PEOSTA — Every morning before the sun comes up, Brother Joseph is beginning his day. Brother Joseph, a Trappist Monk, is up by 4:30 a.m., heading out to start work in the New Melleray Abbey’s garden.

It has always been the intention of the Trappist monks to pray. They still do. They pray vigils and readings and vespers for hours in daylight and darkness. But now they are making wooden caskets, too ...

Mondays are often hectic in the casket business, and today is no exception. By 10:00 A.M., the company has one premium black walnut casket, a shaped oak and a shaped pine to get out the door. Pickup ...

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — A 9-year-old girl killed in last weekend's mass shooting in Arizona will be buried in a hand-crafted casket donated by a group of Roman Catholic monks in Iowa. Trappist Caskets ...