Monastery visited by learning community students

Nov. 18, 2004
By Susan Flansburg
Guest Writer

When the Sisters of St. Benedict designed their monastery in southwest Rock Island five years ago, they were guided by several missions, including hospitality, workability, and community. Last week, they explained their design choices to a group of St. Ambrose students who were visiting the monastery as part of a school assignment to observe the relationship between symbol and faith.

What they found at St. Mary Monastery was a treasure trove of examples.

“We’ve talked about symbols and artifacts in class,” Katie O’Malley, a freshman from Bettendorf, said. “Here we are looking for how they help express faith.”

They didn’t have to look far: Every wall, every corner, held artwork or a statue that derived from the Sisters’ faith. As the students toured the library, heritage room and offices, the Sisters explained that the design of the building itself also reflected their faith.

“We wanted to provide a space that was welcoming,” Sr. Susan Hutchens, OSB, said. “So our spaces are open and curved. We have large windows. We seek to be good stewards of God’s gifts, and as such, want to see nature and to feel a part of it. Three walls of the chapel are windows.”

The students’ teachers, Dr. Corinne Winter, Theology, and Dr. Bea Jacobson, English, said the monastery provided an excellent venue for their curriculum.

“Symbolic language is often more effective than expository language when we talk about God,” Corinne Winter, theology professor, said. “What does a (monastery) say about God? What does it say about (the community’s) feelings about God?”

“Symbols represent one’s feelings – stand in for one’s feelings – when the idea is too big for words,” added Bea Jacobson, English professor. “In preparation for this assignment, I had my students choose a symbol from their own life and write about it. One student chose an orange shirt that he wore on a job. That shirt had become a symbol of the job, as well as the experience of being part of a crew. Another student chose shamrock earrings that her grandmother brought back from Ireland, which now symbolize not only a place but her grandmother.”

The students filed into the chapel. Bright, open and airy, it featured only one stained glass window, which was not visible from where they sat. Instead, they watched the trees sway in the breeze, sunlight glinting on the leaves, birds flitting about. It was not a traditional chapel.

“Everything has a meaning in this chapel,” Sr. Susan explained. “You walk through the door and come immediately to the font, which is what we do in life with baptism. Then you continue your journey to the Lord’s Table, or the altar, at the end, which is where we put it. You’ll notice there are no steps here; the altar isn’t up on a dais. That’s because we are all the same here. No one’s better or worse than anyone else.  

“We designed everything in here,” Sr. Susan continued. “We drew pictures and found artists to produce what we drew. The font is off-center, so everyone – even the Sisters in wheelchairs – can reach it. The Memorial Wall features the names of all our deceased Sisters, so we can all be together at prayer. The space is entirely handicapped-accessible, as is our entire monastery. That reflects our hospitality to each other and to the world. It is a simple, but beautiful, space.”

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