American-Cassinese Congregation
AbbreviationPost-nominal letters: O.S.B.
NicknameBenedictines
Formation24 August 1855; 168 years ago (1855-08-24)
FoundersAbbot Boniface Wimmer, O.S.B.
Founded atSaint Vincent Archabbey
TypeBenedictine Congregation
Region served
United States, Brazil, Canada, Colombia, Mexico, Taiwan
Members
608 monks as of 2020
Abbot President
Abbot Jonathan Licari, O.S.B.
AffiliationsRoman Catholic Church Benedictine Confederation
WebsiteOfficial website

The American-Cassinese Congregation is a Catholic association of Benedictine monasteries founded in 1855. The monasteries of the congregation follow the monastic way of life as outlined by St. Benedict of Nursia in his early 6th century Rule of Saint Benedict. The congregation is one of 19 congregations in the Benedictine Confederation and includes 25 monasteries: 19 autonomous abbeys and 6 dependent priories, located across 15 states and Puerto Rico, as well as Brazil, Canada, Colombia, Mexico, and Taiwan.[1][2]

History

In the eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries there was a general secularization and suppression of monasteries throughout Europe: "by 1810 fewer than thirty of the estimated 1500 European Benedictine monasteries that existed in the previous century remained."[3] Slowly, there arose a Benedictine revival that saw old monasteries re-founded, new monasteries founded, and a missionary impulse that began to spread monasticism across the world. Autonomous monasteries began to join together in collaborative efforts that would see the creation of "congregations" such as the French Solesmes Congregation in 1837, the Beuronese Congregation in 1868, the Subiaco Congregation in 1872, and the Swiss-American Congregation in 1881. It was in the midst of this revival that Abbot Boniface Wimmer , founder of Saint Vincent Archabbey in Latrobe, Pennsylvania, created the American-Cassinese congregation.[4] Pope Pius IX erected the congregation with the decree Inter ceteras on 24 August 1855, placing the congregation under the patronage of the Holy Guardian Angels.[1]

The American-Cassinese Congregation was the first Benedictine congregation to be established in North America, and after only a quarter-century of existence, had become the largest Benedictine congregation in the world.[5]

Former Presidents of the Congregation

These are the former presidents of the congregation in order of election and years served:[6]

  1. Boniface Wimmer (1855-1887)
  2. Alexius Edelbrock (1888-1890)
  3. Leo Haid (1890-1896)
  4. Innocent Wolf (1896-1902)
  5. Peter Engel (1902-1914)
  6. Ernest Helmstefter (1914-1932)
  7. Alcuin Deutsch (1932-1944)
  8. Mark Braun (1944-1953)
  9. Denis Strittmatter (1953-1965)
  10. Baldwin Dworschak (1965-1971)
  11. Martin Burne (1971-1983)
  12. John Eidenschink (1983-1989)
  13. Melvin Valvano (1989-2001)
  14. Timothy Kelly (2001-2010)
  15. Hugh Anderson (2010-2016)
  16. Elias R. Lorenzo (2016-2020)
  17. John Klassen (2020-2022)
  18. Jonathan Licari, OSB (2022–present)

Monasteries in the Congregation

[7] Monks from Metten Abbey in Bavaria founded St. Vincent Archabbey in Latrobe, Pennsylvania in 1846. Most, but not all, of the other monasteries in the American-Cassinese Congregation can trace their lineage back to Metten Abbey.[8][9]

There are currently twenty-five monasteries in the American-Cassinese Congregation. In the list below, monasteries in bold are current monasteries, while monasteries in italics are houses which were once part of the congregation but are not longer in existence.

Schools Affiliated with the American-Cassinese Congregation

From the inception of the American-Cassinese Congregation, educational and parochial apostolates directed to the needs of Catholic immigrants in the United States formed the main works of American-Cassinese monks.[5] Twenty educational apostolates founded by monasteries of the American-Cassinese Congregation continue to exist in 2022.

Colleges and Universities

[13]

Secondary Schools

Notes

  1. ^ a b "American-Cassinese Constitution". www.amcass.org. American-Cassinese Congregation. Retrieved 18 September 2021.
  2. ^ Catalogus Monasteriorum O.S.B. (SS. Patriarchae Benedicti Familiae Confoederatae: Curia dell'Abate Primate, Editio MMXX 2020).
  3. ^ Oetgen 2005, p. 237.
  4. ^ Oetgen 2005, p. 236-237.
  5. ^ a b Oetgen 2005, p. 235.
  6. ^ "Past Presidents of the Congregation". www.amcass.org. American-Cassinese Congregation. Retrieved 18 September 2021.
  7. ^ "Catalogue of the Monastic Congregation American-Cassinese 2022". Ordo for the Liturgy of the Hours and Mass in Churches and Oratories of the American-Cassinese Congregation O.S.B. for 2022. Collegeville, Minnesota: St. John's Abbey. 2022. pp. 235–327.
  8. ^ "Foundations | The American-Cassinese Congregation". amcass.org. Retrieved 27 June 2022.
  9. ^ Oetgen 2005, p. 236.
  10. ^ Oetgen 2005, p. 249-250.
  11. ^ Oetgen 2005, p. 246.
  12. ^ Oetgen 2005, p. 247.
  13. ^ "MEMBER INSTITUTIONS". ABCU. Retrieved 27 June 2022.

References

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