Newark’s Benedictine Monastery

The Benedictines are a contemplative order with a strong missionary tradition going back to the Middle Ages. In 1846 Father Boniface Wimmer, invoking this heritage, led a group of Bavarian monks to Latrobe, Pennsylvania, where they founded America’s first Benedictine monastery, St. Vincent’s Abbey. They had three goals: the pastoral care of German immigrants, the formation of priests, and the education of youth.

By the 1850’s, Newark, New Jersey, had a sizeable German population, and Bishop James Roosevelt Bayley invited the Benedictines to take over St. Mary’s, a German parish in the city. In 1857, four monks from Latrobe came to Newark. They soon extended their ministry throughout the state. St. Benedict College (now a high school) was founded next to the monastery in 1868. Seventeen years later, St. Mary’s was raised to full-fledged abbey status.

In 1889, at the request of the local bishop, Newark Benedictines founded St. Anselm’s College in Manchester, New Hampshire. Abbot Hilary Pfraengle (seen above) served as the first president. The monastery continued to grow, and in 1928 Newark monks founded a monastery in Morristown. During the 1960’s, St. Mary’s was renamed Newark Abbey. True to the Benedictine vow of stability, the “downtown monks” maintain their presence in a city that has undergone many changes. They continue to minister to the people of Newark and to educate their children.