Courage, Energy

The truth of these words was also proven in the young monastic community of St. Vincent. If it is true that “all beginnings are difficult,” it was all the more so for Fr. Boniface and his brothers, since they had to lay the ground work for a great endeavor far from their homeland, in a strange country, not knowing the language, burdened by poverty and obstacles. The soul of the whole undertaking was Fr. Boniface. He was the leader; everyone looked to him, and he was well aware how important it was for him to keep up his courage and energy.

—From Boniface Wimmer, Abbot of Saint Vincent in Pennsylvania, translated by Dr. Maria Von Mickwitz and Father Warren Murrman, O.S.B., editor.