Category Archives: Benedictine monastery

The Habits Broadside Project

OK, so it turns out we weren’t exactly north of the storm… In the end, we got 10 inches of heavy snow over 30 hours. This morning, the sand hill cranes were very quiet, delaying their mating rituals until the … Continue reading

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Preparations

I love hosting Easter at our house. Steve has hosted lots of family gatherings in this house, and it’s only taken me five years to relax and realize that there is an order to this and everything will work. I … Continue reading

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The Nun’s Story

I just finished reading The Nun’s Story by Kathryn Hulme. It is really good. I recommend it to anyone who has an interest in why someone might choose to enter a religious order and how the discipline of religious life … Continue reading

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Sister Ruth

My friend Ruth Nierengarten, OSB, died on Sunday night at the age of 87. Although her health was delicate and she had been living in assisted living (St. Scholastica Convent in St. Cloud) for the last two years, this was … Continue reading

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Flax

Last year, some folks at the college planted a field of flax with the intention of using the fiber to make paper. The paper hasn’t been made yet, but the artist in residence mentioned to me that they were looking for text … Continue reading

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Keep Death Always Before Your Eyes

It was a hard week in my neck of the woods. Last week a police officer was killed in Cold Spring, in an alley behind Winner’s Bar, about six blocks from where I used to live. The case is very … Continue reading

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Self-Publishing part 2, the publicity edition

Today is a big day at my house. My book, Habits, a collection of 100-word stories about nuns, is receiving major publicity this weekend. The article written by Frank Lee for the  St. Cloud Times that appeared last weekend was picked … Continue reading

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Vatican II 50th Anniversary

On October 11, 1962, the first session of the Second Vatican Council began. Today I finished up some work on The Saint John’s Bible project at 11:35, with time to drive over to Saint John’s Abbey for noon prayer. I … Continue reading

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Stickwork, part 3: Lean on Me

At the end of three weeks, the sculpture is done! Five leaning buildings that started as images of a small chapel on the lake and became a means and representation of community. At the celebration, gifts were given to visiting artist Patrick Dougherty … Continue reading

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House of Sticks

Sculptor Patrick Dougherty says, “From childhood we already know everything we need to know about sticks.” We have a large vocabulary about what to do with sticks and how to make things out of them. We pick them up, make … Continue reading

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