Rural Missouri - December 2012 - (Page 8)
aith in fruitcakes F
Assumption Abbey’s holiday cakes are known worldwide
Kyle Spradley kspradley@ruralmissouri.coop son, a newspaper reporter for the Chicago Tribune. ing out our daily lives for the sake of all our brothers Pearson had planned to retire and run a ranch, but and sisters in the world.” he was never able to find a way to make the farm To support this way of life, the monks work in self-supporting and donated the land to the monks. their on-site bakery and sell more than 25,000 fruitAt first, they tried raising cattle and farming, but cakes a year to lovers of the infamous holiday treat the unforgiving topography yielded few profits. To around the world. “It’s an Old Englishstyle cake and not like what you would find in the supermarket,” says Michael. “Our cakes are moist with a rich, rum-laden batter mixed with fruit for a medley of flavors.” This year marks the 25th year the monks have been making fruitcakes, but it wasn’t the abbey’s first business venture. In 1950, monks from New Mellary Abbey in Iowa came to establish a new monastery in Ava thanks to a land A batch of fruitcakes is ready to be shipped out from Assumption Abbey’s bakery near donation from Joe PearAva. Each year, more than 25,000 cakes are shipped around the world. solitary bell breaks the silence of a moonlit landscape. The reverberating tones carry over the hills and through the hollers of the Ozark Mountains. It is 3 a.m. and the beginning of another day for the Trappist Monks at Assumption Abbey. By candlelight, the monks make their way to the church to embark on several hours of prayer before they start work for the day. “Their life is centered around prayer and work,” says Michael Hampton, the abbey’s manager. “Each day, they have a set schedule. They get up, pray, go to work, pray and eat in between those times.” Ava It is a life of solitude for the monks. • Their home at the abbey, which is served by White River Valley Electric Cooperative, sits on more than 3,400 acres of rugged terrain in Douglas County. They have abandoned many modern possessions to commit themselves to the Catholic faith and spend their days studying literature and contemplating life. “As monks, we feel a personal call to leave the ordinary life of the world and devote ourselves to God and love of thy neighbor,” says Father Cyprian, who has lived at the abbey for 47 years. “We are liv-
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Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Rural Missouri - December 2012
Rural Missouri - December 2012
Table of Contents
Comments
Columns
Faith in fruitcakes
Best of rural Missouri
Pursuing dreams
Outdoors
Out of the Way Eats
Beauty from math and metal
Spreading the Masonic message
Hearth and Home
Rooted in Missouri
Marketplace
Around Missouri
Neighbors
Just4Kids
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