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The Good Shepherd Oklahoma Monastery guards the sheep, literally By Hayley Imel I


f you listen closely enough to the church bells ringing at the Clear Creek Monastery near Hulbert you might be able to discern a faint whistle echoing through the valley. This is the sound of Brother Joseph, chiming in a surprising set of ancient skills to contribute to the church he calls home.


In a life unguided by the hands of a clock, the 35 monks who live at the monastery divide their days into different “watches.” By the time the sun rises, the monks have already gathered for Lauds, or Dawn Prayer, without the assis- tance of an abrasive alarm. There are seven times of formal prayer a day; the fi rst beginning at sunrise and the last, “Compline,” ending just before retir ing at nine in the evening.


Gregorian chants, the melodies the fi rst Christians adopted, are the offi cial prayers that can be traced back to the early times of the synagogue. According to the monks, these prayers are a repetition of the Book of Psalms, which create a conversation between the divine persons: the Father, Son and Holy Ghost.


There may not be a multitude of watches on hand, but for one monk, there is plenty of keeping watch. When many of the monks leave prayer services, they continue to the classroom to expand their liturgical research. Brother Joseph, however, ex changes the synagogue for open skies. He is a steward of sheep, and his traditional agricultural advice may be timelier than you would think.


Bells and Whistles


Brother Joseph spends his days shepherding a rare breed of sheep, herding cattle, managing logging op- erations, fi xing mechanical problems and putting out fi res – literally. But fi rst and foremost, he has dedi- cated his life to the Catholic Church as a life of prayer. “Every time Christ comes into a place he enters with his cross,” he says. “It’s just hard enough that you couldn’t do it by yourself but it’s possible through prayer.”


Brother Joseph may not have a visible cross, or even 16 OKLAHOMA LIVING


a staff, but he does have an orange whistle and a fl ock of followers.


Originally from Oregon, he joined the Benedictine Abbey of Fontgombault, France, Congregation of Solesmes, in 1977. Brother Joseph came to Oklahoma in 1996 and has been with the Clear Creek Monastery ever since. He says the life of the monk is a life of prayer, responsibility and service.


All of the monks are involved in the daily opera- tions, including cooking, cleaning, plumbing and maintenance. But each monk also contributes his


own unique set of skills. In Oklahoma, the range of talents among the monks is impressive, from crafts- men who hand carve intricate wooden bowls to a cheese maker who makes fi ne cheeses from fresh milk gathered straight from monastery cattle. “You could spend your whole life fascinated by this, you know,” Brother Joseph says.


Brother Joseph has a litany of contributions to the monastery, but one of his greatest joys stems from his work with his fl ock of Katahdin sheep. “There’s a great joy in this life, but all this is only


Hulbert


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