The Dickinson press., 1904-04-30
ABBOT IN NORTH OAK.
ri. REV. VINCENT wEHRlf, o. S. B.


people Of Richardton will witness a re-
ligious ceremony as unique in the histo-
ry of North Dakota as it is ime-honored
in the annals Of the Catholic church.
The occasion will witness the elevation
of the present well-known and distin-
guished Prior of St. Mary's to the digni-
ty of Abbot. Those who are best &C
quainted with the Very Rev. Father
Vincent know best how worthy he is of
the great but uncoveted honors about to
be bestowed upon him. His labors as
an apostolic missionary, in the Dakotas,
his character as an exemplary priest, his
gifts of mind and heart render him full
we'll worthy of, and qualified to fill the
highest ecclesiastical office.
Endowed by nature with a strong per.
sonality, a brilliant intellect, a wiry and
vigorous constitution, together with a
courage that no dangers or difficulties
appall, it is~not surprising that he has
long been regarded as the ideal mission
ary-the humble but jealous and devot-
ed successor of those glorious heroes
who first made sacred, by their prayers
and labors, the virgin soil Of the great
Northwest.
The career of such a mana cursory
glance at his life and labors-must nee
essarily have an absorbing and abiding
interest for many readers Of the PRESS
irrespective Of creed or natural af6nities.
Space will o permit us to give more
than a brief resume Of a career that is as
full of incident and merit as that of the
early soldiers Of the cross who first bore
the banner of faith to the Indians of the
plains.
Ordained at the famous Monastery of
Einsiedelen, Switzerland, in 1882, FIR.
Vincent babe farwell to home and friends
to begin the life of a missionary priest in
the United States. After some years of
necessary preparation We find him in
South Dakota zealously working with
the good and sanity Bishop Marty.
There he was brought, for the first
time, face to face with the Indian and
the many difficulties and hardships of
missionary life among the uncivilized
children of the prairies. But despite
the difficulties of the Indian language,
bodily fatigues, and other hardships only
known to the true missionary, the young
priest never faltered or grew weary of
his apostolic work.
In February 1887 he came to North
Dakota at the earnest solicitation of Bish-
op Marty. The good bishops diocese,
at that time, was not a paradise; it was
in truth, a land las far as catholicity was
concerned) inhospitable and unpromis.
ing, where the reapers were but few and
the harvest not abundant. Neverthe-
less, solicited, encouraged and sustained
by the bishop, FIR. Vincent bravely un-
dertook the evangelization of the Ger
man and English speaking Catholics of
Ramsey county and elsewhere. His la.
bors, hardships and struggles in those
days, as we'll as those Of the bishop, who
often shared them unAinchingly. were
such as would seem increditable in our
day of comparative prosperity, and such
as only the bravest souls could have en-.
dured. However, God blessed the work
of his self-sacri6cing priest so that, in a
few years afterwards, in 1893, he was en-
abled to found and build a monastery at
Devils Lake and open a college for the
education of Catholic youth. While
carrying on the double work of mission
airy and professor at the Lake, it was
made known to him that, in the western
part Of the state, there were many Ger
man Catholics bereft of spiritual guild
ance. Without money, without means,
and almost without hope, as at Devils
Lake, so at Richardton, he c%ourageously
undertook the building of a monastery
that was destined to be an enduring
monument to his faith and zeal and un-
bounded confidence in God.
The people around Richardton were
few and very poor and scattered over an
immense tract of territory; the treasury
was empty and the resources scant; yet,
in spite of all, with a confidence begot-
ten Of sublime faith, and with the en-
couragement of Bishop Stanley, he he
r~oically undertook the erection of a
second monastery and church. While
all this was going on, it must not be for
gotten that churches were being built,
and parishes formed, throughout the
manss missions confded to his care.
When we also add that he opened a
college at Richardton for the accommo.