Muenster, St. Peter's Abbey

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While St. Peter's location at Muenster goes back to 1903, the community had its beginnings 10 years earlier. It was first established in 1892 by St. Vincent Archabbey, Latrobe, Penn., as Cluny Priory near Wetaug, southern Illinois. The founding prior was Oswald Moosmueller.

After his death on Jan. 1, 1901, the community of a dozen monks faced a crisis. No one was found to replace him. Thus Fr. Alfred Mayer, a monk of St. John's Abbey, was appointed as prior by Rome for a five year term. He found the situation at Cluny disheartening.

He quickly decided there was no future for a monastery at that location and the monks should join another monastery or move to a new location.

It was at this time that St. John's Abbey was requested to supply priests for a new Catholic colony in Saskatchewan. St. John's Abbey suggested to the Cluniac monks that they relocate to Saskatchewan. On Dec. 22, 1902, the four monks in solemn vows met in the rectory of Assumption Church, St. Paul's, Minn., and voted to accept the offer. The four were Prior Alfred Mayer and Frs. Matthias Steger, Benedict Steigenberger and Peter Windschiegl.

Prior Alfred lost no time. From Jan. 3 16, 1903 he accompanied Fr. Bruno Doerfler on a trip to inspect the territory. The railway took them to Rosthern. From there they went eastward by horse to identify the location of the new abbey. On Jan. 11, they celebrated the first mass in the colony, in the St. Benedict district (Hoodoo), then visited the district 12 miles south and called it Leofeld. Then the two Benedictines visited Bishop Pascal in Prince Albert and got permission to found a monastery in the Prince Albert Diocese. By this time 700 homesteads had already been filed in the colony which comprised 50 townships west of 2nd meridian.

On Feb. 25, 1903, Prior Alfred made a second trip, accompanied by Fr. Dominic Hofmann, pastor of Assumption Parish in St. Paul. They travelled eastward as far as Waldsea Lake. Hard, icy snow prevented them from going to visit the site of the homestead already chosen for the monastery. On April 13 Prior Alfred made a third trip to Rosthern and made the necessary arrangements for transferring Cluny Priory to St. Peter's Colony in the spring. No time was to be lost.

Back at St. John's, Prior Alfred made the immediate preparations for the migration, buying farm implements and other supplies. He had left Frs. Matthias and Leo Ojdowski and Br. Rhaban Cononge at Cluny Priory to wind up activities there: selling what could be sold, including a large sawmill, and renting out 900 acres of land. (This land was sold in 1906). Fr. Leo and Br. Rhaban came to the colony in the fall of 1903. Fr. Matthias arrived a half year later, in April 1904. Meanwhile two Cluniac monks, Peter Windschiegl and Bernard Schaeffler, went to St. John's Abbey to complete their theological studies.

Fr. Bruno remained behind at Rosthern to welcome the new settlers arriving in great numbers. He stayed there until September, when he returned to St. John's Abbey for the start of a new school year. He was replaced at Rosthern by Fr. Benedict Steigenberger, who had arrived in June, 1904, and who took care of St. Odilion Parish in Rosthern.

The remaining monks Prior Alfred, Frs. John Balfrey and Rudolph Palm, candidate Aloysius Gleissner and Brs. Adolph Steiger and Bruno Fuchs—left Rosthern early on May 16, arriving at the Humboldt telegraph station on May 20, where they lodged in a large uninhabited house. It had snowed on May 19. The next day, May 21, Ascension Thursday, the group reached the homestead section and celebrated the first mass on home territory in a tent. (The site, near the Wolverine Creek south of Muenster, is marked by a cairn.)

The major task that awaited the incoming monks was to locate the pioneer settlers in the colony and begin organizing parishes, erecting churches and residences, and establishing parochial schools for the children.

By 1906 there were 6,000 settlers in the colony. In 1906 the five year term of Prior Alfred was up and an election of a new prior took place. Fr. Bruno Doerfler was elected.

