PEOSTA — Every morning before the sun comes up, Brother Joseph is beginning his day. Brother Joseph, a Trappist Monk, is up by 4:30 a.m., heading out to start work in the New Melleray Abbey’s garden.

All told, Trappist Caskets produces an average of 35 caskets a week. Although not all of the monks came to the abbey with prior woodworking skills, they and the new monks joining their ranks "are ...

Stepping out of their usually reclusive lifestyle, Trappist monks at an Iowa abbey plan to sell their handcrafted wooden caskets to the public for the first time since the retreat was founded in 1849.

Mondays are often hectic in the casket business, and today is no exception. By 10:00 A.M., the company has one premium black walnut casket, a shaped oak and a shaped pine to get out the door. Pickup ...

PEOSTA, Iowa -- Some monks make cheesecakes to supplement their income. Others breed German shepherds or market Tex-Mex food. But the 36 monks at the New Melleray Abbey are marketing a more novel item ...

It has always been the intention of the Trappist monks to pray. They still do. They pray vigils and readings and vespers for hours in daylight and darkness. But now they are making wooden caskets, too ...