Michael Reepen

Michael II. Reepen (born June 24, 1959 in Freiburg im Breisgau , Baden-Württemberg ) is a German Benedictine monk and abbot of the Münsterschwarzach abbey in Lower Franconia.

biography

After graduating from high school in 1979 in Sasbach , he worked as an educator for a year to help with orientation . He then began to study theology in Freiburg im Breisgau . In 1982 he joined the Münsterschwarzach Abbey . In 1983 he made his temporary profession and in 1987 his perpetual profession . Also in 1987 he completed his theology studies in Würzburg and was ordained a priest.

In the abbey he initially worked as an educator in the adjoining St. Placidus apprentice home and was active in the youth and course work of the monastery . At the request of his abbot Fidelis Ruppert, Reepen worked as a missionary in Tanzania from 1989 to 1991 . In 1991 he became rector of the apprentice seminar and for three years school chaplain at the Egbert Gymnasium, which also belongs to the abbey. The years before his election as abbot of Münsterschwarzach, he was the master of novices at the abbey.

On May 20, 2006 the monks elected him the 75th abbot of Münsterschwarzach (the 5th abbot after the re-establishment in 1913). On June 26, 2006 he received the abbot's benediction from the Bishop of Würzburg, Friedhelm Hofmann . He is the second abbot of Münsterschwarzach with the name Michael.

Abbot coat of arms

Abbot Michael coat of arms

The shield shows seven red tongues of fire on a golden background, the gifts of the Holy Spirit, underneath a fountain with 7 blue fountains rising from a black bowl, the sacraments as sources of life.

His motto is: Cum Gaudio Sancti Spiritus “In the joy of the Holy Spirit”, quotation from the rules of Saint Benedict (Chapter 49:59).

Web links

• Literature by and about Michael Reepen in the catalog of the German National Library
• Abbey site
• Entry to Michael Reepen on medal online

predecessor	Office	successor
Fidelis Ruppert	Abbot of Münsterschwarzach since 2006