Another important step was starting the St. Peter's Bote in February, 1904, less than a year after the monks arrived. Fr. Bruno himself went from St. John's to Winnipeg in January, 1905 to become the editor of the Bote. By September, 1905 a printing press was set up at Muenster and Fr. Bruno continued his work as editor there.

Another great need was the education of children. Parochial schools were started at most parishes with resident pastors. At the monastery Fr. John Balfrey gathered the children for classes in arithmetic and writing in the log church that was erected in 1903. These classes continued in the sacristy of the cathedral church from 1910 until the Ursuline sisters took over in 1914.

In 1910 the monastic community petitioned Rome to elevate St. Peter's Priory to an abbey. The request was granted on Aug. 15, 1911, and Prior Bruno was appointed the first abbot. He was blessed on Oct. 18, 1911. Ursuline sisters from Haseluenne began arriving Sept. 2, 1913. Within a year they were teaching at Muenster, Leofeld and Bruno. A school and temporary convent were opened on Jan. 7, 1915, at Marysburg. In 1918 they decided to relocate their home to Bruno.

The abbot was also the pastor of St. Peter's Church. A first log church had been enlarged in 1905. A larger church, the present cathedral, was begun in 1907. The foundations were almost completed when cold weather put a stop to the work. This work was stalled through 1908 because of lack of finances and resumed again in early 1909.

The church was under cover for the winter, but the official opening took place on July 10, 1910. In 1914 Abbot Bruno became acquainted with the painter Berthold von Imhoff who lived at St. Walburg. The friendship grew and brought Imhoff to the abbey several times. In the fall of 1917 Imhoff offered to paint the sanctuary of the church as a gift to the abbot, and to paint the rest of the church for $3,000.

In 1913 Bishop Pascal appointed Abbot Bruno vicar general of the Prince Albert Diocese. Bishop Pascal was not in good health and this increased the responsibilities of Abbot Bruno in the Prince Albert Diocese. In 1917 Abbot Bruno became administrator of the Prince Albert Diocese. Bishop Pascal was resting in France for most of the summer of 1919 and thus Abbot Bruno planned to be gone from the abbey much of the summer in order to confirm throughout the diocese. He began his first confirmation tour in Saskatoon on June 7, 1919, but he became sick and he died on June 12. His funeral was the first service in the newly painted church.

The first sod was turned on June 28, 1920, and the cornerstone was laid on June 29, 1921. About 3,000 people showed up for the mass and picnic held that day.

The monastic community began to move to its new home Nov. 10. On Nov. 16 the first meal was served in the new building and Vespers of the feast of St. Gertrude was the first Divine Office chanted in the building. Classes began at once with 39 students forming the first student body of SPC. The college was blessed on Nov. 27, 1921.

As a matter of interest, the abbot ordinary in 1921 prescribed that each parish was to have 40 hours devotion each year and to have a mission every five years. There were six diocesan collections prescribed: for the abolition of slavery, for the orphanage, for the Holy Sepulchre, for the Holy Father, for the Propagation of the Faith and for the seminary.

Other developments that took place under Abbot Michael were the annual Mount Carmel pilgrimage, starting in 1922, and the beginning of an English Catholic newspaper, the St. Peter's Messenger, in 1923. During the same time, about 35 women from the abbacy joined the Elizabethan community and about 65 women joined the Ursuline community.

The farm operation was improved at this time. There is not much recorded about the first 20 years of farming at the abbey, except that some of the land was leased to neighbors. Fr. Rudolph was farm boss in 1906. Records indicate that in 1913 a l0,000 bushel granary was built.

According to Br. Bernard Lange, farm manager, agriculture came on the map only after the base of operations moved to the new abbey location after 1921. A tractor was purchased and more land was cleared in the mid 1920s. The early monks that helped clear the land were Brs. Benedict Therres, Justice Trettel, Bonaventure Montvydas and Anthony Wiesniewski. Horses were the main horsepower for field work and for cutting grass and grain. The first diesel tractor was purchased in 1950.

