Sidebar THE SPECIAL PEACE CORPS
Learn about the Special Peace Corps
at The Life Experience School
which is under the care of the
Peace Abbey Foundation.

Ever wondered where the seeds of peace activism of the Peace Abbey and Life Experience School took root around the world, blossoming for generations to come? See below.

Music photo clips of the former Peace Abbey campus by Joan Hill.

Peace memorials and museums are a relatively new idea. War, on the other hand, has enjoyed glorification through monuments, literature, art, and war memorials and museums for centuries. The motivation for creating statuary and monuments to peace and non-violence is the faith that making people aware of the cost of war is tantamount to educating them for peace.

The second wave of peace memorials and museums sprung up after the destructive years of World War II. Appropriately, the majority of these memorials were established in Japan, where a keen understanding of the fatal consequences of nuclear warfare was realized. The cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki were centers of staunch opposition to nuclear warfare that spread throughout the world.

Today, peace memorials can be found in every continent. Though war still lingers, there is hope to be found in the growth of the peace memorial and museum movement. Efforts aimed at furthering the cause of peace are truly an incremental enterprise. The greater the presence of peace memorials and museums, the more palpable the message of peace is for the general public.

Tehran Peace Museum

CAMBRIDGE, MASSACHUSETTS

Friends (Quaker) Meeting at Cambridge

BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS

Occupy Boston

The Closing of the American Mind: Occupy Boston

by VIJAY PRASHAD

That Strange Brown Man, Gandhi Gandhi is standing in the bustle of Occupy Boston. The wry smile, the flapping ears, and the walking stick in hand. A sign flags near his knees, “The world holds enough for everyone’s NEED, but not enough for everyone’s GREED.” People rush past him, walking on the wooden planks that work as the walkways between tents in Dewey Square. These people are temporary heroes, the people who have walked away from their ordinary lives to seek shelter together in the public square. Some of these people are happy, pleased to be together and to model a different social life. Others are already cold, already a bit dispirited. The days have begun to drag on. The novelty will wear off. It is precisely to ward off a drop in morale that Gandhi warned his fellow activists, “If patience is worth anything, it must endure to the end of time. And a living faith will last in the midst of the blackest storm” (Young India, June 17, 1926).

Quakers from the Peace Abbey in Sherborn, Massachusetts, brought the statue to the site. They had made it as a gift to Goldman Sachs. On October 28, 2010, the Abbey workers and children from the Life Experience School came down to the Goldman office on High Street, not far from Dewey Square. They wanted to install their statue of Gandhi as a beacon against Greed. Goldman’s people declined the offer, so Gandhi was then chained to the doors of the building. He didn’t last long, went back to the Abbey, and then, when Occupy Boston started, came to his place amongst the protestors.

University of Massachusetts at Boston

Multi-Faith Prayer Altar

Commissioned altar with the words: Always Pray â€“ Pray all Ways with Earth design and the names of the 12 major religions carved into each of the 12 sides of the base of the altar. Designed by Lewis Randa. A replica was created by Wellesley College, Multi-faith Chapel.

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The Peacemakers Table at the Peace Abbey / Life Experience School where the students met each morning for forty years before gifting it to UMASS Boston for its new peace room.

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The Peacemakers Table at UMASS Boston

Peace Pilgrim

From 1953 to 1981 a silver haired woman calling herself only “Peace Pilgrim” walked more than 25,000 miles on a personal pilgrimage for peace. She vowed to “remain a wanderer until mankind has learned the way of peace, walking until given shelter and fasting until given food.” In the course of her 28 year pilgrimage she touched the hearts, minds, and lives of thousands of individuals all across North America. Her message was both simple and profound. It continues to inspire people all over the world.

Expressing her ideas about peace, Peace Pilgrim referred to herself only as “Peace Pilgrim.” Peace Pilgrim’s only possessions were the clothes on her back and the few items she carried in the pockets of her blue tunic which read “Peace Pilgrim” on the front and “25,000 Miles on foot for peace” on the back. She had no organizational backing, carried no money, and wo images3 uld not even ask for food or shelter. When she began her pilgrimage she had taken a vow to “remain a wanderer until mankind has learned the way of peace, walking until given shelter and fasting until given food.”

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DUXBURY, MASSACHUSETTS

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DEDHAM, MASSACHUSETTS

Mother Teresa statue commissioned following Mother Teresa’s visit to the Life Experience School in 1988 was re-dedicated on May 9. 2014 at St. Mary’s Church in Dedham, MA. The presentation was led by Mary O’Connor and Fr. William Kelly.

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TIJUANA, MEXICO

A statue of Mother Teresa was presented to Courage of Conscience Award recipient Mother Antonia outside of La Masa Prison in Tijuana, Mexico. (Underwritten by Edward Coppola.)

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SOUTH BEND, INDIANA
Norte Dame University

teresa_of_calcutta__ace_ Bronze statue of Mother Teresa at shrine n the campus of Notre Dame University. (Underwritten by Edward Coppola.)

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SHERBORN, MASSACHUSETTS

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Two North Main Street, Sherborn, Massachusetts

EMILY THE COW & ANIMAL RIGHTS MEMORIAL

Emily the Cow with the Randa family in her new barn. (Barn construction underwritten by Ellen and Rob Little.)

Bronze statue of Emily the Cow was dedicated on Earth Day 2005 behind the statue of Gandhi.

Order your copy of The Story of Emily the Cow.

All proceeds go for the care of Emily’s grave and the Animal Rights Memorial.

