By Gary Topping– Almost any bucolic setting will have a calming effect on our too-busy, too-complicated lives.  Even a cow pasture does it for me, and I’ll go so far…

By Michael Patrick O’Brien– The Trappist monks at the old Huntsville, Utah monastery made various promises to God and each other when they joined the abbey. Some of the most…

By Michael Patrick O’Brien– Can envy ever be good? It is one of the seven deadly sins. The Ten Commandments tell us not to covet. And in Othello, Shakespeare’s Iago called…

By Gary Topping– Seen any stray stained-glass windows lately?  If you have, let me know immediately, because you may have solved the greatest mystery in Utah Catholic history: what happened…

By Michael Patrick O’Brien– People came from all around the world to visit Northern Utah’s old Trappist monastery in Huntsville. For some—including six monks from China—the Ogden Valley abbey was…

By Michael Patrick O’Brien– What was supposed to be just a fun and casual barbecue lunch unexpectedly (and delightfully) turned into a fascinating study in intergenerational dialogue when Utah’s old…

By Michael Patrick O’Brien– The last five years have been challenging for the Trappist monks who used to live at Holy Trinity Abbey in Huntsville, Utah. Their monastery closed, they…

By Michael Patrick O’Brien– Members of the Society of Jesus (Jesuits) take vows of poverty, chastity, and obedience, but also pledge loyalty to the worldwide mission statement of their founder.…

By Michael Patrick O’Brien– My paternal grandfather, whom I never knew, was a writer too. When I finally read some of his writing, I discovered we share a conversational style…

By Michael Patrick O’Brien– When I was a young boy growing up at the old Trappist monastery in Huntsville, Utah, my family and I often attended the last monk chant…