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Does a famous Beatles song channel a popular Catholic prayer?

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By Michael Patrick O’Brien– When looking for sacred allusions in Beatles’ music, folks often point to Paul McCartney’s “Mother Mary…speaking words of wisdom” lyrics in “Let it Be.” McCartney has…

The monastery that wasn’t

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By Michael Patrick O’Brien– Those of us who knew and loved the old Trappist monastery in Huntsville, Utah, fondly recall the place’s unique Quonset hut structure. Yet, two of the…

My back yard wild life

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By Michael Patrick O’Brien– Salt Lake City is nestled along the Wasatch Front, on the sunset side of a 160-mile long mountain range extending north into Idaho. Because of this…

The Whispering Signs

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By Michael Patrick O’Brien– Signs led my troubled family and me to a life-changing event—our first visit to the old Trappist monastery in Huntsville, Utah. I don’t mean miraculous messages…

Nickeled and Dimed

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By Michael Patrick O’Brien– In September 1988, singer-songwriter Nanci Griffith performed “Love at the Five and Dime” at a Salt Lake City concert. I’d never heard of either her or…

Genetic Blarney in my DNA

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By Michael Patrick O’Brien– I realized early on that I loved writing. This explains the many volumes of childhood “books” and “newspapers” that I “published” and foisted on family, friends,…

The neighborhood monastery

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By Michael Patrick O’Brien– Newspapers loved writing about the old Trappist monastery in Huntsville, Utah. They normally reported some version of the same basic story—Holy Trinity Abbey was an odd…

Death and Resurrection: Two Lakes

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By Gary Topping– To me, the thing that most makes Utah a great place to live is the fact that it lies at the intersection of three major geophysical provinces:…

I can’t see the waterfall

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By Michael Patrick O’Brien– When summer draws to a close each year, I recall how—nearly four decades ago—a seven-year-old boy with impaired vision gave me some lasting insight about the…