Hmmm -- US Naval Academy midshipmen! Not your random glee club... ooh-rah!
Thanks for the lovely words re: the Benedictines. Our son attends St. Vincent's in Latrobe and the Archabbey there is beautiful. AND - it's Mr. (Fred) Rogers' hometown and I'm sure that somehow, remotely, by God's grace, he was influenced by the Benedictine charism of hospitality and stability.
That there were so many German speakers in America in the 1800s is certainly a fact kept out of the history books but makes perfect sense when you look at the immigration numbers and patterns from that time. And if you want to see beautiful old- world churches, take a tour of the Catholic churches of Central Ohio built by those German immigrants! Just beautiful!!
There were indeed lots of German speakers in the US--until WWI. Conflict between Irish and German in the US is a major theme in our Catholic history. The Irish, being Anglophones and cleverer politicians, largely prevailed. Alcohol was often the issue because Irish bishops strongly disapproved of drinking, even of moderate consumption of beer. When St. Vincent was founded, the monks innocently assumed that they would support themselves the same way they had back home, by brewing beer. The Irish Archbishop of Philadelphia was livid and forbade them. In Minnesota, Bishop Ireland would barge into German homes and throw their beer in the street.
Few people realize that German immigrants were a sizable part of Louisiana's population in the 19th C. They taught the locals to drink beer instead of wine, among other contributions. (My grandfather and great-grandfather worked for New Orleans breweries.) My grade school in Louisiana was run by Benedictines and monks from St. Joseph's Abbey in Covington served at my parish. By the way, St. Joseph's has a deal with Abita Beer (an excellent brew, available nationally) that earns them a cut on one of that company's products. (St. Joseph's monks also sell handmade coffins.)
The monks of St. Meinrad's built their beautiful abbey church themselves, of local stone. Southern Indiana was heavily Catholic German, with towns often settled by organized groups from the old country. Indeed, cities along the Mississippi, Ohio, and Missouri rivers attracted lots of German immigrants and their religious culture before WWI, with results still visible today.
The coffin-making business started as a way to use monastery trees knocked down by a hurricane. The state undertakers' association tried to stop them, claiming that the coffins were secret imports, not made by the monks. St. Joseph's was vindicated in court.
Some of the old abbeys are taking up beer brewing again, with the new microbrew culture! Subiaco Abbey in Arkansas started one up just a few years ago, although it's on pause now while their brewmaster brother is away at seminary.
Subiaco Abbey also sells good hot sauce. But the ancient abbeys of Belgium that make those famous abbey ales are having trouble getting enough vocations to man their brewhouses.
The Middies did themselves proud. But as a USAFA grad I would have liked to have seen some share the wealth with USMA, USAFA, and even USCGA. I sang in the USAFA Catholic Cadet Choir many moons ago (so many I've lost count). We were good enough to sing at St. Patrick's Cathedral in Manhattan back then. I suspect today's USAFA vocalists would have done well at yesterday's inauguration, too.
Slight correction - you have Cleveland's electoral history a bit topsy-turvy. He was first in the popular vote all three times. The year that was out of sync with the Electoral College was 1888, the year he lost, not 1884. And in fact due to a strong third party (the Populists) his popular vote percentage was actually lowest in 1892!
Back in 2017 when I was a lapsed Protestant working my way toward the Catholic Church, I was too scared to visit my parish church, so I booked a three-day weekend at the St. Meinrad guesthouse. It's where I learned to love the rhythms of the Mass and the Liturgy of the Hours.
Life was never the same after that, thanks be to God.
I spent two summers at St. Meinrad in Indiana and couldn't agree more with the general sentiment of your conclusion, "For our sake, thank God they did." .
Also, I had never thought of it but your comment on understanding Catholicism, especially in the Midwest without understanding the Benedictines is really insightful.
Perhaps the reason I fell in love with St. Meinrad and Benedictine spirituality so quickly is because I was already unknowingly exposed to it's influence as a kid raised in the Midwest. I hardly knew what a Benedictine was the first time I showed up but found their balanced way of life and measured way of living felt like home.
As I have just exhorted my coworkers to re-read Letter from Birmingham Jail (or, the letter to the white moderates), and it is on my mind, I will pray for the repose of the soul of Rev. Dr. MLK Jr and ask him to intercede for the release of the nonviolent pro-life protesters.
I am very glad to hear this! I have met one of them.
