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Benedictine Congregation of Saint Ottilien

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The Ottilien Congregation , officially known as the Benedictine Congregation of Sankt Ottilien and as the Missionary Benedictines , is a congregation of religious houses within the Benedictine Confederation , the aim of which is to combine the Benedictine way of life with activity in the mission field.

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27-570: The congregation was founded in 1884, incorporating the houses founded on the vision of Andreas Amrhein , a monk of Beuron Archabbey , who, finding it impossible to realise the vision of the Benedictine mission within Beuron, left to begin an independent community. He set up a house in 1884 at Reichenbach in the Oberpfalz , but the site was too remote, and in 1887 the community moved to what

54-1050: A Basilica. The frescos however were undertaken by the art school of the mother-house at Beuron, much against the will of Béthune and Desclée, who dismissed the Beuron style as "Assyrian-Bavarian". The Abbey holds an annual traditional Christmas market, with a popular indoor skating rink. Maredsous has either founded, or has been instrumental in the foundation of, a number of other Benedictine houses: Sant'Anselmo all'Aventino in Rome (1893); abbeys in Brazil (1895); St. Andrew's Abbey, Zevenkerken , Bruges (1899); Keizersberg Abbey in Leuven (1899); Glenstal Abbey in Ireland (1927); Gihindamuyaga in Rwanda (1958); Quévy Abbey in Hainaut (1969). The idea of an art school, inspired by that at

81-713: A Congregation founded with the purpose of evangelizing German East Africa, it is no great surprise that the vast majority of early monks were Germans. As the Church grew in Africa and Asia, the Missionary Benedictines eventually began to accept indigenous vocations. In 2024, the 1021 monks of the Congregation belong to 25 communities in Africa (58%), Asia (16%), the Americas (2%) and Europe (24%). At this time

108-465: A member of the Congregation of Beuron. The abbey was subsequently affiliated with the Congregation of the Annunciation within the Benedictine confederation, from 1920. By a pontifical letter of Pope Pius XI dated 12 October 1926, the abbey church was awarded the title of minor basilica . Though various cheeses are products of the abbey's own dairy, Maredsous Beer is no longer brewed there but in

135-680: A monk at Maredsous. In 1883 Amrhein made a pilgrimage to Rome and on the way visited in Steyl , Holland Arnold Janssen , founder of the missionary Society of the Divine Word . While in Rome Amrhein discussed with members of Propaganda Fide his idea about a missionary society based on the Rule of St. Benedict. Archbishop Jacobini, secretary of the Congregation encouraged him to return to Steyl and learn from Janssen. He also met Francis Mary of

162-642: Is a founding member of the Annunciation Congregation of the Benedictine Confederation . The abbey was founded as a priory on 15 November 1872 by Beuron Abbey , with the financial support of the Desclée family, who donated some land and paid for the plans and construction of the buildings which were designed by Jean-Baptiste Bethune . In 1878, the priory was raised to the status of abbey by Pope Leo XIII and became

189-543: Is based on the 13th century Cistercian abbey of Villers at Villers-la-Ville in Walloon Brabant . Construction was finished in 1892. Along the aisles are arranged side chapels.As it is a monastic church, one will not be surprised by the importance of the choir where the stalls of the monks are arranged, and where, several times a day, they sing the Office. By a brief of October 12, 1926, Pope Pius XI erected it as

216-654: Is now St. Ottilien Archabbey in Oberbayern . In the same year the first missionary monks left for the Apostolic Prefecture of South Zanzibar in German East Africa , a territory which now comprises several dioceses in Tanzania , which the monks serve from the abbeys of Peramiho, Ndanda and Hanga and several smaller houses. Similarly the Congregation's Zululand mission (begun in 1921)

243-912: Is now an independent monastery serving the diocese it once helped to create. In 1908 an Asian mission field was added, comprising two abbeys in North Korea and China, which after the end of World War II were re-constituted as Waegwan Abbey in South Korea . There is also a priory at Digos on Mindanao Island in the Philippines , and a priory at Kumily in Kerala (India). Further monasteries were established in North and South America after World War I , and more recently several new foundations have been made in Uganda, Togo, Cuba, Egypt. Until 2012,

270-634: The Silvestrines ' work in Ceylon and Rosendo Salvado 's mission in Australia. He also met Gerard van Caloen , who later founded the St. Andrew's Abbey, Zevenkerken specifically to train monks for the missions. On February 2, 1875, Amrhein made his solemn profession. In 1878 the two made a pilgrimage to Affligem . Recalled to Beuron due to ill health, Amrhein served his abbey in various capacities during

297-687: The Archabbot of St. Ottilien was the ex officio president of the congregation. Since 2012 the president is elected by the General Chapter. Women religious have formed part of the Missionary Benedictine enterprise from the beginning, based at first at St. Ottilien but shortly after at their own house nearby. They have developed independently and today form the Congregation of Missionary Benedictine Sisters of Tutzing . As

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324-640: The Congregation features three houses with monastic populations in excess of one hundred monks: Andreas Amrhein Andreas Amrhein was a Swiss Benedictine monk who founded the Benedictine Congregation of Saint Ottilien and the Missionary Benedictine Sisters of Tutzing to combine the Benedictine way of life with activity in the mission field. Joseph Amrhein was born in 1844 at Gunzwil in

351-584: The Congregation of St. Ottilien until his resignation from office in January 1896. Amrhein was a visionary, but not an administrator. The bishop-visitator asked Archabbot Placidus Wolter and the Beuronese Congregation to straighten out some matters at St. Ottilien. St. Ottilien's was designated a conventual priory and the Congregation accepted into the Benedictine Confederation . In 1913 the remains of Münsterschwarzach Abbey were re-acquired by

