And now to reflection on the importance of faith and science during this pandemic.We journey inside a Catholic monastery in rural Georgia. Rickey Bevington from Georgia Public Broadcasting is our guide.It's a way of life that traces back to St. Benedict in 5th century Italy, a Trappist monastery devoted to the strict observance of Christian worship here in rural Conyers, Georgia,28 men called to live together in poverty, prayer and silence. But not even a sacred cloister can keep out a deadly virus.Our seniors, we love them. We just love them. And we wanted to protect them.Abbot Augustine has led this community for four years. Many of the monks here are in their 70s and 80s.Four are over 90, making them more at risk of dying from COVID-19. This religious community does live a mostly cloistered life behind these abbey walls.But it may surprise you just how public the Monastery of the Holy Spirit is.Every year, some 80,000 visitors of all faiths come for multiday retreats to sing and pray right alongside the monks, to picnic, or just stroll the more than 2,000 acres of beautiful rural landscape.Brother Callistus is the monastery cellarer, its chief operating officer. Overnight, he shuttered the monastery food bank, gift shop, church, and retreat house.