I will ask all the souls in purgatory to pray for the overturning of the legislation that puts people in federal prison for these things, so that we can go back to the way things are done for every other kind of nonviolent protest (civil rights era, migrant farmers' rights, and so on. One time folks brought a granddaughter of Cesar Chavez to my workplace to talk about, among other things, what it was like growing up in a family where going to jail briefly for a protest to get eyes on a problem via headlines was/is a normal thing.)
On their travels in the Little House books, Laura sometimes encounters adults who can only speak German. That’s the only reference I can remember to this in my very very thin knowledge of America in the 19th century.
Benedictine College, which was founded by the monks of St. Benedict’s Abbey in Atchison, Kansas, wouldn’t have existed without the efforts of the monks of St. Meinrad. And my husband and I, who are both BC grads, would never have met, and our kids would never have existed. God bless the German monks!
I’m a Seminarian at St Meinrad’s and it’s always interesting to see it pop up places. I’d never heard of it until I came here to study and now it feels like wherever I go I run into at least one person who has a connection here.
I know that messengers are often imperfect, but having the man who led the DNC in a bland prayer as your spokesperson for the dignity of migrants is really really unwise. Might as well put up a billboard on Pennsylvania Avenue saying "ignore our pleas"
And sadly, I highly doubt VP Vance will pick up the torch, as so far he's shown that he prefers earthly praise to heavenly praise, based on IVF and immigration comments.
I really fear that Catholics are going to be hung out to dry on the deportations and can only hope and pray for God's mercy to shine down on the President and hope his heart isn't hardened.
(And as an aside, immigration is a highly complex issue that has no easy answer. I'm not advocating for open borders or similar. But my fear is cruelty to the least of us and some of the plans floated are morally evil.)
Hmmm -- US Naval Academy midshipmen! Not your random glee club... ooh-rah!
Thanks for the lovely words re: the Benedictines. Our son attends St. Vincent's in Latrobe and the Archabbey there is beautiful. AND - it's Mr. (Fred) Rogers' hometown and I'm sure that somehow, remotely, by God's grace, he was influenced by the Benedictine charism of hospitality and stability.
That there were so many German speakers in America in the 1800s is certainly a fact kept out of the history books but makes perfect sense when you look at the immigration numbers and patterns from that time. And if you want to see beautiful old- world churches, take a tour of the Catholic churches of Central Ohio built by those German immigrants! Just beautiful!!
There were indeed lots of German speakers in the US--until WWI. Conflict between Irish and German in the US is a major theme in our Catholic history. The Irish, being Anglophones and cleverer politicians, largely prevailed. Alcohol was often the issue because Irish bishops strongly disapproved of drinking, even of moderate consumption of beer. When St. Vincent was founded, the monks innocently assumed that they would support themselves the same way they had back home, by brewing beer. The Irish Archbishop of Philadelphia was livid and forbade them. In Minnesota, Bishop Ireland would barge into German homes and throw their beer in the street.
Few people realize that German immigrants were a sizable part of Louisiana's population in the 19th C. They taught the locals to drink beer instead of wine, among other contributions. (My grandfather and great-grandfather worked for New Orleans breweries.) My grade school in Louisiana was run by Benedictines and monks from St. Joseph's Abbey in Covington served at my parish. By the way, St. Joseph's has a deal with Abita Beer (an excellent brew, available nationally) that earns them a cut on one of that company's products. (St. Joseph's monks also sell handmade coffins.)
The monks of St. Meinrad's built their beautiful abbey church themselves, of local stone. Southern Indiana was heavily Catholic German, with towns often settled by organized groups from the old country. Indeed, cities along the Mississippi, Ohio, and Missouri rivers attracted lots of German immigrants and their religious culture before WWI, with results still visible today.
I’ve always wanted to be buried in a St. Joseph coffin.
Me, too. Meanwhile,the last time I checked, the monastery has bees and plans to sell honey.
The coffin-making business started as a way to use monastery trees knocked down by a hurricane. The state undertakers' association tried to stop them, claiming that the coffins were secret imports, not made by the monks. St. Joseph's was vindicated in court.
Some of the old abbeys are taking up beer brewing again, with the new microbrew culture! Subiaco Abbey in Arkansas started one up just a few years ago, although it's on pause now while their brewmaster brother is away at seminary.
Subiaco Abbey also sells good hot sauce. But the ancient abbeys of Belgium that make those famous abbey ales are having trouble getting enough vocations to man their brewhouses.
