Not far from Zurich, in the Fahr Monastery, Benedictine nuns have been nurturing the harmony between spiritual life and nature for centuries. Since 2021, this women’s monastery has hosted a unique space — the first Laudato sì garden in the German-speaking part of Switzerland, inspired by Pope Francis’s encyclical on care for our common home.
The idea came from a young nun who arrived as an ambassador for the encyclical. During her quarantine, she noticed how many people visited the monastery grounds and proposed turning the garden into a place of meditation, education, and ecological awareness.
“I saw many groups coming here. I thought it was the perfect opportunity to reach out to people and share the encyclical’s message,” she explains in a documentary video. The garden was already sustainable — Sister Beatrice had designed it with wild corners, bee pastures, medicinal herbs, and vegetables, always leaving part of the land untouched.
Now the garden is also a spiritual path. Ten signs placed along the trails present key Laudato sì quotes in dialogue with poems by the Swiss poet and nun Silja Walter. Visitors are invited to read, reflect, and meditate.
“For me, Laudato sì is a song of praise to God,” says one sister, pointing to her favorite plant, the salsify, which she sows in spring, leaves over winter, and welcomes with joy when it blooms the following year.
The monastery’s shop sells postcards with garden quotes, with proceeds donated to the reforestation of mangrove forests in the Philippines, through a project run by the Catholic organization Fastenopfer. The Vatican’s Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development supported the initiative and sent a message of encouragement.
“As believers, we must care for creation. We Benedictine nuns live simply: we share, recycle, reuse, and eat what we grow ourselves,” says the sister.
Visitors often say that this garden shows how little is needed to live a joyful and fulfilled life. Surrounded by vineyards and vegetable plots, the Fahr Monastery remains a living example that faith and ecology are not only compatible but inseparable.
Source: Transcript of the video “Kloster Fahr – so sieht er aus, der Laudato-si’-Garten” – link
Photo: Screenshot from the video
