Saint Vincent Archabbey
Saint Vincent Archabbey, is a Roman Catholic 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 Benedictine monks of St. Vincent operate and teach 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 in Savannah, Georgia (Benedictine Military School).[1] The Archabbey also oversees Wimmer Priory in Taiwan, and Saint Benedict Priory in Brazil.[2]
 | |
  Location within Pennsylvania  Saint Vincent Archabbey (the United States) | |
| Monastery information | |
|---|---|
| Order | Benedictine |
| Established | October 24, 1846 |
| Mother house | Metten Abbey (Founded 766) |
| Diocese | Roman Catholic Diocese of Greensburg |
| People | |
| Founder(s) | Archabbot Boniface Wimmer, O.S.B. |
| Abbot | Rt. Rev. Douglas R. Nowicki, O.S.B., B.A. M.Div., Ph.D. (Administrator after May 8,2020) |
| Prior | Very Rev. Earl J. Henry, O.S.B. |
| Site | |
| Location | Latrobe, Pennsylvania, USA |
| Coordinates | 40.292408°N 79.405692°W |
| Public access | Yes |
| Website | www |
The original abbey structures were designed by the German-American architect, J. William Schickel and built between 1891 and 1905.
The current archabbot of St. Vincent Archabbey is Rt. Reverend Martin de Porres Bartel, O.S.B. who was elected by the monastic community on June 23, 2020. He is the twelfth archabbot of Saint Vincent. Bartel succeeded Rt. Reverend Douglas R. Nowicki, who was elected on March 1, 1991 and re-elected May 11, 2010. Nowicki's second term was completed on May 8, 2020, in accord with the congregational constitutions and norms of the American-Cassinese Congregation.
Prior to Rt. Rev. Martin Bartel, the Archabbey had had eleven archabbots:
- Boniface Wimmer (1855 to 1887)
- Andrew Hintenach (1888 to 1892)
- Leander Schnerr (1892 to 1918)
- Aurelius Stehle (1918 to 1930)
- Alfred Koch (1930 to 1949)
- Denis Strittmatter (1949 to 1963)
- Rembert Weakland (1963 to 1967)
- Egbert Donovan (1967 to 1979)
- Leopold Krul (1979 to 1983)
- Paul Maher (1983 to 1991)
- Douglas R. Nowicki (1991 to 2020)
The monks operate St. Vincent Archabbey Gristmill, listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1978.[3]
Monks from this abbey founded Newark Abbey (Newark, NJ) (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).
References
- Moody, Chuck. "Benedictine Fathers continue rich, historic tradition". Pittsburgh Catholic. Archived from the original on 2014-05-04.
- "Directory of Independent Monasteries and their Dependent Houses".
- "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. July 9, 2010.
- Oetgen, Jerome (2000). Mission to America: A History of Saint Vincent Archabbey, the First Benedictine Monastery in the United States. Washington: Catholic University of America Press. ISBN 0-8132-0957-9.
- Curran, Kathleen (2003). The Romanesque Revival: Religion, Politics, and Transnational Exchange. State College: Penn State University Press. ISBN 9780271022154.