Benedicta Riepp
Benedicta Riepp OSB (born June 28, 1825 in Waal , † March 15, 1862 in St. Joseph , Minnesota ) was a Eichstatt nun of the Order of St. Benedict . She was the first prioress of the Benedictine nuns in the New World .
Life
Born Sybilla Riepp, she entered the Benedictine Abbey of St. Walburg in Eichstätt as a novice on July 7, 1844, and took the religious name Benedicta. She made her profession on July 9, 1846.
In 1852 Benedicta Riepp emigrated to the German colony of St. Marys in Pennsylvania with two sisters . The sisters built a school for German immigrant children under conditions of hardship. In 1856 she founded a monastery in Erie , and the following year in St. Cloud , Minnesota .
Funding from the Bavarian Ludwig Mission Association was used by Father Bonifaz Wimmer , later Archabbot and President of the American-Cassinese Benedictine Congregation , for other, more "urgent" projects. Out of concern for the well-being of the sisters entrusted to her, mother Benedicta and Father Wimmer broke up. So she campaigned for independence for the American Benedictine women. In 1859 Pope Pius IX decided. that in future "the competent bishops [...] will have the right" to approve the simple vows of the women members of the order .
Mother Benedicta Riepp died of pulmonary tuberculosis in 1862 . To date, over 40 monasteries have emerged from their work.
literature
- Edward T. James (Ed.): Notable American Women 1607-1950. A Biographical Dictionary. Harvard University Press. Cambridge / Mass., 1971.
- M. Incarnata Girgen: Behind the beginnings: Benedictine women in America . Saint Benedict's Press, Saint Joseph, Minnesota, 1981.
- Rasso Ronneburger: Mother Benedicta Riepp - An American dream of a lifetime . Unterdießen 2005. ISBN 3-00-015913-4 .
Web links
- Entry to Benedicta Riepp on Orden online
- Markt Waal : Historical personalities: Mother Benedicta Riepp , accessed on August 17, 2014
- College of St. Scholastica, Minnesota: The Founding History of Benedictine Sisters in the United States , accessed August 17, 2014
- Saint Benedict's Monastery (English homepage of the order)
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Riepp, Benedicta |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Riepp, Sybilla |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | German Benedictine |
| DATE OF BIRTH | June 28, 1825 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Waal , Kingdom of Bavaria |
| DATE OF DEATH | March 15, 1862 |
| Place of death | St. Joseph, Minnesota , USA |