Remembering Sr. Veronique of Redwoods Monastery, and an Ash Wednesday Witness
Friends:
I first took a retreat at Our Lady of the Redwoods Abbey in Mendocino County, CA in the late 1970s. There I met two Cistercian monks who had deep impact on me. One was Mother Myriam Dardenne (1920–2010) , the first Abbess, who offered me the liberating affirmation that my study of scripture was a form of prayer. The other was Sister Veronique Simonne Geeroms (1932-2026) who welcomed me, as she did so many other pilgrims to that sacred ground, with unforgettable warmth and kindness. Both were founding members from Belgium of this Trappestine community deep in the virgin forests of northern California’s Lost Coast. And both died on February first.
Veronique’s passing backlit my birthday this year with grief and gratitude. I had not seen her since 1990, when I’d driven Ladon Sheats, just released from a hard prison stint, up to recuperate there. Yet Veronique remained beloved to me as she did to everyone who met her. The picture at right is iconic in our collective memory: she riding her bicycle out to meet us with a smile and hug. She was in so many ways representative of the heart of that community.
Our friend Tensie Hernandez had tended to a bedridden Veronique in her last days, and brought back a precious written note from her. So when the monastery announced the date for the funeral, Elaine and I set out with Tensie, Dennis Apel, their daughter Rozella and her boyfriend Robert in a rented van. It was a beautiful time of sharing and community, deepened by splitting the 14 hour drive up and back with lovely overnights at the Redwood City Catholic Worker, where we enjoyed the hospitality of Susan Crane and Larry Purcell (who introduced me to the Catholic Worker movement 50 years ago).
It was deeply meaningful to return to that hallowed place, and to introduce it to Elaine. We arrived for evening prayers at dusk, approaching the building through two towering redwoods, which framed two others in the distance (left). Veronique dubbed this “the gate of heaven” (see Gen 28:11-32).
We viewed our dear friend in the exquisitely peaceful chapel (right), whose spare altar looks out at another grandmother redwood cluster just outside.
Each attended was invited to sprinkle Veronique’s body with holy water. We did so with a bundle of white sage from our yard, beautifully ribboned by Elaine (I’m holding it at right, pictured with our traveling crew). We were deeply moved that this bundle ended up on Veronique’s chest the next day, braided with a rosary.
The memorial brimmed with tears throughout the beautiful eulogies and liturgy, beginning with our friend Padre Nacho incensing the coffin before processing in (above)—just as it began to rain lightly. As Sr. Kathy put it: “Veronique distilled the profound into the simple—then gifted it to everyone she was with.” She then captured what we were all feeling by citing a 12th century monk: “Grief lets out the love that has been let in.” She also noted that Veronique had lived her last days sustained only by beer and ice cream. Indeed, Dennis had given us the picture at right, which we now have on our home altar, imagining that Veronique was toasting all who loved and were loved by her. We are so privileged to have known her, and renewed to have bidden her farewell in that blessed space.
[Note: To learn more about Redwoods Monastery, and learn about it’s deep connection with Thomas Merton, see here and here.]
We wish you all a blessed Ash Wednesday. BCM and members of Farm Church will be gathering this evening at a local Target store in a “resistance choir,” to sing our protest of all the ways that ICE is violating our communities. May we all repent of xenophobia and injustice.
Meanwhile friends and colleagues will similarly witness around the country, not least in Washington DC in “From Ashes to Action.” The call says: “We believe this is a decisive moment for faithful witness. Democracy is under strain. Christianity is being distorted for political power. Silence is not neutrality. This statement calls Christians to
repent, resist injustice, defend the vulnerable, and renew our allegiance to Jesus Christ above every earthly power. Now is the time to speak truth to power and act with courage.” Read the full statement, sign the Call as we have, and find ways to get involved at acalltochristians.org.
Those of you on our BCM list, please watch over the coming weeks for a preview link to Throughlines: Resources for Facilitation and Group Study of Healing Haunted Histories. We hope you’ll help us promote its use, because only a critically honest look at our past can reveal the true meaning of the present and animate us to engage the multiple crises of right now.
A reminder of two opportunities to hear Ched talk about Healing Affluenza, Resisting Plutocracy: John Dear’s audio interview with Ched earlier this month at his Nonviolent Jesus podcast; and Ched’s online presentation to a Catholic Workers audience here.
And last call for an awesome weekend faith and justice programming in the warmer climes of SoCal: “Hidden LA: AAPI Migration, Memory, and Movement Building,” curated by our friends at ReconciliAsian. It will be from noon Friday, Feb 27 to 3 pm Sunday, March 1; details here.
Finally, we give thanks for the life and witness of Jesse Jackson, who passed this Shrove Tuesday. (See this reflection.)
Note: We are now sending our Enews every other month, but will continue every other week with blogs such as this one. We welcome your feedback. –CM