Monastery offers a getaway

Many find relief from the toils of daily life on a tropical beach or in a mountain resort.

But Sandy Meuer turns instead to a place here in Madison where her spirit can be renewed as she works to protect the environment.

A few times each year Meuer spends a several days in reflection upon her life and the world in which she lives at the Holy Wisdom Monastery.

"It's such a nice peaceful place to take a retreat," she said. "Their philosophy is to work with the land or to be part of the land instead of trying to interrupt it."

The monastery is home to the Benedictine Women of Madison. The small sisterhood of devoted Christians blends prayer, hospitality, social justice and care for the environment into a balanced way of life that people of all faiths can appreciate and enjoy.

During her visits to the monastery Meuer said she's learned to understand the importance of balancing her professional and her personal lives. The co-owner of State Street Brats, 603 State St., juggles time between her business, carting her young son to hockey games and doing volunteer work in the community. She takes each of her responsibilities quite seriously, but in equal measure. She never allows one to take precedence over the others. Yet, it's not always easy.

So, every once in a while she takes a bit of time to retreat from the grind of her work and family obligations to think about the things that are truly important.

"It reminds me that I sometimes get my priorities out of order and I don't look to my faith or my God and the people around me," she said. "I get way too focused on myself. It's nice to be able, for a while, to turn that focus back around."

The Benedictine Foundation provides funding for the monastery. Executive director Betsy Liotus said the Benedictines offer the Madison community a retreat center where visitors can unplug and reconnect with the things that matter to them. Though it no longer provides corporate conference services, the Holy Wisdom Monastery gives busy professionals a peaceful place to slow down and think.

Spirituality at work

"What we offer is part of the whole spirituality at work movement and the understanding that the healthier and stronger you are as a person overall, the better employee you're going to be," Liotus said. "There are a lots of working people who come here and relax and reflect on their whole life, including their work life."

The very mention of the word monastery might conjure up images of high walls, towering church steeples, vows of silence and hours spent prostrate in prayer. The Holy Wisdom Monastery, by contrast, is a warm and inviting facility on 90 acres of farmland and restored prairie. With a deep commitment to the environment, the Benedictines aim to keep pace with emerging technologies in green building. A new $6 million complex under construction on the monastery grounds is on track to become one of the most environmentally friendly LEED certified buildings in the country.

"Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design is so consistent with who this community is," Liotus said. "It's not part of a green trend for us. It's something that's been in place for a long time. And now we have an opportunity to express that in a physical design of the building itself."

Sisters of the monastery welcome visitors, which include men, to spend their days in the practice of principles set out by St. Benedict in the 6th century. The prioress of Holy Wisdom Monastery, Sister Mary David Walgenbach, said the Rule of Benedict prescribes an integrated way of living balanced between three primary aspects of life.

Three aspects of life

"He divided the day up, time for prayer, time for work and time for leisure," Walgenbach said. "Leisure could be recreation, study, the arts, whatever. But what is most important is that a guest is to be received as Christ. Hospitality is our great gift to the world. We provide a bed, food and an environment where people can relax and get in touch with themselves."

A retreat at the monastery costs between $25 and $48 per day. A continental breakfast is included. Lunch and dinner are $8.50 and $10 respectively. You can also bring your food. Visitors can stay up to 3 months.

Although based in Christian theology, the Holy Wisdom Monastery does not require its visitors to espouse the tenets of the Christian faith. Rather, they embrace a shared understanding that a spiritual life includes a profound respect for all facets of human existence and the natural world that sustains it. The Benedictines call this Eco-Spirituality.

"It's really how we perceive creation," Walgenbach said. "We have the rule of Benedict and we try to integrate that type of spirituality, respect for people, respect for the earth, respect for things. So our Eco-Spiritually is our relationship with creation."

Visitors like Meuer appreciate that the monastery encourages that relationship in quiet contemplation at a peaceful setting rather than the rigorous study of religious doctrine. Through an ongoing project to restore the grounds back to the natural grasslands of the original prairie, visitors can devote some of their time at the monastery working to reconnect with the earth.

"To me it makes me feel good," Meuer said. "I'm not an overly green person. But it's just a nice surrounding, and we're able to give back. Because I do think we have harmed the earth, so it's nice to replenish it."

Although Meuer was raised Catholic and believes in God she said her faith has little to do with religion. At the monastery she said anyone can practice their faith in their own way.

"You're able to join them in prayer but it's up to you how far you want to take it," Meuer said. "And they have a silent prayer where you're sitting in their oratory for approximately 20 to 25 minutes where it's all in silence. It's just a very calming place to talk to your God."

Joanne Kollash, a member of the monastery community, said the last thing the Benedictines want to do is tell people how to worship.

"That is out of the range our desire, to proselytize," she said. "Along with eco-spirituality we want to provide a temporary kind of solitude for any person who is looking for peace or calm or some stepping apart from the hassle of everyday life."

James Edward Mills is a freelance reporter.