I wrote the following article for the Vermont Guardian, printed December 9th:

Like many visitors who have found their way to the Weston Priory, Carl Puleo was drawn at first by the music. “One Sunday morning, very early, I headed out on my own to try to find the priory in Weston and I had no idea where it was,” recalls Puleo, who made his first trip from Madison, CT, more than a decade ago.

“The morning vigil was already in process, but I snuck in. It was an immediate connection, very deep. I think their music attracted me. And the hospitality of the brothers. And just the environment,” he explains. Puleo has returned year after year ever since, joining many others who visit the Catholic Benedictine monastery from all over the world. The 14 monks at the priory welcome visitors into an ancient tradition of withdrawal and spiritual focus.

“Many people like it and keep coming for reasons of their own, and we simply offer welcome,” said Brother Daniel. “We smile when we meet them. It’s very simple.”

The priory is located in a beautiful, isolated spot a little north of Weston up a wooded hill. Since its founding in 1953, it has occupied an old farmhouse. The barn became the chapel, with a bell-tower added on the roof. Over the years, the complex has expanded and now includes an airy dinning hall where guests and monks eat together, and separate guesthouses for men and women. The overall style is simple, utilizing wood, white walls, and natural materials.

“They come for times of prayer: people who just come to sit on the ground, people who know what they are searching for, people who don’t, people who are just looking for some peace and quiet,” said Brother Richard. “There’s an environment of peace and quiet with people who are trying to live as genuinely as they can. People across religious lines will come because they feel it.”

The monks do not offer structured spiritual retreats, but visitors are welcome at prayer services, meals, and facilities. Many travel long distances and stay several days, but local people have also found the services and welcome meet their spiritual needs. In order to be accessible to people of all income levels, the brothers take donations instead of charging fees.

“It isn’t something we really give to them,” added Brother Richard. “It’s something they find within themselves. The gospels speak to the treasure; we have to unearth it.” What they find, he said, is “how in our humanity, God is deeply present.”

Weston Priory follows the rule of St. Benedict, which is more egalitarian and introverted than some other Catholic disciplines. However, the community also expresses its spiritual view of the world with public stands on social justice issues, particularly capital punishment, and solidarity with the poor and Latin America.

“I don’t think you’ll find too many Republicans coming up here,” said Puleo.

The community was part of the sanctuary movement in the 1980s, welcoming a Latin American political refugee family and visiting areas of poverty and pain.

But Weston Priory is perhaps best known for its music, which has made friends and CD sales for the community around the world. Music from the monks at Weston Priory is often mentioned in the same breath as Taizé chants, which originate in an ecumenical, cross-denomination monastic community in France.

Daily prayer services at Weston Priory are sung by the brothers, who have composed many works, some based on psalms. Their singing has a unity usually heard in family bands.

The brothers divide their day between five prayer services, mostly singing psalms, work, and reflection. They say their work — farming, music, calligraphy, etc. — is not only a source of income, but an expression of God in their community.

For Puleo, spending time at the priory reinforces his spirituality. “I carry it back with me,” he explained. A lot of his time there is spent in quiet. “I’m always engaged in all the services,” he added, “and I read a lot and I always have my artwork here.” Art is “a strong part of my vocational life,” he said.

Monks say the monastic experience springs from a relationship with one’s inner spirit, which helps the Weston Priory’s guests find their own inner renewal. “It’s a draining of the heart,” said Brother Daniel. “And it’s not what I can get out of it, but what I can give to you.”

The priory’s contemplative atmosphere is rooted in the vows with which monks join their community. The priory’s 52-year history is a product of the intentions of the monks and the commitment that has guided them. “We are here because we gave our word,” said Brother Daniel. “It’s an intentional life based on trust in one another.”

“I remember reflecting very strongly on the presence of God reflected in the love of the brothers,” he recalled. “If you want to put it in more religious terms, it would be the work of the Holy Spirit in our life — grace.

“I think something that is a very strong part of our spiritual practice is to listen,” he continued. “It’s not simply listening, but listening deeply with our heart. When we can enter deeply into listening to our heart, we are able to listen to one another. At times, there is so much static, there is so much to notice that it’s not that easy, that’s why it’s a spiritual discipline. We begin our day in quiet meditation.

“What is most important is not why I came, but why I stayed,” said Brother Daniel, reflecting on his more than 20-year association with the priory. “It’s the community, the life, the mystery. They are good brothers.”