A Blessing in Every Sip and Bite
- Steven Hansen
- 2 hours ago
- 8 min read
Some of the most delectable specialty foods available online come with a heavenly backstory. From cheesecakes prayed over by cloistered nuns to authentic New York bagels certified by a famous rabbi, these treats aren’t just delicious — they’re divinely inspired. After all, when your recipe is perfected and prayed over by people closest to the Almighty, it’s gotta be blessed with a little extra goodness.
Check out these delicious artisanal finds made with extra devotion that also make unique and thoughtful holiday gifts!
These candy making nuns are part of the contemplative Trappistine Cistercian order at Our Lady of the Mississippi Abbey in Dubuque, Iowa. They start their day at 3:30 a.m. with a morning vigil and then convening in their chapel six more times throughout the day to pray to God and for all people on earth, especially those who labor, suffer, or are afraid.
In between their prayer vigils, they help sweeten people’s lives by making candy. For the past 50 years, sales of their signature caramels have helped support their abbey. Their line has expanded over the years and now includes mint candies, chocolate hazelnut candies, truffles, caramel sauce and maple syrup.
One of their most popular – and delicious – products is the 15-Truffle Assortment Gift Box. Their handmade truffle flavors include Cointreau, Creme de Menthe, Bavarian Creme, Cinnamon, Espresso, Mint Meltaway, Raspberry, Coconut, Dark Chocolate, Praline, Almond, Malted Milk, Caramel Sea Salt, Champagne, and Almond Amaretto.
Exclusive to Ashland, Oregon’s, Dobrá Tea Company, Forest Temple is a white tea made from tender leaves of the wild Assamica tea trees that grow at Pa Pae Buddhist Forest Monastery in Chiang Mai, Thailand. Dobrá Tea Company founder Jiri Šimsa discovered this rare tea on a visit to the monastery. The tea's smooth and velvety texture caresses the tongue, leaving a refreshing and lingering aftertaste that evokes a sense of inner calm. It is enjoyed by the monks and retreat guests at the monastery.
Foods sacred to the Zuni people include corn, beans, and squash, which are considered foundational to both their diet and spirituality. Corn is especially sacred, referred to as "the mother," and is used in prayers and ceremonies. Beans and squash are her “sisters.” This hearty mix contains all three plus tomatoes and Hatch green chile, and spices.
Saint Isidore the Laborer, depicted on the package, was a Spanish saint known as the patron saint of farmers. San Isidro and the Three Sisters Farm is a project of the Southwest Indian Foundation. The 270-acre nonprofit family farm is located in the Zuni Mountains just east of Gallup, New Mexico.
The Benedictine sisters at the Monastery of the Immaculate Conception in Ferdinand, Indiana, began baking and selling Springerle, traditional German cookies, years ago to raise money for their order. Since then, their bakery business has grown, offering a variety of cookies and other baked goods whose sales help to support their ministries.
One of their most popular snack items are their Prayerful Sweet Pretzels that are made with a precise mix of cinnamon, sugar, nutmeg, and cloves -- these delicious crisps offer just the right amount of sweetness and warm spice. A blessing in every bite!
Other Prayerful Pretzel flavors include Ranch, Spicy, and Honey Mustard.
Shakers -- officially the United Society of Believers in Christ's Second Appearing -- aim to create a perfect society on Earth through their way of life. They seek perfection in all aspects of life, from their daily work to their joyful worship. Three members still live, work, and worship at the last active Shaker Community located at Sabbathday Lake in Maine. Among the handmade gifts and food specialties this community is known for are the sweet herbs and spices which they have been gathering, drying, and packaging to help support their village since 1799.
Choose from 20 varieties, including Apple Pie Spice, Bro. Arnold’s Pork Rub, Parsley, Calendula, Dill Dip, and Lemon Thyme, Lemon Pepper Blend, Soup Seasoning, Basil, Sage, Poultry Seasoning, Herbs de Provence, and more!
The small batch specialty coffees from Catholic Coffee are ethically sourced, packaged, and sold by the lovingly devout Hetzel family in Charlotte, North Carolina. They give coffee a higher purpose. More than just a simple stimulant, they suggest that enjoying a morning cup can be having a conversation with Heaven. Each of their roasts is named after an inspiring saint or sacred devotion – St. Peter, St. Patrick, St. Padre Pio, Our Lady of Guadalupe, etc. -- inviting you to begin your day with prayerful intention.
The coffees are available in ground or whole bean in 12 0z, bags and also in 12-pacl sets of K-cups ready for brewing. The coffee subscription program takes 10 percent off each purchase.
For the positive energy you need to start your day, try these hearty breakfast cookies baked by the Brothers and Sisters of Charity at their Little Portion Hermitage in Berryville, Arkansas. Simple ingredients include rolled oats, butter, brown sugar, almonds, pumpkin and sunflower seeds, and dried fruits including mango, papaya, and banana. Each big cookie is made from a half-cup of cookie dough! Available in gluten- and sugar-free versions too.
A mountain hiker says, “We fueled our bodies and our spirits with these prayed-over, all-natural cookies!”
Little Portion Bakery also sells their own handmade Granola Mix, Cinnamon Loaf, St. Anthony Hermit Bars, Liquid Holy Basil, and Honey Almond Gift Soaps.
In Gary, Indiana, the Bruno family runs Organic Bread of Heaven, a bakery devoted to making wholesome, all‑natural breads, pasta, and pastries that locals say is “to die for.” Their mission isn’t about chasing profits or building an empire. Instead, guided by the teachings of the Bible, they believe in serving their neighbors with honest, nourishing food.
