By Michael Patrick O’Brien– I often check for news about one of the most wonderful of the American Trappist monasteries I have visited—New Melleray Abbey near Dubuque, Iowa. In late…
Posts published in December 2025
By Michael Patrick O’Brien– It’s not easy to pick most memorable and unique Christmas in Salt Lake City history. Of course, there was that first December 25 in Utah for…
By Michael Patrick O’Brien– An unusual Christmas arrived in Utah in December 1859. Unlike traditional holiday offerings, this one included a dramatic gunfight that raged along Salt Lake City’s Main…
By Michael Patrick O’Brien– If you ever doubt that history is fascinating and ever-changing, consider that at this time a century ago, Utah’s governor was a Democrat, a non-Mormon, and…
By Michael Patrick O’Brien– If you asked me a decade ago to identify the most memorable places that I associate with my old friends, the Utah Trappist monks, Salt Lake…