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Ah, here, click this first before you read on.

Nope, they are not real Catholic monks. They are high school students. < laughs >

The real ones are contemplative monks called Trappists who belong to a Roman Catholic order that follows the Rule of St. Benedict. However, contrary to popular belief, Trappist monks do not take a vow of silence.  But they do take a strict observance of silence, small talk is absolutely discouraged, and they will only speak when spoken to. I figure a Yes or No  response will suffice.

But, not all Benedictine monks follow this strict adherence to silence.   We have pictures that show we once attended a relative’s elementary graduation at his school, Benedictine Abbey, in the Philippines.  I think I was 5 years old in the pictures, so I don’t know why I still distinctly remember seeing a group of  hooded men and later, seeing one monk with hood on, smoking a cigarette.  (^_^)”. 

 St. Benedict’s  Rule is just this…. 1. Stability   2. Fidelity to monastic life   3. Obedience  …… It didn’t say anything about  indulging in one vice or two, like smoking and drinking wine, and merchandising. In fact, most monasteries produce goods for sale to the public, and they, in fact, brew beer that is considered the finest in the world.  In Northern Ireland, where majority are Catholics, there is a monastery there, Buckfast Abbey, that produces a famous wine called, yes, of course, Buckfast.

Here’s a picture of an empty bottle on the street, presumably drunk by a homeless guy.

It used to be advertised as a tonic, but is now considered ” deadly” alcohol by the authorities, due to its high alcohol and caffeine contents. One bottle of  Buckfast  has 15% alcohol and caffeine equivalent to 6 strong cups of black coffee.  \(^_^)/ Good job, monks ! < laughs > Now , why am I suddenly talking about  alcohol ?

Here’s why…….. LOL!

This is a picture of wines in our house, LOL.  Mom cleaned out the cupboards this morning and lined  up the wines covered with  dust ,on the kitchen counter. Don’t get me wrong…… we only drink on special occassions, like on Christmas Day, and definitely on New Year’s Day eve.  And I don’t drink…. but we live just a few miles from the vineyards  , a beautiful , quaint  place here in California called Napa Valley.   So wines here are aplenty. and cheap.

And speaking of coffee…. I woke up at  5 this morning, got up to get my first cup o’joe, and WTH, we were out of coffee !  It was raining very hard, and very, very cold, but it didn’ stop me from driving out to a nearby 7-11 to buy coffee. I bought 2 cups of delicious , hot coffee.  Later, mom told me the coffee was in the pantry. Pfffft !!!!

And here’s something to amuse you. I love the moves ! But  I hope no one gets offended. The dance moves are rather decent, actually.

 This is all for now. Happy Holidays!