\This week in our Monday morning gathering, Marie-Reine read to us this week’s ‘Calendar of the Soul’ and then we sang Happy Birthday to Gundula. After that everybody shared their weekends and then John talked to us about the stars and the weather.
In our Thursday morning College, we sang our Candlemas songs and then we practiced our German songs for Carnival. After that Paul showed us the map of Germany. He told us that Germany is in the middle of the continent of Europe. Many of our coworkers come from different parts of Germany. For example, Gundula comes from Stuttgart, Paul comes from Frankfurt, Lukas comes from Berlin and Toni comes from Bremen. After that Lukas and I spoke about the history of Germany. In 1000 B.C. northern tribes began to arrive to what is now known as Germany. They lived by hunting and farming and then moved south closer to the Roman Empire. Five hundred years later a group of people named the Franks ruled all of Europe. At that time the Great King Carl proclaimed that their land would be called Germany.
After hearing Lukas’ talk about the early history of Germany, we then heard two biographies. Dennis told us about Anne Frank. She was born on June 12, 1929 into a Jewish family. A few years after her birth Adolf Hitler became the ruler of Germany. When he took over, he enacted many harsh laws especially against the Jewish people. During World War II Anne Frank wrote about her family experiences in her diary. In 1933, the Frank family moved to the Netherlands because they were trying to escape the persecution of the Jews. When they couldn’t escape, Anne’s family hid in a secret attic. Two years later, the Franks were betrayed. Anne died in a concentration camp. After Anne’s death her father found her diary. Her diary was published in 1947 and later was made into a play and a movie called “The Diary of Anne Frank”.
After hearing about Anne Frank, Toni told us about Saint Hildegard von Bingen. She was born in the year of 1098 in a little village close to Mainz, Germany. Hildegard was the youngest of ten children who lived in a middle class family. She composed music, wrote several books about animals, plants and philosophy. Hildegard became a nun and worked in the nunnery at the age of 14. In the month of September, 1179, Hildegard died and 833 years later she became a saint.
On Friday morning, we gathered onto the mosaic and celebrated Candlemas. During our celebration we walked from candle to candle. We also sang our Candlemas songs. After that Michael R. told us about how the earth breathes in and out. Then David told us about Demeter, the god of the earth and nature. He also spoke about her daughter Persephone who was abducted into the underworld by Hades, the ruler of the underworld. After that we went around to our different houses and looked at the candles that were placed in the gardens. In the afternoon, we gathered into Circle Hall, played the bells and sang with Ashling.