Fr. Leonard Benning became farm manager in 1928 and farming improved. The farm became a fruitful source of food for the expanding college. Lay help was hired. In the mid 1940s there were up to eight hired hands on the farm which included grain, dairy and beef cattle, hogs and chickens and other poultry. In the 1930s the Department of Agriculture under the direction of Huper Coles of Regina held a number of agriculture field days at St. Peter's, to demonstrate good farming practices to farmers of the area.

Under Fr. Leonard the farm became known for its registered Yorkshire hogs which were popular until the 1960s. The farm also had purebred Holstein cows for many years. These supplied the abbey and college students with whole milk from which the Elizabethan sisters also made butter, ice cream and cheese. The dairy herd was sold in 1983 because of lack of help.

A herd of purebred Hereford beef cattle was also built up. The beef herd has continued as a source of meat for the abbey as well as for neighbors. The abbey began an orchard in the 1920s to supplement its food supply with fruit, and it continues to produce abundantly. A large vegetable garden is still planted and the kitchen staff is kept busy canning during the summer to provide wholesome, home grown food during the long winter months. Since the 1980s many neighbors have picked up their potatoes and sweet corn from the abbey.

In 1957 the abbey began a major building program of expansion. First came the residence (1957) for the Elizabethan sisters. This freed the nine sisters working in the kitchen and laundry from their cramped quarters above the laundry. In 1958 a connecting link to the east was added. Its main floor housed the temporary chapel, while the basement provided space for the expanded kitchen, the monks' dining room, a room for altars for private masses and for a Brothers' Chapel. The ultimate goal was that this wing become the library for the college.

In 1959 work started on a new brick gym, the main entrance and a students' residence (now Severin Hall). The student residence had two large, open area dormitories for about 50 students each and another open area dorm for 36 students. In addition, there were semi private rooms for the arts and some Grade 12 students. This enabled the student population to increase from 100 to about 200. At this time there was a waiting list of students wanting to come to St. Peter's. In 1960 the cost of tuition, room and board was $475 a year.

The building program was completed in the next few years with a new residence for the monks built in 1962 63 and an arena completed in 1965. This completed the buildings required for the immediately anticipated needs. A new church was dreamed of, but its construction was put off in order to provide the facilities for the students.

A major shift of energies to the teaching apostolate began in 1921 with the building of St. Peter's College; it was expanded in 1926 with the addition of university classes in affiliation with the University of Saskatchewan.

It was on April 6, 1960 that Fr. Jerome Weber was elected abbot ordinary to succeed Abbot Severin. Unsuspected and unforeseen major adjustments awaited the monks in the next 30 years: the hope filled years of Vatican Council II (1962-1965), the crushing decline in high school enrollment in the late 1960s which forced the closing of the residential high school in 1972, the even more crushing experience of decline in vocations and the departure of many monks and sisters from their religious communities.

It was less exciting to see the decline in numbers in our various religious communities. In our monastic community our numbers declined from a peak of 67 in 1961, to 50 in 1970, to 42 in 1980, to 32 in 1995. In the 30 years after 1963 the source of vocations was from other dioceses in the country. We have had 23 from outside the abbacy, of whom 13 have persevered.

Nor was it exciting to see the high school disappear with enrollment dropping from 185 in 1962 to 51 in 1971. Grade 9 was dropped in 1964 and Grade 10 in 1970. The high school closed on June 30, 1972. The university classes continued, with low enrollment in the 1970s, but with new growth in the 1980s.

In the 1970s the abbey began a new initiative, by accepting hermits to live on our property. The first was Angela Conway who came from England and stayed about 10 years. In 1972 Fr. Robert Gannon, a Camaldolese from California, became a hermit as did Fr. James Gray, one of our own monks. In 1977 Sr. Suzanne Mowchan also became a hermit. A number of others have spent a period of time living as a hermit.

Beginning in the 1970s Abbot Jerome several times initiated a discussion on building an abbey church. An abbey church was often the first project of a Benedictine abbey, but it was delayed at St. Peter's due to other pressing commitments.

After 30 years as abbot ordinary, Abbot Jerome, now 75, handed in his resignation; it was accepted by Rome on June 15, 1990.