CODY, WY (Catholic Online) - "Praised be Jesus Christ" said the joyful voice of a monk on the other end of the line. Within minutes I heard another joyful voice, Fr. Daniel Mary of Jesus Crucified, the Prior of this burgeoning monastic community in Wyoming formally called "Carmel of the Immaculate Heart of Mary".  I had another absolutely delightful conversation with this wonderful priest and spiritual father. My last conversation with him was in August. I wrote an article based upon it entitled "Mount Carmel for America: Carmelite Monks, Messengers of New Springtime" This Monk's love for the Lord and His Church is contagious.

The last time we spoke, Father shared the monk's hopes to build a new monastery to house their growing young community. The artist's rendering of the 144,000 square foot French Gothic style monastery alone can send one to their knees to worship, it is so beautiful. The property will also house one of the enterprises which help the monks to be self sustaining, Mystic Monk Coffee which has grown so rapidly in popularity it has outgrown its current cramped quarters where the monks roast it, grind it and package it. 

Since our last conversation I had read of concerns raised by a few neighbors about the purchase of 2500 deeded acres of undeveloped ranch land for this apostolic undertaking. Some stories online speculated it may have had something to do with the monastic way of life and devout Catholic faith of the monks. However, the reasons were really quite simple. These were ranchers, good folks, who seem to have been mainly concerned about whether the building of the monastery would change the nature of the ranchland, change the lifestyle and bring a lot of traffic. Father and the monks were able to assuage their concerns that this was a monastery and only those coming for Holy Mass, Confession or spiritual counsel would make the trek up what will be a seven mile road onto Mt Carmel.

So, now the good news; on Tuesday, October 5, 2010 at 1:00 p.m., at an open public hearing before the Park County Board of Commissioners, the monks were given unanimous approval to proceed with the building of Mt. Carmel for America. The commissioners wanted to know whether the land will continue to be used for ranching. The monks were happy to report that it will. They intend to keep the property as a ranch as well as work the land for farming. Father Daniel Mary explained to me that with the growing resurgence of vocations to the lay brotherhood (not all monks are clerics) the Lord had already brought ranchers to the community who would help with 1,000 head of cattle that will graze on Mt. Carmel.

None of this is new to this monk; Father Daniel Mary grew up on a ranch roughly six or seven miles from the property. His father is a rancher whose reputation is well known in those parts of Wyoming. His son speaks so highly of his natural father that, as a father of five grown children myself, it warmed my heart to hear it. He dreamed of establishing a monastery in Wyoming as a younger man. He knew that the beauty of the land, the rugged simplicity and faith of the people, and the challenge of the times required such a place. That dream is becoming a reality for this man of living faith.

Fr Daniel Mary emphasized that all of the monks, even the "choir monks" will "work the land". He explained, "This helps us go back to our agrarian roots as monks and forms our young men in manly character. Young men need this kind of manly way of life which involves hard, physical work like clearing timber, growing gardens, tending to crops and ranching. It helps us to stay rooted in a deep, agrarian identity as monks and as men". 

The Carmelite monks in Wyoming are hardy men with even hardier hearts, dedicated to the Lord and His Holy, Catholic and Apostolic Church. They have revived the ancient tradition of Carmel, returning to the original charism and the ancient traditions. He takes great joy in sharing the enthusiasm of the growing number of young men who are joining or discerning the community, seeking a full monastic life, and in some instances, seeking the eremitical life. There will be hermitages on Mt. Carmel for those monks called to respond to the invitation of the Lord to that special way of life in Him and for His Church.

In his plain spoken, naturally supernatural manner he explained  that he considers Mount Carmel part of a "monastic flowering" in our day. We spoke enthusiastically about Church history and how monks and similar monastic flowerings have preceded the great renewals in the Church in centuries ...