Serious Scholar
Wimmer Wednesday. After a long hiatus, Wimmer Wednesdays are back. Our initial posts will be from an early biography of Boniface Wimmer, written by Oswald Moosmüller, O.S.B. The Sebastian referred to here was his name prior to becoming a monk.
“Sebastian took school very seriously; he did not consider it a playground. From the parochial school of his hometown, he went on to the Latin school in Regensburg. At the age of 12½, according to his report card of August 30 for the 1820-1821 school year, he placed 15th among his 88 classmates. His teacher, Mayrhofer, made the following comments:
‘Sebastian Wimmer has attained the same rank as his predecessor and joins the group of praiseworthy students in his class. Nature has equipped him with excellent intellectual potential. He has a lively temperament, grasps things well, and demonstrates quick and good judgment to a high degree. Given so many and such good traits, which many of his predecessors possess only to a lesser degree, he probably would have achieved a higher rank among the scholastic prize winners, if he had come to this class with the necessary prerequisites from his private tutoring. His diligence was untiring and steady, and his attention during class, undivided. Never did he come to class unprepared, especially in the second half of the year, when his mind awoke even more. He learned the rules of the Latin language excellently, though he did not always have that much success in their application. In his oral responses he shows thoughtfulness and mental maturity. Equally deserving of praise is the virtuous behavior of this student. His morals are unspoiled, and his overt behavior is open, relaxed, and more settled than one might expect of someone of his years. May the good boy continue on his commendably started way of life, and combine his lively eagerness for knowledge with an equally keen appreciation for virtue, and may he always maintain this.’
Regensburg, August 30, 1821
Mayrhofer”
—From Boniface Wimmer, Abbot of Saint Vincent in Pennsylvania, translated by Dr. Maria Von Mickwitz and Father Warren Murrman, O.S.B., editor.