The Middies did themselves proud. But as a USAFA grad I would have liked to have seen some share the wealth with USMA, USAFA, and even USCGA. I sang in the USAFA Catholic Cadet Choir many moons ago (so many I've lost count). We were good enough to sing at St. Patrick's Cathedral in Manhattan back then. I suspect today's USAFA vocalists would have done well at yesterday's inauguration, too.
Slight correction - you have Cleveland's electoral history a bit topsy-turvy. He was first in the popular vote all three times. The year that was out of sync with the Electoral College was 1888, the year he lost, not 1884. And in fact due to a strong third party (the Populists) his popular vote percentage was actually lowest in 1892!
Confound it. I'll issue a correction.
Back in 2017 when I was a lapsed Protestant working my way toward the Catholic Church, I was too scared to visit my parish church, so I booked a three-day weekend at the St. Meinrad guesthouse. It's where I learned to love the rhythms of the Mass and the Liturgy of the Hours.
Life was never the same after that, thanks be to God.
I spent two summers at St. Meinrad in Indiana and couldn't agree more with the general sentiment of your conclusion, "For our sake, thank God they did." .
Also, I had never thought of it but your comment on understanding Catholicism, especially in the Midwest without understanding the Benedictines is really insightful.
Perhaps the reason I fell in love with St. Meinrad and Benedictine spirituality so quickly is because I was already unknowingly exposed to it's influence as a kid raised in the Midwest. I hardly knew what a Benedictine was the first time I showed up but found their balanced way of life and measured way of living felt like home.
Thanks for highlighting such a special place.
1. Thank you for your shining a spotlight on St. Meinrad; I have a good college friend who’s a monk there.
2. Sunday School is a great work. I’ve just recently started listening to it and it has definitely informed my homilies for the better.
As I have just exhorted my coworkers to re-read Letter from Birmingham Jail (or, the letter to the white moderates), and it is on my mind, I will pray for the repose of the soul of Rev. Dr. MLK Jr and ask him to intercede for the release of the nonviolent pro-life protesters.
Sounds like your prayers were efficacious, if my understanding is correct.
I am very glad to hear this! I have met one of them.
I will ask all the souls in purgatory to pray for the overturning of the legislation that puts people in federal prison for these things, so that we can go back to the way things are done for every other kind of nonviolent protest (civil rights era, migrant farmers' rights, and so on. One time folks brought a granddaughter of Cesar Chavez to my workplace to talk about, among other things, what it was like growing up in a family where going to jail briefly for a protest to get eyes on a problem via headlines was/is a normal thing.)
"They also launched monastic communities of women, some of them becoming quite large."
That's no way to talk about religious women!! LOL!!
Made me smile.
On their travels in the Little House books, Laura sometimes encounters adults who can only speak German. That’s the only reference I can remember to this in my very very thin knowledge of America in the 19th century.
Benedictine College, which was founded by the monks of St. Benedict’s Abbey in Atchison, Kansas, wouldn’t have existed without the efforts of the monks of St. Meinrad. And my husband and I, who are both BC grads, would never have met, and our kids would never have existed. God bless the German monks!
...and God bless Fr. Meinrad Miller of that same College and Abbey in Atchison!
What number is 1,5000?
a large one
Allegedly, the Benedictines of St. Vincent Archabbey were the original brewmasters/formula developers of Rolling Rock Beer.
Besides that they have produced many great bishops and priests.
A “spin off” from St. Vincent is St. Bernard in Cullman, Alabama. Another oasis of prayer and holiness 🙏 and divine monk’s bread 🍞 🥖
I’m a Seminarian at St Meinrad’s and it’s always interesting to see it pop up places. I’d never heard of it until I came here to study and now it feels like wherever I go I run into at least one person who has a connection here.
I know that messengers are often imperfect, but having the man who led the DNC in a bland prayer as your spokesperson for the dignity of migrants is really really unwise. Might as well put up a billboard on Pennsylvania Avenue saying "ignore our pleas"
And sadly, I highly doubt VP Vance will pick up the torch, as so far he's shown that he prefers earthly praise to heavenly praise, based on IVF and immigration comments.
I really fear that Catholics are going to be hung out to dry on the deportations and can only hope and pray for God's mercy to shine down on the President and hope his heart isn't hardened.
(And as an aside, immigration is a highly complex issue that has no easy answer. I'm not advocating for open borders or similar. But my fear is cruelty to the least of us and some of the plans floated are morally evil.)
Hopefully Trump shows up at the March For Life this week and surprises everyone with pardons for the prolifers!