Conception Abbey

Thoughts on Listening, Silence and “Floating the Tongue”

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Do you have a favorite place where your heart just sings while there? I have a couple — Napa Valley, California and Conception Abbey in Missouri. A strange combination, yes. But oh, how I love both! Joel and I recently participated in a spiritual retreat for deacons and their wives at one of those locations … [Read more…]

Come away and rest a while

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It’s been almost two years since Joel or I have shared any new content on this site. Wow, two years? I really didn’t think it had been that long. It’s not like we set about to intentionally take a break. It just organically happened. In hindsight, necessarily happened. As Jesus says in the Gospel of Mark 6:31: Come away by yourselves to a deserted place and rest a while.

A Taste of Benedictine Hospitality

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As the youngest of 11 children, five brothers and five sisters, in a devoutly Catholic farm family, Fr. Guerric Letter learned early on to cook for a crowd and pass rigorous sanitary inspections. On the occasions when his mother and sisters would take a day off, the men still needed to eat. The one instruction he received from him mother and sisters? Don’t leave the kitchen a mess.

Could Fr. Lukas Etlin be the Missouri “Mystery Priest”?

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Father Lukas Etlin, OSB

By now, you’ve most likely heard the story of the “Mystery Priest” from the car accident scene in Eastern Missouri. Interestingly, we were at Conception Abbey in Missouri last week for deacon formation. As you might imagine, this was a hot topic of discussion with both the deacon candidates and the monks. One of our professors indicated he might have a clue about the identity of the mystery priest. He believes it may be Servant of God, Father Lukas Etlin, O.S.B., a monk of Conception Abbey, who died in a car accident in 1927.

The Smells and Bells of the Domestic Monastery

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The phrase “smells and bells” is a colloquial expression used within the Church that refers to various sensory experiences occurring during the liturgy — incense and bells, oil and water, bread and wine. The domestic church, at least my domestic church, has its share of smells and bells, too. Not quite the same as the Benedictine monastery, but there is a parallel.

Quick Takes – We Got Problems at Das Schmidt Haus Edition

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Highlights of today’s Quick Takes: Mind games with St. Benedict and those happy monks from Conception Abbey, Advent by Candlelight, a wreath on fire, praying for miscarried babies, BIG candles on St. Lucy Day, and the need for self-control when it comes to salted nut rolls. As stated in the title, we got problems at Das Schmidt Haus.

Is This Jar Full?

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Blessed Pope John Paul II

A wise, old Benedictine nun teaches a bunch of grumbling first-year seminarians about the necessity of keeping first things first. What can faithful Catholics take away from her lesson to fulfill the responsibilities of faithful citizenship on Election Day 2012?

Praying for More Angels in Habits

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In nine days, the Church celebrates the memorial of Saint Thérèse of Lisieux. We are praying a novena for increased vocations to the sisterhood in honor of a beautiful nun we recently met.