Saint Vincent College was founded by Archabbot Boniface Wimmer, O.S.B., when he emigrated from Bavaria in 1846. He and 18 companions laid the foundation for the first of many Benedictine schools and monasteries in the United States. A look at the life of this remarkable man provides a glimpse into the work of Divine Providence in preparing Archabbot Wimmer for his historic mission that continues to bear fruit today.

On January 14, 1809, Sebastian Wimmer was born in Thalmassing, Bavaria to Catholic parents in a time of cultural change and upheaval. Bavaria was changing under Napoleonic influence and the rationalists were in power. Monasteries and churches were suppressed until a new king, Ludwig I, came to power. He understood that “Bavarian” and “Catholic” could not be separated. He devised a strategy to re-integrate and re-invigorate the Catholic faith into Bavarian culture through academics and prayer. Immediately he established the Ludwig Maximillian University with its own Catholic Theology “think tank” called the Round Table, and he began re-establishing monasteries, the first of which was Saint Michael’s Abbey in Metten.

Father Sebastian Wimmer, a newly ordained priest, was invited by his bishop to enter the recently opened Saint Michael’s Abbey. He professed his solemn vows in 1833, taking the religious name, Boniface, in honor of the Benedictine saint who converted Germany centuries earlier. In his early monastic years, Father Boniface worked in the university, gymnasium and in various parishes and shrines near the abbey.

The mid-1800s witnessed a massive European immigration to the United States. Right after the Irish blazed a path, there soon followed a great wave of Germans. Father Boniface heard of the plight of German-speaking Catholics in the United States and wanted to help. His first plan was to establish a monastery and seminary in Bavaria to send German-speaking priests to minister to these people. However, his abbot declined to let him proceed, and this setback gave Father Boniface the ability to conceive a better idea -- to begin a monastery and school in America. At first his abbot would not permit it, but eventually, Father Boniface’s persistence paid off. He came to Pennsylvania with 14 lay brother candidates and 4 priesthood candidates. They began monastic life at Saint Vincent on October 24, 1846 and the first day of school was October 25, 1846.

These good monks wasted no time. In five years, there were 100 monks in the community, and in ten years, 200 monks. By 1855 Saint Vincent became an abbey, with Boniface Wimmer as its first abbot. The school grew quickly to include elementary, secondary, college, graduate and seminary curricula. Students were predominantly German-speaking at first, but soon there was a fine mix of many ethnicities and languages spoken on campus.

Boniface Wimmer was named Archabbot in 1883, in recognition of his many accomplishments. During his years in the United States he founded 152 parishes, five abbeys, and many schools. His application of Saint Benedict’s motto of "work and prayer" formed a model for successful monastic life in the United States. His blueprint for success was simple: First, establish a monastic community with strong monks who own the land they build upon. Second, establish a parish,. And lastly, establish a school. History proved him correct. Any foundation that was missing one or more of these factors did not succeed.

Archabbot Boniface died on the Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception, December 8, 1887, after forty-one years of leading the Benedictines in America. Sadlier’s Catholic Dictionary called him the greatest missionary in the 19th century in their 1888 publication.

The Archabbots of Saint Vincent

Saint Vincent Archabbey's current shepherd, Archabbot Douglas R. Nowicki, O.S.B., grew up a short distance from Saint Vincent College, having attended Catholic schools at Saint Joseph in Everson, and Holy Cross in Youngwood.

Archabbot Douglas has been Archabbot of the Monastery and Chancellor of the College since his election on January 8, 1991. His study of the life of Archabbot Boniface Wimmer has influenced his leadership and guided the growth of Saint Vincent's apostolates. A child psychologist who worked closely with the late Fred Rogers, Archabbot Douglas has been affiliated with Saint Vincent from the age of 13 when he attended Saint Vincent Preparatory School. He earned a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Philosophy from Saint Vincent College in May, 1968, and a Master of Divinity from Saint Vincent Seminary in May, 1971, and a Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology from the University of Tennessee in December of 1977.

He was ordained a priest in 1972. He served as Secretary of Education for the Diocese of Pittsburgh for five years (1986 to 1990) and, during this time he also was among the founders and board members of the Extra Mile Education Foundation, a non-profit organization that helps minority families in low-income communities obtain a quality, Catholic education for their children. Because of the personal attention shown in them by Archabbot Douglas, many of these minority students later enrolled at Saint Vincent where they thrived and graduated.

