Many beer aficionados are familiar with the rare . The beer is highly sought after, but it鈥檚 not the only food or drink made by a religious order. Many abbeys and convents have deep roots in agriculture, combining farm work with prayer.
Just five miles south of the Colorado-Wyoming border you鈥檒l find one of these places. Idyllic red farm buildings sit in the shadow of the main abbey, all tucked in a stony valley. At the , cattle, water buffalo and llamas graze on grass under the watchful eye of Benedictine nuns.
Sister Maria-Walburga Schortemeyer, or just Sister Walburga for short, runs the abbey鈥檚 ranch. Other sisters volunteer their time to work. The list of agricultural activities is long. In addition to the cows and llamas, they raise chickens and bees. The honey and eggs are used in the abbey鈥檚 kitchen. The water buffalo are the newest addition, brought on in April 2014, and milked to make mozzarella cheese. Though, because of health code the cheese operation is currently on pause.
The biggest moneymaker on the farm comes from the beef cattle. The sisters are very aware of their marketing edge, Sr. Walburga says.
鈥淲e have kind of a corner in the market, you know, nuns selling natural beef. People just kinda believe in it,鈥� she says.
They鈥檝e been in the grass-fed beef business now for about 7 years. Because their operation is so unique, they鈥檝e never had a problem selling out of product.
鈥淪ome of our customers want it because of the beef,鈥� Sr. Walburga says. 鈥淪ome of them want it because they know how they鈥檙e being are cared for. We didn鈥檛 have much trouble and now we always have a waiting list for the beef.鈥�
To keep the baby cows safe from the region鈥檚 numerous predators the nuns employ a set of unorthodox security guards - the aforementioned llamas.
鈥淲e have seen them chase a mountain lion off the property,鈥� Sr. Walburga says. 鈥淟lamas have various weaponry, one of them is their breath. They also, they kill with their front feet. They try to disembowel you. If they were upset with you鈥�
That鈥檚 right, a disemboweling guard llama raised by nuns. Though the sisters say the llamas usually save their spit and hooves for intruders, not the nuns who feed them.
When many religious orders were founded centuries ago during the Middle Ages, agriculture was more than a way of life, it was a way of survival. Monasteries were self-sustaining, growing the food they ate. While farming has become less common as we鈥檝e urbanized as a society, Sr. Walburga says the abbey鈥檚 farm is more than just a quaint business. Other sisters have questioned the ranch鈥檚 value, but Sr. Walburga says it keeps the abbey connected to the outside world.
鈥淲hen our neighbors are suffering from drought or suffering from flooding, we can totally relate to them. We鈥檙e not above and beyond. The nuns are never touched by weather issues. It鈥檚 good to be at the mercy of the environment and so that other people know we don鈥檛 live some ethereal life,鈥� she says.
Benedictine monasteries, with orders like the Trappists and Cistercians, use the motto "Ora et Labora," meaning prayer and work. That motto doesn鈥檛 represent separate ideas to the sisters. All day prayer and work are intertwined.
鈥淧raying with the scriptures is like chewing your cud,鈥� Sr. Walburga says. 鈥淪o all through the day we鈥檙e ruminating on it. We chew, chew, chew, swallow, regurgitate. So it鈥檚 not just 鈥榯he Lord is my shepherd,鈥� it鈥檚 鈥榯he Lord is my cowboy.鈥欌€�
In their simple farm clothes of plaid shirts, jeans and Carhartts, it can be easy to forget the women are nuns - save for the fact they still wear the familiar fitted white coif.
Back at the main abbey, Sr. Walburga dons the traditional black and white habit. No more Carhartt jacket. With farm work done for the morning, it鈥檚 time for prayer. Though it won鈥檛 be long before they鈥檙e headed back out to the ranch to round up some rogue llamas.
to see more photos from the abbey.
