Lots of Cowpokes, but Nun like these

Beef cattle roam the pastures of a seemingly typical ranch near Virginia Dale, Colorado. This outfit’s head wrangler, however, doesn’t answer to a cowboy name like “Tex” or “Montana.” No siree. Rather, meet Sister Maria-Walburga, a Roman Catholic nun. Exactly how did she and the rest of her group of nuns become farmers and ranchers? Mother Maria Michael, Abbess, explained the Benedictine order’s roots. Founder St. Benedict (480-543 A.D.) had fled Rome’s decadence to live an austere life. Others soon joined him in his walk of ora et labora—”prayer and work.” Their enduring values include reverence for land, animals and equipment, and hospitality. Farming was a matter of survival for the original self-sufficient group and remains likewise today. The Abbey of St. Walburga in Colorado dates back to 1935, when the contemplative, monastic order sought safety from Hitler’s growing threat. Three sisters were sent from Eichstatt, Germany, to a then-remote farm in Boulder...more