From Benedict to Boniface and Beyond:The Vision and Legacy of Archabbot Boniface Wimmer

Saint Procopius

Abbey

Founded 1885

Lisle, ILAbove: Early Classroom at Benedictine University

Stability Adaptabilityand

The

Holy Rule

500 600 700 800

540Saint Benedict writes his

Rule

The Rise of Monasticism

590Pope Saint Gregory I

766Founding of Saint Michael’s Abbey

Metten, Germany

742Saint Boniface

Apostle to Germany

597Saint Augustine of

Canterbury

King

Maximilian I

JosephOf Bavaria

King

Ludwig IOf Bavaria

Education Monasticismand

Metten AbbeyFounded 766

Boniface Wimmer Abraham Lincoln Charles Darwin

Stability Adaptabilityand

Early Saint Vincent

1877

Pope

Pius IX1846 - 1878

Saint Vincent’s Brewery

and Gristmill

Saint John’s Abbey

Collegeville, MN

Founded 1856Left: Illuminated Manuscript by Saint John’s Abbey

Saint Benedict’s Abbey

Atchison, KS

Founded 1857Above: Monks and Monastery from 1955 Publication of LIFE

Saint Mary’s Abbey

Newark, NJ

Founded 1857Above: Community in 1927 with Abbot Bertrand Dolan, O.S.B.

The Civil War

Fr. Emmeran Blimmel, O.S.B.First American Catholic Chaplain killed in an American War

Killed during the Battle of Jonesboro, Georgia

Wednesday, August 31, 1864

Wimmer’s Formula for

A Successful Foundation

2. Start a Parish

3. Found a School

Success!

1. Own the Land

Monk in

Apostolate

Young Man with Vocation

New Monk

in Monastery

The Monastic

Circle of Life

Stability Adaptabilityand

Abbot-Sons of Saint Vincent, ca. 1894. Front Row, L-R: Benedict Menges, Saint Bernard, AL; Leander Schnerr, Saint Vincent, PA; Leo Haid, Mary Help of Christians, NC;

Innocent Wolf, Saint Benedict’s, KS; Hilary Pfraengle, Saint Mary’s, NJ. Back Row, L-R: Nepomucene Jaeger, Saint Procopius, IL; Unidentified Monk; Peter Engel, Saint

John’s, MN.