"Monks don't get angry; Monks get even."

On a chilly morning in November, our group left the Park Lodge Hotel just as the sun rose. Our destination? Glenstal Abbey, a Benedictine monastery located just outside of Limerick. I think I can safely say that the experience we had at Glenstal was probably one of the coolest I've had in Ireland to this point.

We arrived about fifteen minutes before the Sunday mass, so we joined the monastic community and the rest of their parish for mass. I don't know what it is about Benedictine masses, but they are always really appealing to me. Afterwards, we met up with the monks for coffee and biscuits and a bit of socializing. Soon, we went on a mystical adventure through the forest with Brother Anthony.

Brother Anthony has been the caretaker of the forest for the past forty years, and he is absolutely HILARIOUS. I had no idea whether I should be taking him seriously or not, because some of the things he was saying were soooooo outrageous that we couldn't help but laugh. We wandered the forest with him for about an hour and a half, listening to stories of the forest.

Afterwards, we were treated to a gourmet lunch, courtesy of the boarding school's cafeteria. This was yet another opportunity for us to socialize with the monks, so my table got to know Brother Cuthbert pretty well. Turns out that he was leading the tour of Glenstal right after lunch!

Oddly enough, the abbey was built in the 1800s, but modeled after an 11th century castle. If you ever wanted to go to school in a castle, Glenstal is the place to be. With spiral staircases and tower libraries, it has everything you could possibly desire and then some more! After the tour, we broke into two smaller groups. One group went with Brother Cuthbert to tour the library; the other group met up with Father Gregory to examine the relic chapel. Both were fantastic.

After we finished the tours, we went to (another) coffee/tea/cookie reception. We had the next 30 minutes to chat with the monks about whatever we wanted. Turns out several of them have connections with Collegeville already, and they hope to continue an exchange between the two monasteries. Fr. Gregory was absolutely fascinated by the concept of walking on lakes in the winter, so we were more than happy to tell stories about the cold Minnesota winters! Kind of makes me want to be home in the snow already!