Six Monks Celebrate Anniversaries
of Monastic Profession in 2008
Release Date: July 7, 2008
COLLEGEVILLE, MINN. — In 2008 six monks of Saint John's Abbey mark mark the 70th, 60th, and 50th anniversaries of their profession of
vows as Benedictine monks. The monastery's annual celebration of the Solemnity of
Saint Benedict,
Patriarch of Western Monasticism. begins with a Vigil Service at 7:30 p.m. on Thursday, July 10. The
monks will honor the jubilarians at Mass on Friday, July 11, 2008, 10 a.m. The festive day concludes
with Solemn Vespers at 5:30 p.m. in the abbey church.
70 Years in Monastic Vows
Father George Wolf OSB
Born in Pearl Lake, Minnesota: 15 March 1916; professed: 11 July 1938; ordained: 4 June 1944
From 1944 to 2006 Father George served as a missionary in The Bahamas. Stationed primarily in Nassau, he also filled pastoral assignments in Fox Hill, Bimini, Exuma, North Eleuthra and Harbour Island, and Freeport. From 1950 to 1960 he was Director of Temporalities and Building Supervisor for the Vicarate of The Bahamas. At Saint Augustine's College and Monastery he had been the building and plant manager, and served as subprior from 1991 to 1997. In 1999 Pope John Paul II awarded him the Pontifical Medal Pro Ecclesia et Pontifice in recognition of his more than fifty years of service to the church in The Bahamas.
60 Years Professed
Father Hilary Thimmesh OSB
Born in Osakis, Minnesota: 2 March 1928; professed: 11 July 1948; ordained: 5 June 1954.
After earning undergraduate and theological degrees at Saint John's University and Seminary, in 1963 Father Hilary completed master's and doctor's degrees in English Literature at Cornell University, Ithaca, New York. Almost continuously, from 1954 to the present, Father Hilary has served as a faculty resident in the undergraduate dorms of Saint John's University. He began teaching in the English Department in the fall of 1956 and served as chair from 1976 to 1978. He was Apostolic Administrator of St. Martin's Abbey from 1978 to 1980, and returned to become prior of Saint John's Abbey until 1982 when he was named president of the university for two terms.
Brother George Primus OSB
Born in Melrose, Minnesota: 12 September 1923; professed: 15 August 1948.
After graduating from Melrose High School in 1942, George Primus entered the Brothers' community of Saint John's Abbey. His early jobs included bookbinding at Alcuin Library and service at Liturgical Press. From 1950 to 1955 he worked on the farm at St. Maur's Priory, South Union, Kentucky. In 1956 he began forty years of diligent work in the Saint John's Tailor Shop. Several times he served as socius to the Brothers and retired in 2003 from part-time employment in the orchard and gardens. He continues his hobbies in retirement: braiding rag rugs, creating pine cone Christmas wreaths, and fashioning willow canes.
50 Years a Monk
Father Thomas Gillespie OSB
Born in Minneapolis, Minnesota: 24 July 1937; professed: 11 July 1958; ordained: 30 May 1964.
Father Thomas study philosophy and theology at Saint John's University in preparation for ordination. His first, and most of his other pastoral assignments, was in Minnesota, but he was a missionary and teacher in Puerto Rico from 1968 to 1975 when he returned to his home state to serve as pastor or chaplain at various locations. From 1996 to the present he has been responsible for computer-generated signage throughout campus. He has also mastered the art of creating websites. In 2004 he was named socius (assistant) for novices and candidates. He also serves as a fireman, a technician for the Sunday Mass Web broadcasts, and team chaplain for the retirement center. In his spare time, Father Thomas adds to the 2,000 miles of flying time he logged in January 2002.
Father Bryan Hays OSB
Born in Clarksville, Tennessee: 10 December 1920; professed: 11 July 1958; ordained: 2 June 1962.
Father Bryan has combined his love of music with his gift for languages and teaching. He earned bachelor's and master's degrees in composition from Chicago Musical College and a master's in French from Laval University, Quebec. Some of the happiest hours of his career were spent as a Colloquium and Symposium instructor in the English Department of Saint John's University from 1978 to 1990. He frequently offered his priestly service for weekend and summer assistance. In 1969 he was named composer in residence. Early in his career he won the Gershwin Memorial Award (1949), earned a summer scholarship to Tanglewood Music Center (1950), and won two Guggenheim Awards (1952 and 1953). In 1998 he was co-winner of the National Art Song Contest. Uncommon Daisies, his CD of vocal compositions, is for sale at the Abbey Web Store.
Brother Andrew Goltz OSB
Born in Milaca, Minnesota: 20 April 1933; professed: 13 November 1958.
Recently featured for his work as a book conservator in the Abbey Banner (spring 2008) and a locally produced video, Brother Andrew earned a diploma in 1952 from the US Navy Hospital Corps School and became a registered nurse after completing study at the St. Cloud School of Nursing in 1975. His career as a monastic Brother included posts in Abbey Woodworking and the St. John's Observatory. His name appears on the north window wall of the abbey church as a member of the team that fabricated it from 1959 to 1962. From 1968 to 1969 he worked in the business office of St. Augustine's Priory in Nassau and served another stint as a missionary at St. Anselm's Priory, Tokyo, from 1983 to 1991. Brother Andrew practiced nursing from 1975 to 1980 in Saint Raphael Hall, our retirement center. In 1992 he began book preservation in Alcuin Library -- the work that he enjoys so much and has made him famous.
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