The best-sellers are their sourdough breads, muffins, tortillas, and pizza dough. They are allergen-free, baked with care, using certified organic ingredients, and offered as part of their commitment to community over commerce. For the Brunos, bread isn’t just business, it’s a way to live out their faith by sharing goodness, one slice at a time.
The Trappist monks of St. Joseph’s Abbey in Spencer, Massachusetts, are known far and wide for the fine, all-natural jams, jellies, and marmalades that they have been cooking up for over 70 years. They currently offer 25 different flavor preserves, but our favorite is their Sherry Wine Jelly.
According to one of the monks in the jam kitchen, “Here’s what we do on the days we make Sherry Wine Jelly. A bag of contraband corn chips is smuggled into the monastery (we don’t normally see them here) and when the Sherry Wine Jelly is still warm, we use it as a dipping sauce for the corn chips. The saltiness, the slightly bitter corn flavor, and the heady sherry flavor all come together in the mouth. It’s marvelous and one of our favorite cooking days in the jelly kitchen. We can only hope that the abbot does not find out about the shenanigans going on in the jelly kitchen.”
Cistercian Trappist monks have been tending vineyards and producing excellent wines since the 12th century. Monks at the Abbey of New Clairvaux in California’s Red Bluff wine region, began their wine-making apostolate 25 years ago, by reviving two old vineyards near the abbey. They now produce and bottle 31 different award-winning wines from 15 grape varietals. They are the first in the U.S. to grow white Assyrtiko grapes from Santorini and Moschofilero grapes from the Peloponnese peninsula in southern Greece.
If you can’t make it to their tasting rooms at the Abbey or in Redding, California in person, check out their notable vintages online, including a trio of hand-signed Reserve and Cabernet special editions.
The cacao ceremony is not a modern invention but rather a practice steeped in history. For the ancient Mayan and Aztec peoples, cacao was more than just a food item; it was a sacred substance used in religious rituals and ceremonies. The Mayans, for instance, believed that cacao was a gift from the gods and used it in rites of passage and other significant life events. Theobroma Cacao, the botanical name of chocolate, literally translates to “food of the gods."
These days, people drink ceremonial cacao to enhance self-reflection, emotional healing, and community building. Besides being loaded with antioxidants, drinking pure cacao induces feelings of happiness and improves brain clarity.
This ceremonial Cacao Gift Set from Divasya Yoga contains a ceramic cocoa cup and spoon, 3 organic South American cocoa ritual balls in three different flavors (classic, intense, and orange-turmeric), 20 Tibetan incense sticks with holder, 16 inspirational intention cards, and cacao ceremony instructions.
This pure, dark amber, Grade A maple syrup is made by monks from the sap of the sugar maple trees that grow at their Monastery of St. Benedict in Enfield, Connecticut. The monastery also sells candies, candles, honey, and religious articles to help support the Benedictine priests and brothers who live, pray, and work there.
Requests may also be made to have a traditional Latin Rite Masses or Novenas celebrated at the monastery for special intentions.
The Bible uses the imagery of fire to describe the Holy Spirit, representing power and purification. And to remind you of its intensity while also helping to support a holy cause, Sister Bernadette suggests buying a jar of her Singapore-inspired homemade Super Hot Sauce made with chili paste, garlic, onions, and tamarind. Every purchase goes toward funding the work of the Catholic Transfiguration Hermitage in Windsor, Maine, where nuns spend hours each day praying for peace and the needs of all God’s people.
Not only are their plain, egg, onion, sesame, everything, and 20 other flavored bagels -- plus bialys – rolled by hand and baked fresh daily at their 12th Street kitchen in Astoria, Queens, but New Yorker Bagels are also certified kosher by an esteemed Rabbi.
Free 2-day shipping on all orders. Overnight shipping is available extra. Check out their videos for special ‘insider’ info!
Founded in 1939, the Fuji brewery is managed by the 3rd generation Imaoka family in Izumo, Japan, the town famous for its shrine, Izumo Taisha, built in the 8th century. This Shinto shrine is regarded as the oldest and most important shrine in all of Japan. Every October, “The Month of the Gods”, people travel from around the country to take part in the sacred ritual of praying at the shrine. In its name, Izumo Fuji sake pays tribute to both this shrine and to Mt. Fuji, the most loved and revered symbol of Japan.
The Imaoka family brews using old school and traditional methods without modern machines. They do everything by hand: steaming using an old-fashioned Japanese steamer, koji making, and pressing by fune press, or wooden vat, a very gentle method.
Izumo Fuji sake has tasting notes of violet aroma, plum on palate; soft, relaxed, and expansive in texture. An “umami type” of sake with ricey sweetness.
The sisters at this small Eastern Orthodox monastery in Washington County, New York, bake what many believe to be the finest cheesecakes in the country. Working in between their morning and afternoon prayers, the nuns mix and bake small batches of cheesecakes each day, just as they’ve done for nearly four decades. They’ve been featured on the Rachael Ray Show as well as in The New York Times.
Fourteen different flavors include Classic New York Deluxe, Irish Cream, Chocolate Marble, Kahlua, Key Lime, Raspberry Ripple and White Chocolate, plus special seasonal flavors, like the autumnal Pumpkin and Eggnog.
Online customers can add their names to the waitlists for the more popular flavors. After all, patience is a virtue well rewarded.
Header photo; courtesy Abbey of New Clairvaux. All other photos taken from their respective websites.
:-) Please like and share with foodie friends and family -- Thanks!