Boniface Wimmer Research Paper

Boniface Wimmer is regarded as one of the greatest missionaries of the nineteenth century. His mission was to establish a Benedictine monastery abroad in the United States to help the thousands of Catholic Germans who fled from their homeland in search of a better life. “Today, there are over thirty Abbeys and monasteries that take their root from Archabbot Boniface Wimmer, O.S.B.” With the grace of God, Boniface Wimmer succeeded. He was considered to be a “man on a mission.” His tenacious attitude aided him in spreading the mission of the Benedictine Order across the Atlantic Ocean. The Benedictines were seen not only as missionaries, but also as teachers and priests. The strong sense of bonding and connection within the community was vital to the Benedictine Order then, as it still is today.

On the fourteenth of January 1809, Sebastian Wimmer was born in the small town of Thalmassing, Germany. His parents, Peter and Elizabeth Lang Wimmer, were tavern keepers. Sebastian’s desire to help other individuals was apparent at an early age, for he believed he had been called by the Lord to devote his life exclusively to the priesthood. The simple monastic life was enticing! Sebastian Wimmer was an intelligent young man. He attended the University of Regensburg, also known as Ratisbon, where he studied many classical and philosophical courses, and later studied law at the University of Regensburg. A scholarship opened up in the Gregorianum, and Wimmer felt obligated to learn more about it in pursuit of his study for the priesthood. Wimmer took the competitive scholarship exam. He was offered a scholarship and remained there until he completed his theological studies. On the thirty-first of July 1831, at the age of twenty-two, Sebastian...

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...s forward” was a motto Archabbot Boniface Wimmer lived by. Archabbot Boniface Wimmer died on the eighth of December 1887, but his legacy lives on! He was a young Benedictine monk, who traveled to America in 1846, with the vision of establishing new monastic communities for the Benedictine Order. He wanted to convert the immigrants who sought refuge in America. Most importantly, he wanted to create a community that would grow in the spirit of Saint Benedict. Archabbot Boniface Wimmer was a heavenly father who guided many young monks on their spiritual journeys. At the consecration of the St. Vincent Archabbey, Bishop Canevin paraphrased Boniface’s accomplishments with these eloquent words, “Blessed is he that not gone after gold, nor put his trust in money nor treasure. Who is he that we will praise him? For he hath done wonderful things in life.”