LOS ANGELES, Nov. 20, 2013 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Benedictine monks in California are delighting businesses with a new e-business, selling ink and toner cartridges online at MonksInk.com. Launched just two years ago, the monks at St. Andrew's Abbey, located in the humble desert town of Valyermo, California, have already tripled both sales revenue and customers over last year and are on track to break more sales records this fiscal year as well.
"For us, it's not simply about the money," says Fr. Joseph Brennan, O.S.B., who has been a member of the St. Andrew's community more than 20 years and who is the engaging spokes-monk for the monastery's thriving MonksInk.com e-business.
"Of course, we need positive cash-flow to serve our customers well, to grow the business, to fund the monastery's basic needs, including the much-needed repair of our living quarters, and to enhance our many charitable ministries to those in need," Fr. Joseph explains. "But making money alone—while essential in any business venture—is not our priority. Instead, our focus is on serving each of our customers as though serving Christ. This approach is integral to our vocation as Benedictine monks and it is attentively echoed in our business ventures as well."
The monks at St. Andrew's follow the centuries-old Rule of St. Benedict, which infuses the monks' life with prayer, including a community-wide Grand Silence from 8:30 pm until after breakfast the following day. They gather as a community to pray the Divine Office five times a day and for Daily Mass. They work for their livelihood, a requirement of St. Benedict in his Rule. And, although their monastery is set apart from "the world," a 90-minute drive northeast of Los Angeles, these monks are extraordinarily welcoming to all guests and visitors; abiding by another Rule of St. Benedict's, namely to welcome all as Christ.
To learn more go to MonksInk.com.
About MonksInk and St. Andrew's Abbey: MonksInk was founded in 2011 by the Benedictine monks at St. Andrew's Abbey with the help and guidance of one of their local oblates. Originally founded in China in 1929, this monastic community was expelled by the communists in 1952. In 1955 the community relocated to Valyermo, nestled quietly in the San Gabriel foothills of the California high desert, 90 minutes northeast of Los Angeles, where they have been welcoming guests from all walks of life for more than 50 years. For more information, go to www.MonksInk.com