As the tours come in each day, some of the people who work at Trappist Caskets believe their mission is much deeper than a typical business. “Sometimes it’s like they find us and I think it’s the work ...

Various images of monks and caskets photographed at the Trappist Casket manufacturing facility at the New Melleray Abbey near Peosta, Iowa. (Credit: Mark Hirsch.) Listen Honoring a departed loved one ...

The walnut planks used to make Caroline Found’s casket grew for 120 years in a quiet northeast Iowa forest. Tucked away behind a hulking limestone monastery, the tree was prayed over by the monks of ...

Every other Thursday at about 4:10 in the morning, the monks of New Melleray Abbey stand in a dark church, and, following a moment of silence, listen to the lone voice of our abbot offer the prayer ...

(RNS) — The Trappist monks of New Melleray Abbey have always given away child caskets. Now they're offering adult caskets to people in need. (RNS) — They live secluded lives in a stone abbey near a ...

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 ...

Trappist Caskets offers two models -- simple and premium. Simple caskets are smooth on all sides. Premium caskets feature complex raised-panel joinery and shaped lids. Both come in two shapes -- ...

They live secluded lives in a stone abbey near a privately owned forest in a rural part of eastern Iowa. But the Trappist monks of New Melleray Abbey are not closed off from the world's troubles. Last ...