Saint Vincent monks hit sweet spot with handmade hot cross buns

Jeff Himler
Thursday, April 14, 2022 4:30 p.m. | Thursday, April 14, 2022 4:30 p.m.

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Shane Dunlap | Tribune-Review

Benedictine monks Brother Angelo Lichtenstein empties a container of dough onto the counter for kneading into buns as Brother Francisco Whittaker waits to get to work on Thursday as the monks from the Order of Saint Benedict prepare their hot cross buns in the auxiliary kitchen at Di Padova Hall at Saint Vincent College in Unity.

Shane Dunlap | Tribune-Review

Benedictine monks Brother José Rosa, left, and Brother Xavier O’Mara, right, work on kneading dough into buns as Brother Angelo Lichtenstein, center, carries a tray of finished buns for oven prep on Thursday in the auxiliary kitchen at Di Padova Hall at Saint Vincent College in Unity. The Monks of the Order of Saint Benedict are planning to sell nearly 1200 hot cross buns to help raise funds for the monastery at Saint Vincent College.

Shane Dunlap | Tribune-Review

Benedictine monk Brother Xavier O’Mara places a tray of unbaked hot cross buns on a cart to transport into the oven on Thursday in the auxiliary kitchen at Di Padova Hall at Saint Vincent College in Unity. The Monks of the Order of Saint Benedict are planning to sell nearly 1200 hot cross buns to help raise funds for the monastery at Saint Vincent College.

Shane Dunlap | Tribune-Review

Benedictine monks, from left, Brother Francisco Whittaker, Brother Mark Florenini, Brother Angelo Lichtenstein, and Brother Xavier O’Mara, right, prep and knead dough into buns on Thursday in the auxiliary kitchen at Di Padova Hall at Saint Vincent College in Unity.

Shane Dunlap | Tribune-Review

Benedictine monk and Saint Vincent College professor Brother Mark Florenini places kneaded dough on the tray while making hot cross buns with fellow monks of the Order of Saint Benedict on Thursday in the auxiliary kitchen at Di Padova Hall at Saint Vincent College in Unity.

Shane Dunlap | Tribune-Review

Benedictine monks from top left, the Rev. Maurus Mount, Brother José Rosa, Brother Gilbert Heater, Brother Michael Antonacci, far right, and Brother Romuald Duchene, left, prep and knead dough into buns on Thursday in the auxiliary kitchen at Di Padova Hall at Saint Vincent College in Unity.

Shane Dunlap | Tribune-Review

Benedictine monks, Brother Bosco Hough, left, and Brother Francisco Whittaker, right, prep and knead dough into buns on Thursday in the auxiliary kitchen at Di Padova Hall at Saint Vincent College in Unity.

A team of about a dozen Saint Vincent monks were working from early morning into the evening Thursday as they carried out a new tradition at the Benedictine community.

Their mission: preparing nearly 1,200 hot cross buns for pickup by customers on Good Friday.

The monks have been enjoying the buns on Sundays during Lent. When they decided to offer the sweet treats to the community, the orders came pouring in.

Brother Angelo Lichtenstein, who was appointed the monastery’s bread baker in November, was expecting to fill perhaps 75 orders of six buns each. Instead, his team had 198 boxes to fill with the handmade buns.

“We only advertised for 10 days,” Lichtenstein said, noting word of mouth was just as important as social media and fliers for attracting patrons from the adjacent Saint Vincent College campus in Unity and beyond. “It caught on very quick. We could have sold more if we hadn’t cut the orders off.”

Lichtenstein was up hours before dawn Thursday preparing the yeast-raised dough from unbleached flour produced at the monastery’s gristmill. Later in the morning, other monks arrived to help with the labor-intensive task of separating the 180 pounds of dough into individual buns.

While area residents may be used to store-bought hot cross buns that are similar to a dinner roll, Lichtenstein is using a recipe that turns out versions reminiscent of a doughnut. The buns have proved popular at a Catholic parish in Cambria County.

In addition to golden raisins and vanilla icing in the form of a cross, recalling the Good Friday crucifixion, the Saint Vincent buns have a raspberry jam filling, symbolizing the blood of Christ.

Brother Xavier O’Mara, who helped brush the buns with orange glaze after they emerged from one of two vertical convection ovens, noted they were being sold at a below-market price: $9 for a half-dozen.

That’s a Benedictine rule followed by all artisans in Saint Vincent’s monastic community, he explained.

“That’s one of our operating principles, to be very fair,” he said.

While sales of the buns support the monks and the gristmill, Lichtenstein said, “We do this because we just like to do it.”

Now that the monks have perfected the multi-step process of making the buns, Lichtenstein said, ”Maybe one day we’ll sell pretzels.”