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PEACE SEEDS ROSARY OF THE MAJOR RELIGIONS OF THE WORLD

Prayers for Peace

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NEW YORK CITY, NY

Bust of Gandhi at United Nations, “Sanction for Nonviolence” New York, NY

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EAST SANDWICH, MASSACHUSETTS

Quaker Artist Edward Hicks revisited the subject of the peaceable kingdom sixty-two times between 1820 and his death in 1849. These paintings are characterized by the depiction of the Natural Bridge in Virginia and the presence of the “branch” or grapevine. The painted frame with lettering also distinguishes these early works.

The Peaceable Kingdom of the Branch was painted during the mid-1820s when the Quaker church was experiencing an internal clash that ultimately resulted in the creation of two sects. In this image, a young rosy-cheeked boy in the left mid-ground leads a group of animals, both predatory and domestic, towards a rushing river. The scene is biblical in nature, but clearly takes place on American soil. The most notable signifier of location is the natural land bridge that was a popular tourist attraction for American and European travelers of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. In this tiny scene, Hicks has depicted the famous Quaker, William Penn offering his treaty of peace to a group of Native Americans. Each of these elements works in tandem to reinforce Hicks’s message of unity and peace during a period when the Society of Friends was in a state of crisis.

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DES MOINES, IOWA

Peace Abbey Crucifix

Video Clip of Statue

Room established to welcome those who are being treated for life-threatening illness or wish to give thanks for the state of their health. (Under the stewardship and care of Gary and Connie Randa.)

The Peace Abbey Prayer Book

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WASHINGTON, DC

STONEWALK

Stonewalk is a project started in 1999 to honor civilian casualties in war and is never ending.

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COVENTRY, ENGLAND

Stonewalk, (US, Ireland, England, Japan, Korea)

The Coventry blitz from the German word Blitzkrieg meaning “lightning war” was a series of bombing raids that took place on the English city of Coventry.

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The city was bombed many times during the Second World War by the German Air Force (Luftwaffe). The most devastating of these attacks occurred on the evening of 14 November 1940.

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Memorial Stone for Unknown Civilians Killed in War placed at St. Michael’s Cathedral in Coventry, England in 2001. Pulled by Stonewalkers from Liverpool to Coventry where it was placed in perpetuity during a special ceremony at St. Michael’s Cathedral which was bombed during the WW II.

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HIROSHIMA, JAPAN

Following the dropping of the Atomic Bomb on the city.

Memorial Stone pulled from Nagasaki to Hiroshima, Japan by Stonewalkers and placed in perpetuity at the Hiroshima World Peace Memorial Cathedral on August 6, 2005, the 60th anniversary of the atomic bombing.

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DMZ KOREA

The Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) is a region on the Korean peninsula that demarcates North Korea from South Korea. Roughly following the 38th parallel, the 150-mile-long DMZ incorporates territory on both sides of the cease-fire line as it existed at the end of the Korean War (1950â€“53).

Memorial Stone for Unknown Civilians Killed in War created and pulled by Japanese Stonewalkers from the Southern coast of South Korea to the DMZ in 2007. The Stone is placed in perpetuity at the Korean demilitarized zone.

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EL SALVADOR, CENTRAL AMERICA

Archbishop Oscar Romero is the Patron Saint of the Peace Abbey and inspires our nonviolent efforts to address social injustice.

Romero was assassinated on March 24, 1980 while saying Mass at the Cancer Hospital Chapel at the Hospital of the Divine Providence where he lived in San Salvador. Archbishop Oscar Romero was assassinated on March 24, 1980.

Bust of Oscar Romero presented to the Romero Museum in San Salvador and is placed at the front entrance.

Romero Bust in front of the Cottage where he lived on the grounds of the Hospital of the Divine Providence, San Salvador.

University of Iowa faculty participating in presentation of molds at the Romero Museum in San Salvador.

The Romero Project was started to help generate funds for humanitarian efforts in El Salvador through the creation and circulation of 12″ rubber medallion molds of Monsignor Oscar Romero. These molds, sculpted by Lado Goudjabidze, are given free of charge to schools, hospitals, churches and community centers in villages in El Salvador. Provided with instructions on how to mix and pour inexpensive plaster into the molds to create a beautiful wall hanging, the Romero Project seeks to place in the hands of those who loved the late Archbishop the means to generate additional income for their families, groups or organizations.

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MOSCOW, RUSSIA

In December 1982 Samantha Smith, a 10-year-old girl from Manchester, Me., wrote to Soviet leader Yuri Andropov to ask if he was going to wage a nuclear war against the U.S.

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PLACEMENT OF PEACE ABBEY PUBLIC ART

(Commissioned Works of Art by Lewis Randa through the artistry of Lado & Shake Goudjabidze.)

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Mohandas K. Gandhi Statue

The Pacifist Memorial, Sherborn, MA

Healey Library, University of Massachusetts Boston, MA

(Proposed location at Dewey Square, Boston, MA)

Mohandas K. Gandhi Bust

United Nations Headquarters, NYC

Healey Library, University of Massachusetts

Emily the Cow Statue

Sacred Cow Animal Rights Memorial, Sherborn, MA

Mother Teresa Statue

Blessed Mother Teresa Church, Dorchester, MA

Women’s Correctional Facility, Framingham, MA

Mother Antonia, Tijuana Correctional Facility, Mexico

Archdiocese of Des Moines, IA St.

Anthony’s Church, Des Moines, IA

Mercy Hospital, Des Moines, IA

Healey Library, University of Massachusetts Boston, MA

St. Mary’s Church Dedham, MA

Monsignor Oscar Romero Bust

The Metropolitan Cathedral of the Holy Savior, El Salvador, CA

Monsignor Romero and Martyrs Center, El Salvador, CA

Hospital of the Divine Providence, (Romero Cottage) El Salvador, CA

The National Oscar Romero Museum, El Salvador, CA