  In the meantime, Sr. Nancy and several members of the community readied the house with new bedspreads, linens and other supplies. We also filled their grocery needs from a list of foods proper to their Muslim tradition. 

A family of six arrived today: Mom, Dad, three girls and one boy, ages 1 to 8. They are getting settled. None of them speaks English so it will be a major adjustment for them. The Kentucky Refugee Ministries is providing support and volunteers to help them adjust to their new life. We are happy to offer them a safe place to live.

     In the Holy Rule, St. Benedict has much to say about the Reception of Guests in Ch.43: “Any guest who happens to arrive at the monastery should be received just as we would receive Christ himself, because he promised that on the last day we will say:  I was a stranger and you welcomed me. (vs. 1) The greatest care should be taken to give a warm reception to the poor and refugees, because in them above all others that Christ is welcomed. (vs. 4) One God-fearing member of the community should be put in charge of the accommodation for the guests, which should be furnished with sufficient beds and bedding, for this is the house of God and it should always be wisely administered by those who also are wise themselves.” (vs. 6)

Then and Now

      When I entered our community three months after high school graduation in 1946, I talked to my 8th grade teacher, Sr. Rita Kettman, who offered to arrange a meeting with the superior and to accompany me. I felt sure that God was calling me to religious life; however, I had no clue what it would be like. The only thing I assumed was that I would be saying pretty many prayers. I had never before been in the monastery building or what the accommodations would be like, nor did it matter. I just wanted to be a nun. I loved and admired all the nuns who had taught me and I wanted to be like them. This was a far cry from how the process is handled today.

          When sharing with the six other postulants how we had decided to become a nun, some said they had always wanted to be a nun. They liked to play teaching school while draping their heads with a veil (frequently a diaper.) I liked to do things that I saw nuns doing, e.g,, I had made a habit of making a visit to church after school. Some of my teachers were also there. They frequently extended their arms in the form of across seemingly saying some prayers. So when I prayed at home sometime, I imitated what the nuns did. I would go to my parent’s bedroom, extend my arms and say some prayers. One evening my mother happened to walk in and saw me. I was startled when I heard her call to my brother, “Jerry, Come help me with your sister. She’s having a fit!"

          I was very surprised to discover that all of our prayers were said in Latin. They were quite lengthy, and my four years of high-school Latin were of little help. It was enough for me to know that we were praising God and to assume that God was pleased. At some point we were given a diurnal with each page in two columns, one side in Latin and the other with the English translation. Heaven sent! All our prayers today are in English. What a pleasure to praise God in our native tongue and to remember some of God's words to say throughout the day.

          I was delighted to find that we could have visitors one Sunday a month. It was the custom that we would not go home again except for one chosen day prior to our receiving the habit. Seldom was a lay person seen in the monastery. Blessing of blessings! We now have the opportunity to welcome lay visitors and to show what our charism of hospitality looks like in practice. It is commonplace to receive a note from visitors complementing on our hospitality.

          While focusing on the a few of the contrasts between then and now, I need to add that there are many aspects at the core of religious life that have never changed and that fill us with joy. A few examples would be our community prayers, our love for one another, our common vision, and on and on. I will save that for another blog.

               
Sr. Victoria Eisenman, OSB

Hope/New Life

What a weird winter this has been! Temperatures are above normal: snowflakes scarce, sunny days promise spring, worry that it’s too soon, rainy and dark days, kids playing outside with no coats. What does it mean --global warming?

At the time of my last blog (July 2019), we were sadly remembering the loss of our eight mighty oaks sheltering the sidewalk to our front entry. At that time I compared the remaining trunks to the tombstones of some of our Sisters, giants whose lives and work made lasting impressions in our lives and in the history of our community.

A few months later, there appeared eighteen young saplings planted out in front. Someday they will form two “groves”, nice shady places to talk, to welcome visitors. They’re twice my height and have a protective screen around their trunks to stop the hungry deer from stripping their bark. But – is it my imagination, or wishful thinking, that tiny red buds seem to be emerging from their young branches? A promise of new leaves! The first signs of daffodils, irises, and “Ghost” lilies are sprouting in all their regular places. I hear the timorous song of returning birds.

I think of Sr. Eileen making profession of first vows this past Saturday. And I think of one visitor in particular, a woman who expresses interest in joining us, and the hopes the two of them give us for new life in our community. The reading (Matthew 17:1-9) for that ceremony, included within first vespers for the second Sunday of Lent, spoke of the Transfiguration that the chosen apostles were privileged to witness. “Lord, it is good for us to be here!” It was all so appropriate.

Instead of Peter’s proposed tents, let us build a welcoming community for new members, and a heartfelt prayer of gratitude, as we come down from this mountain of exhilaration.

         Sr. Mary Carol Hellmann, OSB

She gave from the abundance of her heart

              Recently the Gospel reading of the day was the “widow’s mite” (Luke 21: 1 - 4). Reflecting on this passage I remember a poignant moment in my ministry in Appalachia. It occurred while visiting a woman (I’ll call her May) who recently moved into a group home. 

