Marianist Environmental Education CenterRestoring Communities of Land and People
In 2023, the Irish Bishops' Conference instructed Irish parishes to develop plans to restore 30 percent of their church lands to nature by 2030. 2030 marks the end of the United Nations' Decade of Restoration which aims to prevent, halt and reverse the alarming loss of natural biodiversity.
Pope Francis warned of the ecological and spiritual losses of declining biodiversity in Chapter I, Section III of Laudato Si. He wrote:
The Spring Issue of Alive Magazine features the long history of ecological restoration and faith-based land stewardship at Mount Saint John. Read the article here.
The Fall 2023 edition of UD Magazine featured an article on Catholic Sisters' response to climate change. Read From Prayer to Prairie here.
In response to Pope Francis' call to integral ecology in the encyclical Laudato Si, the Society of Mary (Brothers and Priests) installed solar panels that will offset the annual energy demand of all the ministries at Mount Saint John.
"We are in the season when everything should help us raise our hearts to God and provide us with topics of reflection. First: the plants, the trees, everything is reborn, and should we alone be unchanged! Let us be reborn in Jesus Christ." (Letter 3.3) Adele de Batz de Trenquelleon, Marianist Founder
Dear Friends in our Marianist Environmental Education Center Community -
In honor of Ohio Native Plant Month, we're offering a free series of three online workshops in April. We'll cover everything you need to know to get started creating habitat in your home garden. Each program will start at 9 a.m. and run for about an hour and a half, including plenty of time for Q & A. More details about each individual session can be found at the links below.
Eagle Scout candidate Gavin Boyd helped realize a project that's been on our wish list for quite a while - he built a new arbor to display native vines along the path to the labyrinth. The potential for vines in native plant gardens and restoration projects is often overlooked and the new arbor will be an educational point along the trail, emphasizing these plants’ roles in supporting pollinators, hosting insects, providing fruit and enhancing natural beauty. Thank you, Gavin!
Above, members of the Chaminade-Julienne family volunteer in the Marianist Nature Preserve.
The following is a quote by Thomas Merton, appearing in "Thomas Merton: Essential writings," edited by Christine M. Bochen.
The pale flowers of the dogwood outside this window are saints. The little yellow flowers that nobody notices on the edge of that road are saints looking up into the face of God.
This leaf has its own texture and its own pattern of veins and its own holy shape, and the bass and trout hiding in the deep pools of the river are canonized by their beauty and their strength.
All permits are in place and the weather is looking favorable for us to conduct a prescribed burn in the Bro. Don Geiger Prairie on FRIDAY March 4. Expect trails to the prairie to be closed in the morning.
Learn to conserve water and energy, and provide habitat with native plantings that enhance local ecology and lower maintenance. A free three-session series.
By Sr. Leanne Jablonski, FMI, Ph.D., MEEC director