Since his election as Archabbot, the College, as well as the Seminary, Parish and Monastery, have made major strides forward. The College has nearly doubled in size during that time -- from 1000 students to 1800 -- and construction projects totaling nearly $50 million have been completed. A record-breaking $75 million capital campaign was successfully completed in December 2006 under his direction which provided resources for campus improvements and substantial additions to the endowment fund.

In addition to his responsibilities at the Saint Vincent Archabbey and College campus, he is also the Major Superior of the Benedictines at the Priory and Benedictine Military School in Savannah, Georgia, and the Benedictine Priories in Brazil and Taiwan. The Benedictine monks of Saint Vincent Archabbey founded the original Fu Jen University in Beijing, the first Catholic University in China, in the 1920s. Today the Benedictines have a priory in Taiwan and teach at Fu Jen University in Taipei. The Benedictine Community recently opened a new school, Colegio Sao Bento, in Vinhedo, Brazil.

In 1992 Archabbot Douglas was named “Man of the Year in Religion” by Vectors/Pittsburgh, an organization whose mission is to improve the quality of living for Pittsburgh citizens. In 1995 he received an honorary Doctor of Humane Letters Degree from Saint Vincent College and, in the fall of 1999, he received an honorary Doctor of Letters Degree from Fu Jen University in Taiwan, Republic of China.

His close friendship with the late Fred Rogers, America's pioneer in children's television, led to the establishment of the Fred Rogers Center at Saint Vincent. Archabbot Douglas find great enjoyment in interacting with the students of Saint Vinent and is a frequent visitor to the classroom where he taught as a young priest. He has presided over the greatest expansion of Saint Vincent since the days of its founder, and his continued leadership assures the Archabbey, College and Seminary of even better days ahead.

Prior Archabbots

Archabbot Paul Maher, O.S.B. was a pastoral leader with a gentle spirit and cheerfulness who strengthened the many diverse missions of the Archabbey. He was archabbot during the introduction of coeducation at the College. He served from 1983 to 1990.

Archabbot Leopold Krul, O.S.B. was a prayerful man who presided over the deliberation to admit women students to the College and served from 1979 to 1983.

Archabbot Egbert H. Donovan, O.S.B. led the monastery through the turbulent times after the Second Vatican Council when monastic and religious life experienced much upheaval. He kept the community strong and developed programs that strengthened the spiritual, fiscal, and physical health of Saint Vincent Archabbey and its apostolates. He served from 1967 until 1979.

Archabbot Rembert G. Weakland, O.S.B. was a leader in a time of change in the Catholic Church. He brought together the community of Saint Vincent monastery that was divided by the categories of priests and brothers. He served from 1963 to 1967 when he was elected Abbot Primate of the world-wide Benedictine Confederation. He later became Archbishop of Milwaukee, Wisconsin, and served in this capacity for 25 years until his retirement.

Archabbot Denis Strittmatter, O.S.B. was a decisive leader who presided over the resurgence of the Archabbey after years of stagnancy in the wake of the Great Depression. He also faced, as all Catholic college leaders faced, the criticism that Catholic colleges needed better academic programs. While Saint Vincent College’s academic reputation was strong, Archabbot Strittmatter restructured the College with a monk president who was not the archabbot. He served from 1949 to 1963, and left office shortly after the Great Fire of January 28, 1963 which destroyed over half of the campus.

Archabbot Alfred Koch, O.S.B. was a strong leader, steady at the helm through the Great Depression. After the community incurred great debt on the China project and then was forced to leave China, Archabbot Alfred kept the monastery strong. He served from 1930 to 1949.

Archabbot Aurelius Stehle, O.S.B. expanded the Benedictine community to Beijing to by establishing the first Catholic University in China, Fu Jen University. He served from 1918 to 1930.

Archabbot Leander Schnerr, O.S.B. was much in the mold of Wimmer. He completed construction of the present-day Archabbey Church despite difficult economic times, and he helped to establish the National Benedictine Education Association. He served from 1892 to 1918.

Archabbot Andrew Hintenach, O.S.B. had the respect of the entire community of Saint Vincent and continued the work begun by Archabbot Wimmer. He brought the monks together more frequently for prayer and spiritual exercises and laid the physical foundation for the Archabbey Church. He served from 1888 to 1892.