Archabbot Boniface Wimmer, OSB

Bishop Bayley, facing a dire shortage of priests and no religious communities in the diocese, began corresponding with Wimmer in 1854. Bayley argued the value of a monastery close to New York and emphasized the spiritual needs of Newark’s growing German population. Wimmer, however, remained unconvinced, favoring rural locations he believed better suited to Benedictine life. His vision for monasticism was already flourishing at St. Vincent, with a college, seminary, and self-sustaining community.
Their correspondence paused while Wimmer traveled to Europe and received papal approval to establish the American Cassinese Congregation, becoming its first abbot and president. In the interim, Wimmer expanded westward, founding monasteries in Minnesota and Kansas. In 1857, Bayley renewed his request, citing the growing number of German Catholics in Newark—then estimated at 6,000—and the urgent need for pastoral care.

Fr. Nicholas, who returned to New York and served in the Diocese of Brooklyn until his death in 1891, remained an enduring figure in American Catholicism. His final years were spent at St. Mary’s, and he bequeathed his possessions to the Abbey. His contributions ultimately supported the founding of St. Anselm College in New Hampshire. Though not the founder of a formal monastery, Fr. Nicholas left a profound legacy on the Benedictine mission in America.

In contrast, Wimmer’s disciplined and ambitious vision laid the institutional groundwork for the growth of Benedictine monasticism across the United States. His interactions with Bayley reveal a tension between urban pastoral need and rural monastic ideals—one that would shape the trajectory of Benedictine foundations in the American Church.