Wimmer Wednesday. A close encounter with a serpent: During my most recent stay at St. Mary’s I was almost bitten by a rattle snake; no one had ever seen one there before. I went with Brother Philipp, the carpenter, to inspect the school house near the church that had burned Read more…
Wimmer Wednesday. Boniface Wimmer described the establishment in St. Marys as follows: To the north of Carrolltown is our third place, at St. Maria, about 80 miles from the former. The parish there has about 400 families, all German and mostly Bavarians. Nine miles to the south of this is Read more…
Wimmer Wednesday. The outpost at Carrolltown is described by Boniface Wimmer as consisting of a wooden farm house and a chapel. The Sunday after the Feast of Corpus Christi in 1849, the corner stone was laid for a beautiful church built of brick, 110 ft. long. The stately building went Read more…
Wimmer Wednesday. Farming was the Abbey’s main source of support in 1852 and for many years. Boniface Wimmer wrote: I have used the money which I have received from the Mission Society, from his Majesty King Ludwig, and from other benefactors, to buy sufficient land to support a few hundred Read more…
Wimmer Wednesday. There was, and is, always construction at Saint Vincent. Here is a description of the monastery less than a decade from the arrival of founder Boniface Wimmer: The construction of the monastery is still far from completed. The main building is now 136 ft. long and 3 stories Read more…
Wimmer Wednesday. In 1852, as well as today, the monks were never wanting for work. Boniface Wimmer wrote: We are never wanting for work. For one, we have to put up new buildings every year, for which we make the bricks ourselves, break and burn the limestone, cut the boards. Read more…
Wimmer Wednesday. Boniface Wimmer gives some insights into manual labor: By laboring, the brothers are to prove that they do not enter the monastery to devote themselves to a life of comfortable leisure, but rather that they are endeavoring to “enter through the narrow gate,” that they do not recoil Read more…
Wimmer Wednesday. I cannot expect that they will all become priests. Some of them I have to take on from time to time to prepare them for holy confession and communion; but at least many will become priests, and, since they are learning both English and German, they will be Read more…
Wimmer Wednesday. In the early 1850s, Boniface Wimmer describes the library and the school at Saint Vincent: We are also very delighted to have a not insignificant library, which contains almost all the Latin Classics, several Greek ones, and very valuable historical works; and in the theology department, the old Read more…
Wimmer Wednesday. If this were a trivia game involving Saint Vincent, that would be a good question. Since it is Wimmer Wednesday, the answer might be something related to Boniface Wimmer or Saint Vincent. To be more specific, it is the name of his dog, taken from the Greek meaning Read more…