Padre with Br Philip
During our recent visit to Italy I was so blessed to visit the monks of Norcia. Brother Philip is a former student of mine who is a novice there. He’s the guy pictured here with the splendid red beard.
The mostly American monks have pioneered monastic life i the beautiful medieval walled town of Norcia–the birthplace of St Benedict. After a gap of several hundred years monks have returned to Norcia! They have produced a best selling CD of Gregorian chant and started a brewery which is already winning prizes and being distributed across Italy and soon here in the USA.
The town itself is a perfect place for a retreat and hideaway. Set in the midst of a national park, the area is full of great hikes, white water sports and a beautiful peaceful part of Umbria. The monks celebrate the liturgy in traditional style according to the Extraordinary form of the Mass and all offices are sung in Latin. These guys are serious about the Rule of St Benedict and get up early to sing their prayers.
Norcia Town Square
Brother Philip has brought to my attention the needs of a potential novice for the community. Justin Leedy is an excellent potential monk who would like to join the community, but is saddled with college debt. He has joined up with the Labore Society to appeal for assistance to clear his debts so he can join the community as a novice.
You can meet Justin here and listen to his story. Justin is trying to raise another $25K over the next seven days. During this next week I’ll be featuring more information about the monks of Norcia and Justin Leedy.
In the meantime, if you read this post, will you consider going to Justin’s site on Labore Society and making a donation?
Just think. I receive about 5,000 visitors per day to my blog. If everyone gave $5.00 Justin would reach his goal. Can you help?
