Basil Ebel

20 Pfennig postage stamp of the Deutsche Bundespost for the 800th anniversary of the Maria Laach monastery, published in the Abbatiat of Basilius Ebel

Basilius Ebel OSB (born April 21, 1896 in Kassel as Heinrich Ebel , † July 20, 1968 in Maria Laach ) was a German Benedictine and abbot of the Abbeys of St. Matthias and Maria Laach .

Life

Basilius Ebel was born on April 21, 1896 in Kassel with the baptismal name Heinrich as the son of a teacher and cantor. After attending primary school in his hometown and then Wilhelmsgymnasium up to the Abitur in 1915, he did three years of military service as a medic in the First World War. This was followed by six semesters of philosophy and theology studies in the seminary in Fulda (Rhön).

Heinrich Ebel entered the Benedictine Abbey of Maria Laach in the Eifel in 1921 and received the religious name Basilius; he made his profession on February 10, 1922 and was ordained a priest in 1924. Father Ebel continued his studies in theology and religious law in Beuron and Rome, where he was a student of Jusztinián György Serédi OSB at the Sant'Anselmo College . In 1925 he was awarded a doctorate in Rome with a thesis on the history of the religious profession up to the 14th century. iur. can. PhD. In 1927/1928 he completed musicological studies in Göttingen, Bonn and Freiburg (Switzerland). There he received the Dr. phil. with a work on the oldest Alemannic hymn based on a Einsiedeln manuscript of the 12th century.

He accompanied the Abbot Primate Fidelis von Stotzingen on a visitation trip through Brazil and was there from 1932 to 1933 subprior of the Benedictine Abbey of São Bento do Rio de Janeiro. In his home abbey, Maria Laach, Fr. Basilius Ebel worked as novice master from 1933 to 1939 and as prior from 1938 . From 1939 to 1946 he was abbot of St. Matthias Abbey in Trier and from 1946 to 1966 abbot of Maria Laach. His motto was: In caritate radicati - firmly rooted in love (Eph 3:17). One of his most excellent tasks, as an important scientist of his time, was to continue and safeguard the scientific work in the monasteries.

During the time of National Socialism , the Abbey in Trier was closed by the Secret State Police on May 6, 1941 and the property was confiscated because it had taken in monks of Jewish origin. He and his monks were initially banned from traveling before the convent was loaded onto a bus and taken to Maria Laach, where Ildefons Herwegen was the abbot who did not actively oppose the National Socialists. It was not until 1945 that the convent was able to gather again in Trier.

After Herweg's death in 1946, Basilius Ebel was elected Abbot of Maria Laach. A significant intervention took place under Abbot Ebel in the interior of the church building by Maria Laach, when he redesigned the presbytery in 1947 and had the old six-column canopy put back in its place in the east choir. He also had some neo-Romanesque built-in elements removed and the original building concept emerged more clearly.

In 1948 Ebel founded the "Abt-Herwegen Institute for liturgical and monastic research" in Laach.

Under his leadership, the Benedictine Abbey also became important in the reconciliation between Christians and Jews.

Fonts

• The oldest Alemannic hymn with notes, Codex 366 Einsiedeln (12th century), Einsiedeln, Benziger 1930.
• St. Benedict and the 1400th anniversary of his death , Freiburg, Herder 1948.
• The image of the Good Shepherd in the 22nd Psalm after explanations by the Church Fathers , in: Universitas. Service to truth and life . Festschrift Albert Stohr, ed. Ludwig Lenhart , Mainz 1960, Vol. 1, pp. 48–57.

See also

Ebel (family name)

literature

• Basilius Abbot Ebel , in: Internationales Biographisches Archiv 07/1969 of February 3, 1969, in the Munzinger archive ( beginning of article freely available)

Web links

• Entry to Basilius Ebel on medals online

Individual evidence

1. ^ Munzinger archive: Basilius Abbot Ebel
2. ↑ Entry on Basilius Ebel on medals online

predecessor	Office	successor
Ildefons here	Dept. of Khajuraho 1946 - 1964	Urbanus Bomm