VIDEO: A CEO whose income is ZERO: Lasermonks on MSNBC

I got this note:

I’ve been a long-time reader and occasional commenter on your blog.  Keep up the good work!
 
For the last six weeks, I’ve been trying my vocation at the Cistercian Abbey of Our Lady of Spring Bank in Sparta, Wisconsin.  This morning, the Today Show aired a four-minute piece on our abbey and its businesses, which plow a lot of money back into charities.  The piece opens with us singing lauds in God’s Own Tongue.
 
The clip is here:
 
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/26945672/
 
One of my friends over at NLM was nice enough to post the link [You mean you went to someone else first?!?   o{];¬)  ] and I’m asking other Catholic bloggers to consider doing the same.  We ask for the intercession of Karl of Austria every Sunday at vespers for vocations.  Perhaps this piece was his answer[I will always be interested in Bl. Karl, after having known the late Msgr. Schuler’s interest in his cause and having met Otto von Hapsburg, and having been at Bl. Karl’s beatification.]
 
In more immediate realms, Archbishop Burke was also a good friend to our Abbey during his time in La Crosse and remains so today.  I’ve appreciated the way you’ve kept us all abrest of his latest statements.  We don’t spend a lot of time on the ‘net, but you’re a daily blog of obligation[Catchy!  "WDTPRS… Your Daily Blog of Obligation!"]
 
Best to you and God bless,
 
John Treat
www.subtuum.blogspot.com
 
p.s.  Your food posts make me very glad I’m an O.Cist. and not a Trappist, otherwise yesterday’s pork and the \posts from your last trip would have been too much to bear.  We’re experimenting with a new hard cider business.  If any of the current run looks promising, I’ll see if we can send along a bottle or two.  [Oooo…. All WDTPRSers will pray for your success.  And, if it is good, I’ll push it for you here.]

Here we go:

About Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

Fr. Z is the guy who runs this blog. o{]:¬)
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15 Comments

  1. Paul says:

    Hard cider! Made by Cistercians! I would buy that in a heartbeat.

  2. Tim Ferguson says:

    These are very good guys and wholly worthy of support. Their idyllic setting, nestled in the rolling farmland just outside of the Coulee region is a perfect place for a retreat. The food and liturgy are both top-notch!

  3. Piers-the-Ploughman says:

    I bet a pharmacy run by the monks would do very well. There are some great ideas here that could help reclaim more fallen away Christians. It is very good to hear they pray as much as they do also

  4. Luis says:

    Reverend Father,
    “Daily Blog of Obligation…” What great sound bite!
    Right up there with “Say the Black and Do the Red”

    Have an Extraordinary Day!

  5. jacobus says:

    “The piece opens with us singing lauds in God’s Own Tongue.”

    Really? They sing the Psalms in Hebrew? =p

  6. Ha! These Monks should be running the country. This was such a refreshing story. I will plug them on my web site. May God bless them abundantly!

  7. Quaesumus says:

    What are Cistercian monks doing on television and riding about on horses?

  8. William says:

    Quesumus, Is being on television and riding horses un-Godly? Or do you just know a lot of un-Godly people on television who ride horses?

  9. Derik says:

    Yes!

    Indeed it is a healthy habit to
    fulfill my daily blogging
    obligation with WDTPRS…

    The perfect supplement for my hungry soul
    when combined with Holy Mass…

    or something like that… I think
    a sip of that cider would help
    my redaction.

  10. Lori Ehrman says:

    This is one of those videos like “Fishers of Men” that makes me so thankful that I am Catholic!

  11. Flambeaux says:

    I’ve done business with them for many years and have always been impressed.

    I am very happy to see that they’re getting more attention.

  12. mwa says:

    anything run by Fr. Bernard will do very well (we were friends back in college when he was running his import/export business). His conversion story is also interesting and inspiring:
    http://www.thomasaquinas.edu/news/newsletter/2008/spring/mccoy_article.htm

  13. Andrew says:

    I think the sunglasses on Fr Bernard, in a spirit of continuity of course, should become part of the habit for all Lord Abbots. A wonderful, true, and relevant example of “orare et laborare”.

  14. Maureen says:

    Hey, man, horses are scriptural. They laugh/neigh scripturally, even. :)

  15. Maureen says:

    Looks pretty normal for Cistercians. If you work hard, pray hard, and labor under a family model instead of a salary one, you can prosper pretty quickly.

    Monasteries in medieval Europe were powerhouses of prosperity and production, as well as education and prayer. It’s the thing about “seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you”. (Which the Pope was just talking about — “quaerens Deus”.)

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