Monastery information | |
---|---|
Order | Benedictine |
Established | October 24, 1846 |
Mother house | Metten Abbey (Founded 766) |
Diocese | Diocese of Greensburg |
People | |
Founder(s) | Archabbot Boniface Wimmer, O.S.B. |
Abbot | Rt. Rev. Martin Bartel, O.S.B. |
Prior | Rev. Killian Loch, O.S.B. |
Site | |
Location | Latrobe, Pennsylvania, U.S. |
Coordinates | 40°17′34″N79°24′03″W / 40.29278°N 79.40083°W |
Public access | Yes |
Website | www |
Saint Vincent Archabbey is a Benedictine monastery in Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania in the city of Latrobe. A member of the American-Cassinese Congregation, it is the oldest Benedictine monastery in the United States and the largest in the Western Hemisphere. The shrine is dedicated to Saint Vincent de Paul.
Pope Pius XI raised the monastery church to the status of a Minor basilica via his decree Quasi fons lucis on 25 August 1955.
The Benedictine monks of Saint Vincent operate and teach at Saint Vincent Basilica Parish, Saint Vincent College, and Saint Vincent Seminary. The monks also provide pastoral care for Catholics in the dioceses of Baltimore, Greensburg, Pittsburgh, Harrisburg, Altoona-Johnstown, and Richmond. The monks also run a military school from the Savannah Priory in Savannah, Georgia (Benedictine Military School). [1] The archabbey also oversees Wimmer Priory in Taiwan, and Saint Benedict Priory in Brazil. [2]
The original abbey structures, including the present church, were designed by the German-American architect J. William Schickel and built between 1891 and 1905. The archabbey church was dedicated by bishop Regis Canevin of Pittsburgh on August 24, 1905 [3] and declared a minor basilica by Pius XII on the same date in 1955. [4]
The monks operate St. Vincent Archabbey Gristmill, listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1978. [5]
Monks from the abbey founded Newark Abbey (Newark, New Jersey) (founded as St Mary's), Saint John's Abbey (Collegeville, Minnesota), Saint Bernard Abbey (Cullman, Alabama), Saint Benedict Abbey (Atchison, Kansas), Saint Mary's Abbey (Morristown, New Jersey), Saint Bede Abbey (Peru, Illinois), Saint Procopius Abbey (Lisle, Illinois), and Mary Help of Christians Abbey (Belmont, North Carolina).
The current archabbot of St. Vincent Archabbey is Martin de Porres Bartel, who was elected by the monastic community on June 23, 2020. He is the twelfth archabbot of Saint Vincent. Bartel succeeded the Rt. Rev. Douglas R. Nowicki.
Over its almost 200 years of existence, the archabbey has had twelve archabbots:
The Benedictines, officially the Order of Saint Benedict, are a mainly contemplative monastic religious order of the Catholic Church for men and for women who follow the Rule of Saint Benedict. The male religious are also sometimes called the Black Monks, in reference to the colour of their religious habits, in contrast to other Benedictine orders such as the Olivetans, who wear white. They were founded in 529 by Benedict of Nursia, a 6th-century Italian monk who laid the foundations of Benedictine monasticism through the formulation of his Rule. Benedict's sister, Scholastica, possibly his twin, also became a religious from an early age, but chose to live as a hermit. They retained a close relationship until her death.
Saint Vincent College is a private Benedictine college in Latrobe, Pennsylvania. Founded in 1846 by Boniface Wimmer, a monk from Bavaria, it is operated by the Benedictine Monks of Saint Vincent Archabbey, the first Benedictine monastery in the United States, which was also founded by Wimmer.
The Abbey Basilica of Mary Help of Christians, informally known as the Belmont Abbey, is a Roman Catholic Benedictine monastery and a Minor Basilica in Belmont, North Carolina, United States of America. The building was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1973. The monastery is administered by the American-Cassinese Benedictine Congregation.
Saint Meinrad Archabbey is a Catholic monastery in Spencer County, Indiana, US, was founded by monks from Einsiedeln Abbey in Switzerland on March 21, 1854, and is home to approximately 79 monks. The Saint Meinrad Seminary and School of Theology is also located on the premises.
Saint Leo Abbey is an American-Cassinese monastery of Benedictine monks located in Saint Leo, Florida, United States.
