Oh Those Entrepeneurial Monks
I was channel-surfing toward the World Hockey Championships yesterday (Canada pummelled Norway, the poor bastards) when I halted on the CBC. They had a piece about the Trappist monks at New Melleray Abbey, who make caskets:
Our caskets and urns are understated in design, showing a preference for vintage, old-world joinery. Wood for the caskets comes in part from our own forests. It is our hope that the work of our hands will help nourish a return to a dignified spirituality of death.
Running a monastery is expensive, and I’m constantly fascinated by the creative entrepreneurial spirit of monks. I know of monks who make whiskey, fudge and fruit cake, among other things.
May 8th, 2006 at 11:05 am
I was staying with some friends near the Dutch/Belgian border about a month ago, and we biked to a monastery on the Belgian side called Achelse Kluis. They had an onsite brewery and a retail store with an IMPRESSIVE selection of food and booze.
http://flickr.com/photos/gailontheweb/127667882/