Nature’s Artistry

“How beautiful the leaves grow old.

How beautiful their light and colour are in their last days.”

John Burroughs

I must confess, I miss the seasonal, northern beauty I witnessed firsthand during my twenty-two years of ministry in northern Canada. Although, I readily admit that Ontario’s autumns are spectacular, the fall of 2024, seems to be outdoing itself.

Everywhere I look, I see trees dressed in eye-catching finery. Nature, using her expansive colour palette, has gifted our orbs with a manifold array of varicoloured leaves.

As my eyes delight in this stunning  view, I am cognizant of its fragility. I am well aware that impending frost, forthcoming breezes, and chilly rains will all too soon strip the trees of their festive garments once again.

However, my northern experience, makes me confident that if we look closely, we will begin noticing Mother Nature weaving her winter wonders. Let us keep our eyes open to seeing each season’s beauty.

-Nancy Wales, csj

Images: UNSPLASH Claude Laprise | Emmanuel Phaeton

A Book for our Time

Diana Beresford-Kroeger is the author of many books including an extraordinary book for our time, TO SPEAK for the TREES - My Life’s Journey from Ancient Celtic Wisdom to a Healing Vision of the Forest. I hope that each of you either have or will read this book and will take its message to heart. Diana Beresford-Kroger’s life work reminds me of what is at the heart of the work of the Sisters - deep and profound listening and responding to the needs of our time. The author has spent a lifetime of listening deeply and profoundly in the natural world and has actively been at the forefront of conservation and advocacy for forests and all life. She helps us to understand the complex interconnectedness of the nonhuman and human realms.

In her autobiography, Diana Beresford-Kroger shares her story of growing up in Ireland being schooled by elders in the ancient Celtic wisdom practices with a “vision of nature that saw trees and forests as fundamental to human survival and spirituality”.  Diana Beresford-Kroger unfolds her journey of becoming a scientist particularly in the fields of Botany and Medical Biochemistry. She shares her work, successes, and challenges as a professor and researcher in Ottawa early in her career. Diana Beresford-Kroger then settles locally on a farm property to continue her life work integrating scientific knowledge and the traditional concepts of the ancient world as well as Indigenous knowledge and wisdom.  

Photo by Anton Darius, UNSPLASH

In To Speak for the Trees, Diana Beresford-Kroger “eloquently shows us the intricate ways in which the health and welfare of every living creature is connected to the global forest and how to strengthen those connections. If we do so, she argues, we can pause the climate crisis long enough to have a fighting chance to mend our self-destructive ways.” I encourage you to read TO SPEAK for the TREES and respond accordingly. This book is available at your local public Library - although the waitlist may be long!

-Sandy Bell-Cameron, CSJ Associate

My Octopus Teacher

My Octopus Teacher: A Must-See Movie

Did you know 8 October was World Octopus Day?  I would be surprised if you tell me you knew.  I mean, who knew there is such a day?  This week I discovered why we celebrate Octopus Day.  Apparently, octopuses are among “the most distinctive creatures on the planet today [and they are] worthy of appreciation for a number of reasons. First, they are one of the earth’s great survivors. Indeed, despite their relatively short lifespan, octopus fossils date back more than 300 million years, meaning that they pre-date even dinosaurs. They are also highly intelligent, with around 500 million neurons located in their brains and arms, allowing them to bypass their instincts, learn lessons, and solve problems.” (daysoftheyear.com) If that weren’t awesome enough, how about this, octopuses are also visually stunning, come in various colours and shapes – and they are the chameleons of the sea.  Not only can these clever creatures change colour in the blink of an eye, but they can also modify their skin texture to mimic rocks, sand, coral heads, or other landscape elements by altering the papillae on their skin to blend in with their environment.

You may wonder how I came to know about World Octopus Day.  Last week a friend in South Africa alerted me to the new Netflix documentary My Octopus Teacher which triggered fond memories I have of a fascinating visit Ripley’s Aquarium in Toronto a couple of years ago.  In that gigantic aquarium I was enveloped by 5.7 million litres of marine and freshwater, seemingly sharing the habitat of some of the most exotic critters from across the world. I remember gawking, in awe and wonder, as I meandered through exhibit after exhibit teeming with innumerable exquisite sea and freshwater jewels. I was particularly intrigued by the octopus, the real life relative of Hank, the octopus, in the movie Finding Dory. I learned that day that these startlingly strange boneless creatures have three hearts and a good mind, making them some of the smartest invertebrates.  Though they have no spine, they are far from spineless.

If you watched the movie Finding Dory you may remember Hank, though not your typical octopus since he only has seven arms. Hank, the shapeshifting, curmudgeonly, camouflaging octopus with his strange antics.  Well, let me tell you something, as much fun as Hank may have been, you haven’t seen anything yet until you see the incredible octopus in My Octopus Teacher.  I know I might be biased about this documentary since it was filmed by the South African diver and filmmaker Craig Foster who lives west of Cape Town, at the most southern tip of Africa, where I lived for many years.  

