Seven Plants:
A Deepened Teaching
Saturday, August 30, 2025
9:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m.
St Scholastica Monastery
In the late 1990s, an Indigenous elder shared a teaching about identifying and knowing
plants with Marina. The elder taught that if each person learned the medicines,
spirit, life cycle, and habitats of seven plants, then the knowledge of plants and their gifts would be retained in our world. The plants will be there to support us in our healing and the healing of the earth.
This workshop is designed to share the teaching, give examples and worksheets, and
help participants identify their seven plants. The morning will be spent on the teaching after an opening ceremony honoring plants, a few stories, and a nature hike.
After lunch, participants will be introduced to the worksheets and have time to begin their exploration. Participants will have time to share their stories with plants. Marina's book on this topic will also be available to purchase.
Please note: For those new to Marina’s offerings, there is no need for you to have attended the first offering. This workshop/retreat will review and deepen the teachings and experiences from the first workshop in June, placing an emphasis on community knowledge and sharing in the afternoon. ALL ARE WELCOME, regardless of whether you attended the first one or not!
Facilitator: Rev. Marina Lachecki grew up in Duluth and is a 1974 graduate of the College of St. Scholastica. She is a published author in the field of creation spirituality. She served as Campus Minister for Northland College and then as pastor of St. John’s UCC on Madeline Island. She is a grandmother, storyteller, environmentalist, singer and author.
Facilitator: Beverly Raway, OSB
Beverly’s love of nature began at an early age… exploring the open fields and woods around the family home and then as a biologist teaching and exploring with her students. She enjoys photography, birdwatching, walking in the beauty of the natural world, working on puzzles and tending orchids and bonsai trees.
As a member of St. Scholastica Monastery, she recently completed 10 years as Prioress and celebrated her 60th year of monastic profession. Her mother lived to be 100 years old serving with compassion and love, and Beverly hopes to do the same.
Credentials include Bachelor’s degrees in biology and nursing from The College of St. Scholastica, and a Doctorate in Nursing from The Catholic University of America. She taught biology at Cathedral High School (now Marshall School), served as a staff nurse at St. Mary’s Medical Center in Duluth and as a nurse educator at The College of St. Scholastica.
More information about our community can be found at this website. https://duluthbenedictines.org/
Suggested Offering: $45 (includes lunch)
If you would like to combine this retreat with an overnight stay,
please call Sister Lois Eckes at 218-348-6280 to make arrangements.
St. Scholastica Monastery
1001 Kenwood Avenue
Duluth, MN 55811
(218) 723-6699
retreat@duluthosb.org
Find us in Stanbrook Hall which faces the lake and is next to the chapel by following the signs to Duluth Benedictine Ministries.