378-684: The Cross Jordan , founder of the Salvatorians , and Salvado who was visiting from Western Australia. Only Dom Salvado's group had a monastic aspect. Amrhein then spent six months in Steyl, with Janssen, through whose good offices Amrhein had first contacted Propaganda Fide. Janssen interceded on Amrhein's behalf with Abbot Wolter. In August 1883 Amrhein was granted exclaustration by the pope, relieving him of his vow of stability to Beuron. In November 1883 Amrhein left Steyl for Regensburg where he

405-729: The Duvel Moortgat brewery in Flanders, which has been authorised to make and supply it. Maredsous Abbey was founded on 15 November 1872 by Beuron Abbey in Germany , the founder of many religious houses, at the instigation of Hildebrand de Hemptinne , a Belgian monk at Beuron and later abbot of Maredsous. The foundation was supported financially by the Desclée family , who paid for the design and construction. The Desclée brothers, printers of liturgical publications, were interested in

432-678: The Missionary Benedictines, as St. Ottilien's first daughter house, along with the necessary land to support it. In 1903, the publisher Benzinger of Einsiedeln commissioned a large painting of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, called "Iesus, Salvator Mundi". Amrhein signed it with the pseudonym, "Georg André". In 2012 the painting was located in the Benzinger Archives of the Fram Museum in Einsiedeln. The museum agreed to sell

459-575: The age of 24 he began to study theology at Tubingen. Amrhein felt a drawn to become a member of a religious order, and was profoundly impressed by lectures at Tubingen on the role played during the middle ages by Saint Boniface in the spread of Christian culture. On Pentecost, 1870 he made a retreat at the Benedictine Abbey of Beuron , and six months later entered the novitiate, taking the name "Andreas". Although he had mentioned his missionary hopes to Abbot Maurus , Amrhein soon learned that

486-541: The canton of Lucerne, Switzerland. From childhood he suffered from poor health. At the age of ten, he expressed interest in being a missionary priest. In 1863, he took up the study of art in Florence, and in 1865 continued his studies in Paris. In 1866 he went to Karlsruhe to study painting and literature. While there he reportedly had a mystical experience which convinced him that he should enter religious life. in 1868 at

513-511: The contemplative life at Beuron did not provide for an active external apostolate. He wanted to leave before his profession but was dissuaded. The abbot apparently believed in Amrhein's monastic vocation, but not his missionary aspirations. On Christmas 1871 Amrhein professed simple perpetual vows, and on July 16, 1872, was ordained a priest. That autumn, he was sent to Beuron’s daughter-house of Maredsous . While at Maredsous, Amrhein learned of

540-550: The emphasis changed more explicitly towards the training of artists rather than skilled craftsmen. In 1964, after establishing an international reputation, the school merged with the Namur School of Crafts to form the I.A.T.A. ( Technical Institute of Arts and Crafts ). Maredsous Abbey is known for the production of Maredsous cheese, a loaf-shaped cheese made from cow's milk . In 2016 the Cheesemaking Museum

567-613: The hard times of the " Kulturkampf ". In 1880 he was sent to Beuron’s foundation at Erdington in England to teach in the parish school. While in England he met Bishop Herbert Vaughan who was planning a missionary society. In 1826 Abbot Maurus granted Amrhein permission to spend six months with the Mill Hill Missionaries ; but in following year the Abbot asked Amrhein to choose between Mill Hill and Beuron. Amrhein remained

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594-422: The leadership of Father Pascal Rox, and in due course the production began of neo-gothic works of high quality (vestments, pieces of silver, bindings and so on) destined mostly for the abbey itself. The school's activities were curtailed by World War I and it was almost closed down in 1919, but it survived by widening its remit to undertaking paid work in a more modern style for outside customers. From 1939 onwards,

621-524: The mother house, led to the foundation of the School of Applied Arts and Crafts, also known as the St. Joseph School. There was a difference of opinion as to whether it should serve more as a place for training poor children as carpenters, blacksmiths, plumbers and cobblers, or whether it should function more as a centre of fine arts and crafts. It was the latter view that prevailed when the school opened in 1903 under

648-547: The painting to the Missionary Benedictine Sisters of Tutzing, a congregation founded by Amrhein. It now resides in the Casa Santo Spirito, the congregation's international generalate in Rome. Father Andreas Amrhein died on December 29, 1927. Maredsous Abbey Maredsous Abbey ( French : Abbaye de Maredsous ) is a Benedictine monastery at Maredsous , in the municipality of Anhée , Wallonia , Belgium. It

675-603: The restoration of Christian art. Like Hemptinne, Jules Desclée had served in the Papal Zouaves . The brothers chose a picturesque site on an estate of Henri Desclée's in the Province of Namur, for the erection of a monastery in which to establish the monks of Beuron. The buildings are the masterwork of the architect Jean-Baptiste de Béthune (1831–1894), leader of the neo-Gothic style in Belgium. The overall plan

702-542: The training of missionaries. Inspired by the lives of saints Leoba , Thekla, and Walburga, Amrhein also made provision for a convent of nuns at Reichenbach. The entire community moved to Emming in 1887. The place was later renamed ‘Sankt Ottilien’ in honour of St Odilia to whom a local shrine was dedicated. That same year the Propaganda Fide recognized the community as a German Benedictine Congregation for Foreign Missions. Father Amrhein governed both branches of

729-534: Was offered the abandoned Reichenbach Abbey, a former Benedictine monastery. Much work was required to make the derelict building habitable. After many months he received government approval as long as he did not call the establishment an abbey. He named it the "Benedictine Society for the Foreign Missions". In June 1884, Amrhein received ecclesiastical approval to open a mission house in Reichenbach for

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