In a nutshell, Wikipedia has this to say about My Octopus Teacher, released last month. “… Foster began in 2010 to free-dive in a cold underwater kelp-forest at the tip of South Africa. He started to film his experiences, and, in time, a curious young octopus captured his attention. By visiting her den and tracking her movements every day for months, he won the animal’s trust. In the film, Foster describes the impact on his life of his relationship with the octopus.” This is the mere bare bone description of this incredibly moving documentary I watched earlier this week.  It has been said, My Octopus Teacher is easily one of the most beautiful films on Netflix right now.” (decider.com) Be that as it may, I found it to be a most beautiful, deeply moving story about the unlikely relationship and bond between a human and a creature from the wild.  One of the comments I came across online says this about Foster’s amazing relationship with the octopus , “No nature documentary you've ever seen will quite prepare you for My Octopus Teacher, a heart-gripping tale of a friendship (one might even call it a romance) between a human and a mollusk.”

““Praise the LORD from the earth,
you great sea creatures and all ocean depths...”
Psalm 148:7
”

I cannot recommend this documentary highly enough. Watching it will leave a deep impression on your mind and heart, will leave you in awe about the incredible interconnectedness between humans and all creatures. 

-Sister Magdalena Vogt, cps

Weekly Pause & Ponder

Nature gives to every time and season unique beauty; from morning to night, as from the cradle to the grave, its just a succession of changes so soft and comfortable that we hardly notice the progress.

- Charles Dickens.  

BEE-wildered

Recently I had one of those strange Déjà vu moments. It was triggered by a photo of our sisters in Rome standing in front of the imposing baldacchino in St. Peter’s Basilica. It brought back the memory of the first time I was bee-wildered by the Barberini bees.  ‘What kind of bees are they?’ you might ask.  Undoubtedly, you know about honey bees, but Barberini bees? Well, they are honey bees, and there are literally hundreds of them in St. Peter’s.  You can find them on those four imposing pillars of the baldacchino and throughout the Basilica, carved in stone, cast in metal, embroidered on silks. As I said, I was bee-wildered by the swarming bees.

So, why bees in St. Peter’s Basilica? Well, “the Barberini were a family of the Italian nobility that rose to prominence in 17th century Rome.  Their influence peaked with the election of Cardinal Maffeo Barberini to the papal throne in 1623, as Pope Urban VIII.” (www.wikipedia.org) Displayed on his family’s coat of arms were three golden bees, which before long were pushed into the spotlight. During Urban’s reign bees were scattered over buildings, fountains, sculptures, tapestries and various artefacts - and of course in St. Peter’s Basilica.  The famous Bernini was commissioned to design a massive bronze baldacchino in the centre of the Basilica, above the high altar. The upper parts of these massive columns are decorated with sprays of gilded bay leaves in which, yes, you guessed it, bees flutter.

Not only were bees considered symbolic of moral virtue, but their sweet honey was even compared to the Word of God as can be read in psalm 119.  In addition, they produced wax for candles. Then, as now, bees appear to work extremely hard.  (And to this day we refer to the hard working as ‘busy bees.’)  However, there are far greater reasons for the bee-wildering presence of these innumerable bees.  “In this context [they] indicate the role of the Pope as a type of Christ, and the healing power of the papacy generally … [the bee] is also an emblem of virginity standing for the Virgin birth, and the purity of Christ.” (https://Theframeblog.com/201708/22)

In spite of its relatively unimpressive size, the bee has found itself in the presence of popes.  Quite an accomplishment, one might say, for such a small creature.  However, how much more impressive when we think of the bee’s significance in our own daily lives.  Perhaps not so much as symbolic or ornamental, but as essential to our survival.  Yes, of course, we still frequently use the bee in a symbolic context.  I already mentioned the ‘busy bee’.  What about the ‘bee’s knees’ or ‘a bee in one’s bonnet’ or teaching kids about ‘the birds and the bees’ or taking part in a ‘spelling bee’ or helping in a ‘sewing bee?’  Ah, and then there is the ‘queen bee’.  However, we are all acutely aware that bees perform a task that is vital to our survival: pollination. Did you know, one third of our global food supply is pollinated by these tiny busy bees? Simply put, bees keep plants and crops alive. Without bees, you and I wouldn't have very much to eat. How bee-wildering a thought is that?

Glory-Bee, let’s save the honey bee!  Coming back to Popes and bees, did you know that on the Day of the Protection of Creation in 2011, “Italy’s largest farming association gave Pope Benedict XVI eight beehives containing more than 500,000 bees?” (www.zenit.org).  Furthermore, there is a traditional practice of blessing bee hives on the feast of St. Benedict. All of us might do well to occasionally pray this blessing for these tiny creatures.

“May [your] holy blessing descend upon these bees and these hives, so that they may multiply, be fruitful and be preserved from all ills and that the fruits coming forth from them may be distributed for [your] praise and that of [your] Son and the holy Spirit and of the most blessed Virgin Mary.” (www.catholicculture.org)

As we have seen, bees, both in ancient times and in more recent centuries, have always had around them a powerful symbolic aura. For centuries people have benefitted from these industrious little creatures.  Now it is our responsibility to help them survive so we, too, can survive.  Sound bee-wildering?  Just be bee-friendly!  - Sr. Magdalena Vogt, cps