A monastery that specializes in making caskets is offering its product, free of charge, to poor people whose loved ones have died from the coronavirus.
The New Melleray Abbey, a Trappist monastery near Dubuque, Iowa, has been making and selling caskets since 1999 as a way of supporting its community. The monastery also has long been involved in charitable work, running a service through which it provides caskets to needy families whose children have died unexpectedly.
Mark Scott, the monastery’s abbot, told the Washington Examiner that during the coronavirus pandemic, he believes the monastery can extend that same service to victims of the disease as a “work of mercy” — even though it is itself on lockdown. Since, like the death of a child, deaths from the coronavirus are unexpected, he said, families need more support and prayers than ever.
“We’ve really learned that, as time has gone on, what a role we can play in bringing comfort to people,” he said. “So, that’s what we aim to do now.”
After the monastery posted a notice in late March about the service on its website, at least seven people have asked for a casket, Scott said. The monastery intends to offer free caskets, not including shipping costs, until supplies run out. Scott suspects that may happen.
Until then, however, Scott said he will offer caskets to the needy, trusting in their goodwill and honesty, as a way of extending the monastery’s hospitality.
“We can’t do it in the normal way, but, well, this is another way,” he said.
Nearly 300,000 cases of the coronavirus have been confirmed in the United States, with more than 7,000 deaths. Iowa has remained relatively untouched, with about 700 confirmed cases and 11 deaths in the state.
The monastery, which has been operating on a farm since 1849, makes all of its caskets by hand, with wood sourced from its forests. Like other Trappist monasteries, many of which are known for their breweries, its members manufacture goods in keeping with the Rule of St. Benedict, a text which encourages monks to focus on work and prayer.
The monastery manufactures about 1,600 caskets per year. After each one is completed, the monks bless it and enter the name of the person who will be buried in it into their memorial book, according to Marjorie Lehmann, who works in the monastery’s office. The monks also plant a tree in remembrance of the deceased, which allows them to replenish the wood supply in their forest consistently.
Over the years, Scott said, the New Melleray Abbey has come to view its casket craftsmanship as a sort of “ministry” to people grieving. Since 2017, the monastery has offered a Mass in October for people who have been buried in their products. More than 750 people attended the Mass in 2019, Scott said.
“We realize we’re not just selling boxes,” he said. “We’re really touching people. It’s a very holy work.”
