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Daughters of Wisdom GBI

Website of the Daughters of Wisdom
Province of Great Britain and Ireland
Daughters of Wisdom logo

Daughters of Wisdom GBI

Website of the Daughters of Wisdom
Province of Great Britain and Ireland

The Spirituality of Wisdom

The weather during the last full week of June was exceptionally good and the grounds of Wisdom House were at their best in the sunshine: a beautiful setting for the Sisters gathered here to contemplate Wisdom and Creation, the theme of the retreat led by Sr Diane Capozzi, one of our Generalate Team.
Using a "cosmic calendar", Diane began with a gentle introduction to the New Cosmology starting from a flashing forth of the universe and unimaginable 13.7 billion years ago. Even one billion (a thousand millions) is mind boggling! However, this vastness helped situate us as part of Wisdom's ongoing creation - in cosmic terms, we humans are made from stardust though we are such a very recent development.
Star cluster in formation
Having laid this foundation and using beautifully prepared PowerPoint presentations, Diane set before us a veritable feast of Wisdom and Creation themes.
Wisdom Creates
tracing the place of Eternal Wisdom in Creation with quotations from the Biblical Wisdom literature.		 Gas cloud formation resembling woman emerging into dance Wisdom is a pure emanation
of the glory of God
Wisdom 7:35
Wisdom dancing
With you is Wisdom who was present
when you made the world Wis 9:9		 Jesus is Wisdom
all that can be said of Jesus can be said of Wisdom.		 Jesus in light
In him have all things been created.
Gal 1: 18
Mary and Creation
beautiful images of Mary
which St Louis Marie
took from nature		 Mary Mary is the earthly paradise
of Jesus Christ, the new Adam,
where he became man
by the power of the Holy Spirit,
in order to accomplish in her wonders
beyond our understanding.
She is the vast and divine world of God
where unutterable marvels and beauties
are to be found.
TD 6
Louis-Marie and Marie-Louise A new perspective on our founders,
St Louis Marie and Bl Marie Louise
their creativity was rooted in attentiveness to Wisdom at work in Creation leading them to use their creativity on behalf of her beloved poor.
Contemplating our Wounded Earth
the beauty of Creation starkly contrasted with staggering facts about its destruction - e.g. it would take 10million years to replace the forests Germany has destroyed in the past 50 years. 		our wounded earth

Each session was accompanied by prayer and beautifully appropriate songs. We were also offered helpful prayer suggestions including a number of ways of praying the labyrinth walk and of praying in the Creative Room using different art/ craft forms. The latter resulted in a splendid display of vibrant creativity!

The closing celebration reminded us of the role we have each played in the wounding of Creation and called us to be co-creators to commit ourselves to Creation's healing.

With a gentle timetable and a delightful presentation, this retreat was a privileged and encouraging stimulus to exploring further and living from our precious Wisdom heritage.

"Those who serve Wisdom serve the Holy One"
Sirach 4: 14

Anne Beglan DW