A friendly conversation about church, religion, spirituality, life, family, and travel in the twenty first century. Please feel free to join our conversation in a kind and civil manner!
5 By Michael Patrick O’Brien– In the Fall of 2021, I published a book about growing up at a now-closed Trappist monastery in rural Northern Utah. Telling that wonderful story has…
By Michael Patrick O’Brien– The only monk who ever came to my house for dinner was the one I never expected to be there. It happened quite serendipitously, just before…
By Michael Patrick O’Brien– (Note: this is the final article in a four-part series about the people, art, and architecture of my “Third Place,” the Utah Catholic parish church my…
By Michael Patrick O’Brien– (Note: this is the third article in a four-part series about the people, art, and architecture of my “Third Place,” the Utah Catholic parish church my…
By Michael Patrick O’Brien– (Note: this is the second article in a four-part series about the people, art, and architecture of my “Third Place,” the Utah Catholic parish church my…
By Michael Patrick O’Brien– (Note: this is the first article in a four-part series about the people, art, and architecture of my “Third Place,” the Utah Catholic parish church my…
By Gary Topping– My wife Marianna and I were the recent and grateful beneficiaries of a kind offer from our chief blogger Mike O’Brien and his wife Vicki to join…
By Michael Patrick O’Brien– After the monks at the old Trappist monastery in Northern Utah befriended me when I was a boy in the early 1970s, I enjoyed the fruits…
By Michael Patrick O’Brien– I first heard the fascinating (and rather sweet) story about Brother Brigham and Sister Augusta over a year ago. I was talking with Emmie Gardner, the…
By Michael Patrick O’Brien– Someone recently stole a St. Mary Magdalene relic from Salt Lake City’s Cathedral of the Madeleine, the lovely landmark church where my wife and I got…