Trappist Tales - Paperback

by John Richard Sack (Author)

In 1955, a small band of Trappist monks is sent from their mother house in Kentucky to Missouri to establish a new monastery. They arrive at a time in history when Jim Crow still flourished in the American South and where, in the Bible Belt, Roman Catholicism was viewed with deep distrust. The decade also predated the reforms of the Second Vatican Council. In the fictional abbey of Our Lady of Saint Bernard, the monks still chant in Latin. The community consists of four groups: the choir monk priests, choir monk novices, scholastics on the path to priesthood, and lay brothers. The daily routine of the choir monks involves primarily chanting and study, with a few hours of physical labor, while the lay brothers tend to most of the farm chores.

Author Biography

John Richard Sack was born in Springfield, Ohio. He earned a BA in English from Yale University and an MA in Creative Writing from the University of Washington. As a young man, John spent two years as a Trappist monk under the tutelage of Thomas Merton, his novice master at Our Lady of Gethsemani Abbey in Kentucky. He later trained in a Hindu ashram in Ganeshpuri, India. Spiritual awakening and transformation are common themes in both his fiction and nonfiction books. He is the author of the internationally acclaimed novel The Franciscan Conspiracy, available in seventeen languages, as well as a companion work, Angel's Passage. The Wolf in Winter is a fictional tale of the early career of Saint Francis of Assisi. His nonfiction Yearning for the Father and Mystic Mountain are guides to contemplative prayer, the culmination of years of reflection and exploration of numerous spiritual traditions. He now lives in southern Oregon with his wife, Christin Lore Weber, author of many works of fiction and nonfiction, including the award-winning novel Altar Music.