I have spent a fair amount of time with Benedictine monks and nuns over the years, so I pay attention to articles about them. I noticed one in the New York Times yesterday which was about the Lasermonks of Wisconsin. The brothers have a multi-million dollar business selling laser toner and cartrideges.
Before you express shock and dismay at this crassly commercial enterprise you should know that monasteries and convents are responsible for being financially viable -- no money, no pray.
Many of them have become quite adept at balancing traditional Benedictine values, including periods of prayer seven times a day, and making a living in the real world.
The Cistercians (a branch of the Benedictines) in eastern New Brunswick have a state-of-the-art chicken operation. The Sisters of Walburga in Colorado were given a cattle ranch in the mountains and learned how to wrangle cows. Other Cistercians in the Hockley Valley of Ontario made Christmas cakes. While retreatants were eating lima beans we could smell the cakes baking. The brothers invited me to visit their "kitchen" which was a high-tech, stainless steel lab where everyone wore white coveralls and hairnets. The guest brother admitted that the little monk stamped on the package resulted in them selling like the proverbial hotcakes.
My favourite is the Monastery of Christ in the Desert in New Mexico. I drove a nerve-wracking twenty five kilometre dirt road to get to these monks (it felt like 2500) and found them tucked away in a valley of stunning beauty. They are "off the grid" but design websites for a living thanks to a huge bank of solar panels to power their computers and the satellite phone which connects them to the outside world.
I think St. Benedict would be proud of their ingenuity. Does this spoil your image of the monastic life or does it make sense that they have discovered modern ways of making a living?
7 comments:
I spent 4 days at a monastery southwest of Winnipeg. I can't remember the name or order. To make money they were offering 3 or 4 day retreats. It was wonderful!
There is a monastery in B.C. that makes wine. Great tours and tasting. They have to make a living, it doesn't take away from there image for me.
I think it is more proof that life persists and evolves through adaptation.
Seems to offer a good example/challenge to each of us to make room for "spiritual retreat" in each of our busy days.
A good reminder that part of the work of Benedictine monasteries is hospitality. It is part of the Rule of St. Benedict, to treat those who seek hospitality as though that person were Christ.
It's true about adaptation. Without these other entreprises monasteries and convents could not continue as places of spiritual retreat.
Would the monastery southwest of Winnipeg be St. Benedict's? I was on retreat there a few times.
It think its very innovative of these monasteries to find ways to make a living, especially as there is less and less money coming from donations. One of the wonderful aspects of these places though is their separateness from the rest of the world. Like any church, the challenge is to connect with the outside world, but not be too greatly influenced by the material world.
I had a similar face-to-face conversation with a reader and St.Paul's member yesterday. She admired the ability of the brothers and sisters to find a balance that makes room for God in the midst of the demands of making a living.
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