I imagine to some, Sustainability, taking responsiblity for the environment and our limited resources, can seem like a fad. If you think about it, sustainable practices, recycling, renewing certain sources of our energy was how we all once lived. After the agricultural revolution in Europe during the eighteenth century, which improved production and may have […]
Signs and Sacramentals
When I first entered the community, I was drawn by the simplicity of the life and the simplicity of the surroundings: the church where we worship as a community is free of distracting decoration, for example. This spoke to me of a deep spirituality beyond words and symbols, without physical images that can replace the […]
The Next Sixty Years
For over sixty years monks of the Cistercian Order of the Strict Observance, commonly known as Trappists, have been adoring God in the Shenandoah Valley. This photo of our modest church is far from gratuitous: it’s an apt symbol of our vocation. This particular view shows the choir stalls where the community meets to pray […]