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Monk Reignites Benedictine Tradition One Hot Sauce Bottle at a Time

Fr. Richard Walz, OSB, began making Habanero Pepper Sauce while stationed in Belize, Central America. (Photos: Courtesy of Subiaco Abbey)

In the eyes of Father Richard Walz, a Benedictine monk at Subiaco Abbey in Arkansas, hot sauces are like rosaries: everybody who wants one should get one. 

“I hate for somebody to want a rosary and not have it,” he told The Tablet from his monastery on Jan. 22. “I think people really like hot sauce [and] it’s kind of a similar idea to that.

“I just like to see people have what they like.”

That communal care concept is what drove him, along with other religious men and women in the Arkansas River Valley, to produce around 4,900 bottles of his “Monk Sauce” hot sauce in 2024. It’s also what he said he hopes will inspire people around the country to get their hands dirty when it comes to growing their faith. 

“I just like to do whatever I can to help people,” he said. “I think the Monk Sauce is an example of something that people like, and I like to be able to provide it.” 

Father Walz has been producing hot sauce for over 20 years. He started the hobby in 2003 while stationed with the Benedictines in Belize. That year, upon returning to Subiaco Abbey, he decided to test his green thumb stateside with some seeds he had brought back from Central America.

During the first year of harvesting in Arkansas, he estimates that nearly 140 gallons of Monk Sauce were made, sold, or given away. Now, it gets shipped across the country and around the world. 

Monk Sauce is made from red (ripe) and green (unripe) habanero peppers. The growing process starts in the winter when Father Walz prepares his starter plants with seeds from the previous season’s harvest.

Father Walz explained that the abbey’s rich soil, combined with Arkansas’ daytime heat and nighttime chill, can produce as many as 1,200 pounds of peppers from 150 plants in a single harvest. The peppers are picked at their peak growth or ripeness and then combined with a unique recipe of onions, garlic, vinegar, and salt. 

While no specific prayer is said over the pepper plants or hot sauce bottles before they get sent out into the world, Father Walz noted that as a Benedictine, worship is at the core of every action at the abbey.

Around 1,500 years ago, St. Benedict laid out the rules by which monks and nuns following in his footsteps should carry themselves. In chapter 48 of The Rule of St. Benedict, he writes, “They are truly monks when they live by the labor of their hands, as did our fathers and the apostles.”

The hot sauce production aligns with the Benedictine tradition of balancing prayer and work, according to Father Walz. 

“Our whole day is filled with prayers,” he said. “That’s an ordinary thing, and all that we do is a blessing.

“The fact that a habanero pepper is able to get into a bottle of Monk Sauce is a blessing for it, and it should be a blessing for all those who get some.” 

Monk Sauce may be Father Walz’s idea, but it’s not just him reaping the benefits of the harvest, said Linda Freeman, who works alongside Father Walz as co-director of merchandising at the abbey. She has a bird’s eye view of everything from production management and creation to marketing and sales, knowing firsthand that the products made on-site are what allow Subiaco Abbey to sustain its work, expand its reach, and further its mission of daily communal prayer. 

In addition to the red and green Monk Sauce varieties, customers can also purchase a “smoked” sauce variety, seen here with a brown seal.

“When people find out that in the middle of rural Arkansas, there’s a monastery, and these monks are growing things and making things and producing things, the natural curiosity is to come check it out,” Freeman said. “We’re not in it for a large profit, but the connection to people and bringing more awareness of Subiaco Abbey is a big part of why we do it.” 

“We have a whole lot of volunteers that help us do these different things,” Father Walz added. “We recognize that we benefit an awful lot from the volunteers, mostly lay people in the surrounding area here.” 

Beyond Monk Sauce, there are multiple Subiaco Abbey products available on its website, including candles, snack foods, wood carvings, books, and calligraphy art. Freeman said the abbey also offers private and group retreats year-round. 

Although Arkansas is far removed from Brooklyn or even the Super Bowl in New Orleans, Father Walz offers an open invitation to anyone curious about how they can live as St. Benedict did — even if they aren’t rooting for his Kansas City Chiefs.

“I think there’s a lot of effort in the world today for people to be able to take some of the benefits of an institution that’s been around for 1,500 years and apply it to their own lives,” he said.

Father Walz’s Monk Sauce clocks in at 250,000 Scoville Units (the scale used to measure the spiciness of peppers and hot sauces), making it over 50 times hotter than Tabasco Brand Original. He said it pairs well with pizza, in salsas, as a compliment to burgers, and with his favorite dish, beans, which he developed a love for in Belize. 

“I like to put a dollop of hot sauce in every bite,” he said. “You keep the hot sauce off your lips, and it doesn’t burn — hardly at all.”