Saint Vincent Seminary is a Roman Catholic seminary in Latrobe, Pennsylvania. It was founded by Father Boniface Wimmer in 1846, who came from Saint Michael's Abbey in Metten, Bavaria, to establish Saint Vincent Archabbey as the first Benedictine monastery in North America. It is the fourth oldest Catholic seminary in the United States.
Archabbot Boniface Wimmer, (1809–1887) was a German monk who in 1846 founded the first Benedictine monastery in the United States, Saint Vincent Archabbey in Latrobe, Pennsylvania, forty miles southeast of Pittsburgh.
Leo Haid was an American Benedictine abbot and Catholic bishop, who served as the abbot of the Abbey of Mary Help of Christians, in Belmont, North Carolina, from 1885 to 1924. He also served as vicar apostolic of North Carolina from 1888 to 1910 and territorial abbot from 1910 to 1924.
Louis Mary Fink, O.S.B., was a German-born Benedictine monk and prelate of the Roman Catholic Church. He was the first Bishop of Leavenworth (1877–1904).
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.
Saint Anselm Abbey, located in Goffstown, New Hampshire, United States, is a Benedictine abbey composed of men living under the Rule of Saint Benedict within the Catholic Church. The abbey was founded in 1889 under the patronage of Saint Anselm of Canterbury, a Benedictine monk of Bec and former archbishop of Canterbury in England. The monks are involved in the operation of Saint Anselm College. The abbey is a member of the American-Cassinese Congregation of the Benedictine Confederation.
Douglas Robert Nowicki is an American Benedictine monk and Catholic priest. From 1991 to 2020, he served as the 11th Archabbot of Saint Vincent Archabbey in Latrobe, Pennsylvania, and by extension, the Chancellor of Saint Vincent College and the Chancellor of Saint Vincent Seminary. Nowicki became solemnly professed on July 11, 1966 and was ordained a priest on May 21, 1972. He served the monastic community and the Diocese of Pittsburgh in various capacities before his election as archabbot in 1991.
The Benedictine Priory of Savannah is a Catholic monastery of Benedictine monks located in Savannah, Georgia. The priory was founded in 1877, and is a dependency of Saint Vincent Archabbey in Latrobe, Pennsylvania, and thereby belongs to the American-Cassinese Congregation. It currently operates the Benedictine Military School for boys.
The Benedictines Sisters of Elk County were a religious congregation established in Marienstadt, Pennsylvania in 1852 by three sisters from Saint Walburge Abbey in Bavaria. There they established St. Joseph Monastery, the first convent of Benedictine Sisters in North America. They opened a school for girls, St. Benedict Academy, and in 1933 expanded their apostolate into healthcare, becoming the owner and operator of Andrew Kaul Memorial Hospital in St. Marys.
Newark Abbey, also known as The Benedictine Abbey of Newark, is a Benedictine monastery located in Newark, New Jersey. It is one of only several urban Catholic monasteries in the country. The monks serve the community through Saint Benedict's Preparatory School and St. Mary's Abbey Church, which are situated on the Abbey grounds. As of 2022, the community is composed of seventeen monks, including eleven priests.
Martin de Porres Bartel is an American Benedictine monk and Catholic priest, elected in 2020 to serve as the twelfth Archabbot of Saint Vincent Archabbey in Latrobe, Pennsylvania.
Leander Schnerr was a German-American Catholic priest and Benedictine monk who served as the archabbot of Saint Vincent Archabbey and president of Saint Vincent College from 1892 to 1920. Before being elected archabbot, he had a career as a priest serving German-speaking parishes in Kentucky, Pennsylvania, and Illinois.
Saint Vincent Beer was a dark lager brewed by monks at Saint Vincent Archabbey in Unity Township, Pennsylvania, United States, between 1856 and 1918. Pope Pius IX granted the monks permission to brew in 1852, ending a dispute with the Roman Catholic Diocese of Pittsburgh. The brewery was located in a log cabin near the Saint Vincent Archabbey Gristmill and a brick building supplemented the cabin in 1868. After production ceased, the monastery used the buildings for storage until they burned down in 1926. The walls were removed from the site in 1995 during the restoration of the gristmill.
Andrew Hintenach, OSB was a German-born Catholic monk who served as the second archabbot of Saint Vincent Archabbey in Latrobe, Pennsylvania from 1888 to 1892.
Aurelius Aloysius Stehle, OSB was an American Catholic Benedictine priest and fourth archabbot of St. Vincent Archabbey in Latrobe, Pennsylvania.