USA Today recently reported on the monks of St. Benedict’s Monastery in Norcia, Italy. Their recent album Benedicta has topped the Billboard charts this summer in classical, traditional music. This is one of several popular albums featuring Gregorian Chant in the last few years, which is experiencing a resurgence in the US.

Apart from the music, the monastery itself is fascinating. Norcia is the birthplace of St. Benedict, the father of Western monasticism. The monastery, tucked under the mountain of Umbria, was closed two hundred years ago, when “the monks were evicted under Napoleonic laws in a wave of anti-clericalism.” It only re-opened 15 years ago, and “of the monastery’s 17 monks, 12 are American.” As Benedictines that need to self-supporting, they also brew beer, Birra Nursia, which was served at the 2013 papal enclave that elected Pope Francis. (The rule of St. Benedict is often summarized as Ora et Labora, “Pray and Work.”)

I often turn to chants of the Liturgy of the Hours when the daily news gets especially depressing. The music, which is really a form of prayer, has an unearthly ability to turn the mind from, well, earth to heaven.

Read the rest of the story here. And check out this terrific video introduction to the monastery, the monks and the music:

Jay Richards is Executive Editor of The Stream. Follow him on twitter.