By Abbot David Altman, O.C.S.O. (Guest Contributor)– When individuals go into monasteries, they take on much the same identity as the average family: they live by themselves peacefully, sustaining themselves…
Posts published in July 2019
By Michael Patrick O’Brien– As I was helping find new homes for the last few items from the former Trappist monastery library in Huntsville, Utah, the strangest thing occurred. About…
By Gary Topping– By now summer is fully upon us, and most of us, following a snowy winter and a long, drizzly spring, are breaking out our camping gear and…
By Michael Patrick O’Brien Despite the rather obvious origins of my name, I often dreaded answering the question, “Are you Irish?” Growing up Catholic in Ogden, far from extended family,…
By Gary Topping– Many years ago, a friend of mine spent several months in Mexico City while his wife, a university undergraduate, was on a study abroad program immersing herself…
By Michael Patrick O’Brien– Science says the moon causes only the tides, but legend and lore blame it for werewolf howling, vampire activity, and various other forms of earthly madness.…
By Michael Patrick O’Brien– The Trappist monks from Utah’s Our Lady of the Holy Trinity Abbey had a remarkable ability to find common ground with others. They did with their…
By Michael Patrick O’Brien– “I drink beer whenever I can lay my hands on any. I love beer, and, by that very fact, the world.” (Thomas Merton, “Is The World…