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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.

He spends hours picking fruit off trees and tending to plants growing in the earth, stopping only for meals and Mass.

Brother Joseph is one of 12 Trappist Monks at New Melleray Abbey in Peosta who have given up families and access to the outside world to take a vow of obedience to live a religious life, giving back to the world around them.

Brother Joseph said that other monks at the monastery all have jobs that relate to “working with their hands,” ranging from gardening, working with timber,

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