The Lay Cistercian Review · Advent 2025 · Contributors
Contributors
John Pestian, Ph.D.
John Pestian, Ph.D., is a Lay Cistercian of Gethsemani in Cincinnati, Ohio. He is a medical scientist whose work in pediatric neuropsychiatric research is devoted to understanding and healing the suffering of children and families. A contemplative by vocation, he grounds his life in silence, prayer, and the wisdom of the Cistercian tradition. A husband and father, he seeks to bring that same spirit into the ordinary rhythms of daily life.
Ray Geers
Ray Geers has been a Lay Cistercian of Gethsemani since 2004. He works in as a therapist in physical medicine in an acute care hospital in Cincinnati, Ohio. He is married to his wife Jeanne with three adult children and a grandson. Ray first visited the Trappist Abbey of Gethsemani in 1981 as a high school student and entered the postualancy in 1986 and the novitiate the next year. The time spent there profoundly shaped his love for life and, more specifically, for community. He is a member of several of them, including The Oratory of Saint John Vianney at Saint Anthony Church and Bethany Center for Nonviolent Theology and Spirituality. Ray loves to share his expressions of the mind and heart through writing, music, and occasionally through illustrations.
Michael Johnson
Mike Johnson has been a Lay Cistercian of Gethsemani Abbey for thirty-six years. He and his wife reside near Oxford, Ohio. He is a retired social worker who was employed in public child protection services as a field worker and manager for thirty-two years. Mike serves on the Board of a community interfaith center in Oxford and as a lay pastoral minister at his parish.
Michael Patrick O’Brien
Mike O’Brien is a writer and attorney living in Salt Lake City, Utah. Paraclete Press published his book Monastery Mornings in August 2021. The League of Utah Writers chose it as the best non-fiction book of 2022. Mike’s new holiday novel, tentatively titled The Merry Matchmaker Monks, will be published in time for Christmas 2026. Author website: michaelpatrickobrien.com.
Teresa McMahon
Teresa McMahon has been an associate of the Cistercian communities of New Melleray Abbey and Our Lady of the Mississippi Abbey (both in Iowa) since 1996. She currently serves as the English Commission Representative on the Coordinating Committee of the International Association of Lay Cistercian Communities. She is an attorney who spent her career in public service.
Fredrick Wise
Frederick Wise, D.Min., is a Lay Cistercian of Holy Cross Abbey, Berryville, along with his wife Elizabeth. He has taught Theology in Catholic schools for 35 years, along with being an experienced leader of prayer, worship, and retreats.