Schools for the Lord's Service

Jerome Oetgen is author of An American Abbot: Boniface Wimmer, O.S.B., 1809–1887; Mission to America: A History of Saint Vincent Archabbey, the First Benedictine Monastery in the United States; and Always Forward: A History of Saint Vincent Archabbey, 1949–2020. He is also editor of Boniface Wimmer: Letters of an American Abbot. Educated from an early age by the Benedictines, Oetgen is a graduate of St. Vincent College in Pennsylvania and holds an MDiv from St. Vincent Seminary, an MA from the University of North Carolina, and a PhD from the University of Toronto. A retired senior foreign service officer, he served at United States embassies in Italy, Spain, Ecuador, Paraguay, Nicaragua, and Haiti. He currently resides in Arlington, Virginia.

Contents
Foreword   xv
Abbreviations   xix
Acknowledgments   xxi
          PART 1 ORIGINS AND EARLY DEVELOPMENT: 1855–1905
Chapter 1 A New Benedictine Congregation   3
Table 1: American-Cassinese Monasteries (Founded 1846–1895)   4
Nineteenth-Century Benedictine Revival   5
Benedictine Congregations in History   6
Establishment of the American-Cassinese Congregation   12
Early Autonomous Monasteries   18
     St. Vincent Abbey, Pennsylvania   18
     St. John’s Abbey, Minnesota   20
     St. Benedict’s Abbey, Kansas   22
     St. Mary’s Abbey, New Jersey   25
     San José Priory, Texas   28
     St. Malachy’s Priory, Iowa   30
     Maryhelp Abbey, North Carolina   33
     St. Procopius Abbey, Illinois   35
     St. Meinrad Abbey, Indiana   38
Chapter 2 Bavarian Antecedents   41
Constitution and Statutes of the Bavarian Congregation   44 
Structure and Customs of the American-Cassinese Congregation   54
Table 2: American-Born Clerical Monks, American-Cassinese Congregation, 1869–1920   65
Table 3: Benedictine Monastic Population by Congregation in 1880   70
Table 4: Lay Brothers in American-Cassinese Monasteries in 1905   71
Chapter 3 Institutional Developments   77
Publications of the Congregation   83
Album Benedictinum of 1880   86
Second Abbot President: Alexius Edelbrock   88
Missionaries and Contemplatives   93
Irish and German Catholics   96
Bishop Leo Haid and the Tenth General Chapter   102
Chapter 4 Additional Foundations   107
The American Civil War   107
St. Bernard Abbey, Alabama   113
St. Leo Abbey, Florida   116
Holy Spirit Priory, Ecuador   120
New Cluny Priory, Illinois   124
St. Anselm Abbey, New Hampshire   130
St. Bede Abbey, Illinois   136
St. Martin’s Abbey, Washington   141
Holy Cross Abbey, Colorado   144
Chapter 5 Turn of the Century   151
Statutes of 1893   151
Abbot President Innocent Wolf (1896–1902)   156
American-Cassinese Schools   159
     St. Vincent College, Pennsylvania   160
     St. John’s University, Minnesota   161
     St. Benedict’s College, Kansas   162
     St. Benedict’s College, New Jersey   163 
     Benedictine College, Georgia, and Benedictine College, Virginia   164
     St. Mary’s College, North Carolina   165
     St. Procopius College, Illinois   166
     St. Leo College, Florida   167
     St. Bernard College, Alabama   168
     St. Anselm College, New Hampshire   170
     St. Martin’s College, Washington   171
     St. Bede College, Illinois   173
     St. Leander’s College, Colorado   174
Standardizing American Benedictine Education   175
Fourteenth General Chapter (Abbot President Peter Engel)   177
     St. Leo Abbey, Florida   177
     New Cluny Priory, Illinois   178
     St. Leander Priory, Colorado   179
     St. Martin’s Priory, Washington   179
The American-Cassinese Congregation in 1905   180
          PART 2 AN AGE OF CHALLENGE AND GROWTH: 1906–1955
Chapter 6 Developments in the Monasteries and Schools   187
A Territorial Abbey in North Carolina   187
A New Abbot President   189
National Benedictine Educational Association   191
A Territorial Abbey in Saskatchewan   197
Holy Cross Abbey in Colorado   200
St. Anselm Abbey in New Hampshire   202
St. Andrew Abbey in Ohio   207
St. Gregory’s Abbey in Oklahoma   211
Assumption Abbey in North Dakota   221
Chapter 7 A Catholic University in China   231
American Benedictines Go to China   233
American-Cassinese Congregation “Call to Arms”   236
Opening of the Catholic University of Peking   239
Setbacks in China and an Ill-Advised Loan   242
Death of the Archabbot   245
The Loan Comes Due   247
Progress at the Catholic University of Peking   248
“Mein Sorgenkind”   249
“An Accomplished Fact”   252
The Sleeping Giant Awakens   257
Ruling of the Court   259
Aftermath of Judgment   261
Resolution   264
