Bill Gates an obstacle to new monastery

Julia Duin
Sunday, August 2, 2009

For some unknown reason, I recently began getting slick advertising brochures for "mystic monk" coffee.

Reading further, I realized these 14 monks living at the Carmel of the Immaculate Heart of Mary monastery in Clark, a small town outside of Cody, Wyo., had a sense of humor.

"Yes, we are REAL monks," one of the brochures assured me. Names for their brews ranged from "Hermit's Bold Blend" to "Midnight Vigils Blend," referring to matins and lauds, two nighttime prayer services observed by cloistered monks worldwide.

And one of the discount codes they offered was coded "MARYQUEEN333," a combination of the Virgin Mary and the Trinity, I am guessing.

Why the push to raise funds? Vocations (the term for people called to the religious life or priesthood) are increasing, they say, and they need more room than their packed-to-the-gills single-family home can provide. In the past year, their numbers have nearly doubled to 20.

"It's almost constant, the flow of young men who are coming," said Brother Peter Joseph, a native Kentuckian who joined up in 2004. "When a religious community is faithful to its tradition, God will send the vocations."

But according to the Cody Enterprise, the monks have lost out to a fearsome adversary: billionaire Bill Gates. the rest image