             I had known May for several years. It seemed that everything that could go wrong in her life had. The death of her daughter, a divorcee, and her own mental health issues worsening made it impossible for May to live on her own. What I recall of this day is May’s excitement in having a visitor. We met only briefly in a common TV/living room when she asked me to come see her own living area. May took my hand as we walked down a long hall.  Her bed, a dresser and a few belongings were in an alcove, a small section of a large dorm room. As I looked around at her meager possessions May pointed to the floor.

            There at the entry space to her alcove, was a mat that said WELCOME – and she beamed showing her few remaining teeth. She wanted me to know just how open her heart was in welcoming me.  I noticed that no one else in the dorm had a mat – just May. This was her prize possession. Hospitality was the special gift she had to give.  She gave from the abundance of the little she had. I felt blessed to be received by May.

           May’s hospitality was what Benedict desires of his followers – to receive and greet each person as Christ; to welcome them with joy and gladness. There is a quote from Henri Nouwen’s book, Reaching Out that reads “From now on, wherever you go, wherever I go the ground is holy between us. As you leave, you stay within the hospitality of my heart,” It is as true today as it was almost forty years ago. May continues to remain in the hospitality of my heart as I hope I remain in hers. 

        Sr. Aileen Bankemper, OSB

Christ in the Guest

In 2006 I was asked to care for the visitors who come to stay at our Guest house, a beautiful old home dating possibly from the Civil War. It has a long history and has housed many individuals including the first girls who were boarding students at our academy. But that is another story.

           I never thought I’d have this job. It has been so enriching! Today I am thinking of how I have been gifted by serving the needs of those who come to stay for a day, a weekend, or sometimes longer. It’s more than providing clean linens for their bed and bath, however important that is, or some fruit and soft drinks in the refrigerator. Sometimes I just need to listen. Writers, artists, widows, retreatants, and relatives of the Sisters are the most frequent. It’s beautiful when they share their creativity in a story, or a written meditation, or a drawing or painting. Others just need a time to be away, to pray and think, to rest, to gather strength to make some decision. Always we invite them to pray with us at the monastery, and many do.
            I’ve hosted a Methodist ministers’ group, travelers on their way somewhere else, visiting teachers from Denmark, a Costa Rican family attending an ordination, a group of visiting priests from India, string teachers and their high school students who made music all weekend, and then gave us a concert! St. Benedict instructs us in his Rule for monasteries that the guest is to be received as Christ.
           We also are to receive the stranger, and one time, I did receive a stranger, one whom many might have considered a vagrant. Yet this one man, more than any other, reminded me of Christ, who “had nowhere to lay his head.” He was gentle and idealistic. He had a dream for alleviating hunger in the world, and no transportation other than a bus ticket, and his own feet. “My shoes are my wheels,” he said.
           I have also learned a new appreciation for those maids who daily go from room to room in a motel, picking up soiled laundry, cleaning bathrooms and making one bed after another.  If I happen to be staying somewhere, I now feel impelled to speak to them, saying Thank You. Their work is hard! They too are Christ in their humble service to others. We can find Him everywhere.
Sr. Mary Carol Hellmann, OSB

Journeys of Hospitality

     Obviously, the purpose of taking a trip, especially a long one, is to reach the destination, the process may require unexpected adjustments along the way. Changes of plans, different climate, foods and modes of transportation are some factors to consider. Specifically, world travel affords many opportunities to to experience unfamiliar languages, customs and peoples. 

     I have had the opportunity to live in or visit three very different cultures. In 1965 four of us, Sisters Annita, Nicholas, Stephanie and I, opened a mission in Pomata, Peru, on he shore of Lake Titicaca high in the Andes. While living among the native Aymara people, we taught religion and cared for the sick. There in small, dark mud-floored classrooms and an under-supplied clinic, we “madrecitas” learned from the simple and warmhearted hospitality of the campesinos we served. 

     In 1985I accompanied a woman from Cincinnati to Nepal to visit a mutual Jesuit friend there and to learn about the Catholic mission in this third-world, mainly Buddhist country. We were edified by the religious fervor of the people, especially a Buddhist nun with whom we conversed in Kathmandu. We were also impressed by the respect of the children and their welcome to foreigners. 

     A third journey to Namibia with Sr. Mary Catherine in the winter of 2001best illustrated a community’s practice of hospitality. The Benedictine Sisters of Oshikuku shared their provisions, celebrations, prayers and their joy so wholeheartedly with us. For example, would you expect ice cubes in the African Heat? Or a special trip to a pharmacy for cold medicine, something beyond my expectation. As a “self-sufficient” American there, receiving hospitality was more difficult for me than giving it. 

     Upon reflection I know that the memory of these journeys still helps me realize that I need to accept hospitality gratefully from others, in order to respond hospitably to the Christ in them. 

Sr. Martha Walther, OSB    

Welcome to the Benedictine Sisters of St. Walburg Monastery Blog

     This is a new endeavor for the Benedictine Sisters of St. Walburg Monastery. The title comes from the Prologue of the Rule of St. Benedict, verse 45, in which Benedict says, "Therefore, we intend to establish a school for the Lord's service." And we intend to share some reflections from our lives in the school of the monastery. In this blog you will hear the voices of many sisters in the community and we hope that you will enjoy the diversity of this group of women who seek God together.    
     We look upon this endeavor as an extension of the traditional monastic virtue of hospitality and invite you to share in our prayer, our work and our journey together.   Sr. Deborah Harmeling, OSB