Chapter 8 New Statutes, Liturgy, and Scholarship   271
The Revised Statutes of 1941   273
Radios in the Cloister   278
Monastic Ritual of 1942   280
Virgil Michel and the Liturgical Movement   282
Benedictine Liturgical Conference   285
General Chapter of 1944   292
Abbot President Alcuin Deutsch and the Pre-Eminence of St. John’s Abbey   294
Abbot President Mark Braun and the Post-War Years   296
The American Benedictine Academy   298
The American Benedictine Review   302
Scholarship in the American-Cassinese Congregation   303
Chapter 9 Initiatives at Mid-Century   309
Table 5: Number of American-Cassinese Monks, 1935–2000   311
Simple Monasticism   312 
King of Martyrs Priory   314
Abbot President Denis Strittmatter   321
The Status of Lay Brothers   326
Governance of American-Cassinese Colleges   332
St. Procopius Abbey’s Russian Mission   337
          PART 3 THE AGE OF VATICAN II: 1956–2000
Chapter 10 Priories and Foreign Missions   345
Table 6: American-Cassinese Priories and Foreign Missions   347
Dependent Priories That Became Autonomous Abbeys 348
     Newark Abbey (Newark, New Jersey)   348
     Mary Mother of the Church Abbey (Richmond, Virginia)   353
     Abbey of Tepeyac (Mexico City, Mexico)   355
     Abbey of San Antonio Abad (Humacao, Puerto Rico)   359
Current Dependent Priories   362
     São Bento Priory (Vinhedo, Brazil)   362
     Woodside Priory (Portola Valley, California)   364
     Tibatí Priory (Bogotá, Colombia)   366
     São José Priory (Mineiros, Brazil)   369
     Wimmer Priory (Taishan, Taiwan)   371
Former Independent Priories   374
     Sacred Heart Priory (Savannah, Georgia)   374
     St. Augustine’s Priory (Nassau, Bahamas)   376
     St. Maur’s Priory (Indianapolis, Indiana)   379
     Holy Trinity Priory (Butler, Pennsylvania)   382
Dependent Priories That Closed   384
     St. Anselm’s Priory (Tokyo, Japan)   384
     King of Martyrs Priory (Fifield, Wisconsin)   387
     Benedictine Priory (Chiayi, Taiwan)   387
     St. Mark’s Priory (South Union, Kentucky)   391 
Chapter 11 Monastic Renewal   393
Perfectae Caritatis   395
A Framework for Monastic Renewal   396
Vernacular in the Divine Office   402
Nonclerical Choir Monks   407
Thirty-Sixth General Chapter, First Session 1968   410
Renew and Create   419
Thirty-Sixth General Chapter, Second Session 1969   422
Juridic Elements   425
Proposed Amalgamation with Swiss-American Congregation   428
Chapter 12 Engaging Contemporary Culture   433
Apostolates   436
Serving the Church as Bishops   437
Formation   438
Visitations   440
Liturgical Renewal   442
Temporary Promises vs. Temporary Vows   446
The Common Life   448
Monastic Stewardship 450
Monasticism and Contemporary Culture   454
Monastic Work and Leisure   458
The Sesquimillennial Celebration   461
Monastic Spirituality and RB 1980   464
Declining Membership (1965–1980)   470
Chapter 13 Approaching the Millennium   477
Constitutions and Directory   480
Election of Abbot President Melvin Valvano   482
Abbatial Tenure 485 China Mission Redux   488
Guidelines for Abbatial Elections   492 
Guidelines for Visitations   493
Financial Norms   495
Monastic Ritual   496
Monastic Poverty   497
Protection of Children   499
Viability of the Monasteries   501
The Oblate Movement   506
Architectural Innovation   508
The American-Cassinese Congregation in the Year 2000   514
          PART 4 A NEW MILLENNIUM: 2001–2023
Chapter 14 Monasteries and Schools in the New Century   519
State of the Congregation in 2001   520
American-Cassinese Schools  523
Table 7: American-Cassinese Schools (2001)   524
Ecumenical Movement   534
International Benedictine Relations   536
Non-Ordained Abbots   542
Mount Saviour Monastery, New York   547
Suppression of Holy Cross Abbey   549
Monasteries in Need of Assistance   552
     Holy Trinity Monastery, Pennsylvania   552
     St. Leo Abbey, Florida   553
     Abadía de Tepeyac, Mexico   554
     Mount Saviour Monastery, New York   555
     Mary Mother of the Church Abbey, Virginia   556
     Abadía de San Antonio Abad, Puerto Rico   557
Chapter 15 Looking Ahead   559
Congregational Leadership (2001–2023)   559
The Tragedy of Sexual Abuse   563 
Ascetical Practices   568
Heritage of Boniface Wimmer   570
Disappearing Apostolates   571
Coronavirus Pandemic   578
Vocation Outreach and Social Media   581
Table 8: American-Cassinese Novices (1965–2023)   583
Intercultural Developments   586
Synodality and the Benedictine Rule   589
Mutual Assistance   592
Enduring Apostolates   595
What Does the Future Hold?    602
Selected Bibliography   609
Appendices   625
Index   629