Imagine my delight to see Father Cassian Folsom, the prior of the Benedictine monastery in Norcia, interviewed in today’s New York Times. Excerpt:

READING Between liturgical prayer, Scripture reading, daily work and community activities, my time is very limited. The last time I read a novel was when I had to have a stem cell transplant in 2012 for multiple myeloma and had to be in isolation for four weeks. It’s too bad that it takes that much to get me to read a novel, but I read “The Red Horse,” by Eugenio Conti, a wonderful and moving story about Italian involvement in World War II told through the lives of people living in a small town in northern Italy.

LISTENING As monks, we live in the silence like fish live in water. But our liturgical prayer is all song, mostly chanting together. It’s usually alternating from one side of the choir to the other, so it’s kind of a dialogue. It’s for the glory of God, so you feel it’s something larger than yourself that you are caught up into. It’s a quite remarkable experience, in fact.

If you take a look at the article, you’ll see that they photographed him at the crypt altar that was part of St. Benedict’s fifth-century house. I’ve prayed in that very spot. It was incredibly moving. It really is hard for me to find enough superlatives to describe that monastery and its joyful, young, light-filled monks, who earlier this year released their first album of chant. Father Cassian is in his 60s, and he is much the oldest member of the community; he says in the NYT piece that the average age among them is 33. The Spirit is working powerfully among those men. Again and again I say unto you: if you are an unmarried Catholic man who sense a possible calling to the monastic life, get to Norcia as fast as you can and see if it’s for you. That’s a Benedict Option that some of you should consider.

Say, New Yorkers, on October 7, Ross Douthat will be speaking at a Manhattan event to benefit the monks of Norcia. Information here. They will also be serving beer brewed by the Norcia monks. You don’t want to miss this. Father Cassian will also be there to talk about the work they’re doing in the monastery. If you want to see the face of hope for the future, go meet Father Cassian and any of the brothers he will have brought with him.