Mineral Point tribune. (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1869-1938, 1888-02-23
THE TRAPPIST MONKS.
a Community witch Was Founded in Iowa
!a1S5o.

hiURin1 lhe Dcil ol lHb 9uc9b Hpu9bs
says writer in the New York Graphic,
was met by a beardless brother to
whom / presented my card and asked
10 see the father abbot. He glanced
from me TO the card and back again,
but uttered never a word.
/ was i'm doubt if he were a man, and
knew he was not a woman, for, ac-
cording TO the rules of the Trappists,
'under no circumstances is a woman
allowed to enter any part Of the mon
astcry."
They are, however, when acoompa-
MED by men, allowed the privileges
Of the grounds and the guest-house
parlor; hut thus far and no farther do
they penetrate.
Presently one Of the fathers entered
the parior. He was a thick-set,
smooth-faced man, whose richness of
brogue and glibness of tongue left no
ioubt as to his nationality.
lie wore a white serge habit, ar
ranged somewhat like Roman toga,
only it had large, flowing sleeves, and
bell at the waist From his neck
hung a plain wooden cross six incnes
long. On his head was a tight-htting
cap,
Like an oriental or criminal, his
sleeves We're his pockets. and in one
hand be carried big cotton handker-
chief and in the other suuG-boX. He
politely offered me a pinch from the
last mentioned article. | refused say
ing ! had no small vices.
mo, said he with a sober face but
J. Il
be sure to have it,
began The business Of the occasion
by asking him if every thing | heard Of
the order is true.
Did Trappisls 90 to bed in upright
stone collins garnished with deaths
head aud cross-bones?
DID they sleep standing barefooted
on ciuders and broken glass bottles?'
Did they Wollop each other into
pulpy state on until the blood flowed
from their wounds.
1t was only because monks never
laugh no ignorance that the good
father did not roar outright at THESE
questions. Ills face beamed like fun
moon.
He said; Come and be one of us,
and you win find we do nothing of the
kind. Yrappists live a peaceful, silent
life, and many of them live to a great
old age.
Even the prospect OF n peaceful,
silent life that would be so seductive to
many a Bcuedick failed to induce me
to become Trappst on the spot, but
was anxious to find out all could about
them and asked the privilege of stay
ing all night
This request was freely granted, and
| was turned over TO Brother Dominic,
another man of Erin.
Brother Dominic wore a serge habit
like other father abbots. ouly brown,
the color worn by all the working
brethren, and with hood which is
always on the mead except during
prayers.
The Cstercians, the order of monks
of which the Trappists is "a reformed
branch, was founded in 1898 for the
purpose Of anordjug an asylum to re-
pentant criminals and others who
wished 20 eXpiatc their sins by a life
long punishment of the flesh and con-
secratiou 10 God In order to BIO re-
moved the more entirely from all
temptation, they betook themselves to
n solitary place where in the privacy
of their own mcditatious they could
fulhll the scripumal Injunction of earn
ing th'ir bread by the sweat of their
brow. and do it in silence and prayer.
The primitive austority of the Cister-
clans astonisHcd all and was main
tanned for several hundred years; the
strict silence, severe abstinence and
arduous toll that charaCterIzos the
Trappists to-day was established by
them. A very notable abbot of the
order who established monastery at
La Trappi, exercised such an influence
on his brethren rs to bring about a
change in the name of the order
During the French revolution the Icish
Trappists of whom there were many,
were expelled from France, and they
returned TO Ireland, where they OBJ
tanned possession of five hundred acres
of barren land and founded the now
famous monastery of Melleray.
In 1919 this community synt fills
han to America, They settled here in
Mclleray, They consisted Of three
priests, seven "choir, and two LAY
brothers, and they owned half a section
of land. Now the community uum-
hers seventy, and as many more are
buried behind the monastery. They
now own about five thousand acres of
the best farming land in Iowa
Their stock Of cattle, sheep, and
horses. is the best in the country.
Throughout the buildings there is no