Odilo Lechner
Odilo Lechner OSB (born January 25, 1931 in Munich as Hans Helmut Lechner ; † November 3, 2017 ibid) was a German Benedictine , religious priest and abbot of the Abbey of St. Boniface in Munich and Andechs . When he renounced the office of abbot in 2003, he was the longest-serving Benedictine abbot in the world.
Life
Lechner was born as the only child of a bank clerk in Munich- Bogenhausen . He first attended the Wilhelmsgymnasium in Munich and from 1946 the grammar school of the Benedictine Abbey of Metten , where he passed the Abitur examination in 1949. He then studied philosophy and theology in Munich and Innsbruck (there as a member of the Collegium Canisianum ). In 1952 he entered the Benedictine Abbey of St. Boniface. He made his temporary profession on November 7, 1953, he was given the religious name Odilo . On December 23, 1956 Odilo Lechner was in the Basilica of St. Boniface in Munich Archbishop Cardinal Joseph Wendel for priests ordained the first Mass sermon of the Jesuit Karl Rahner . First Lechner worked as a chaplain and catechist in the parish of Sankt Bonifaz in Munich's Maxvorstadt .
His predecessor, Abbot Hugo Lang , enabled him to continue his studies in 1961, which he completed with a dissertation in philosophy on the idea and time of Augustine's metaphysics in 1964 at the University of Würzburg .
Father Odilo was elected abbot of Saint Boniface on July 14, 1964 , and on September 8, 1964, at the age of only 33, took over the management of the Munich monastery as well as the Andechs monastery in Upper Bavaria as the seventh abbot . He had previously been coadjutor of the previous abbot Hugo Lang . The abbot's benediction was made by Julius Cardinal Döpfner , the Archbishop of Munich and Freising ; it was the first concelebration as part of an abbot consecration in the Archdiocese of Munich and Freising. The Basilica of St. Boniface, which had been destroyed in the war, was rebuilt during Lechner's tenure. In the 1970s, the "Center Saint Boniface" was built in place of the destroyed nave of the neo-Romanesque basilica. In 1982 he led the funeral service for Carl Orff . The motto of Abbot Odilus was Dilatato corde ("With a wide heart"); it comes from the Benedictine rule and from Psalm 119 ( Ps 119,32 EU ).
After reaching the age of 70, Abbot Odilo asked in 2001 to be able to resign from the office, but at the request of the convention remained in office until his resignation in 2003. In 2003, Father Johannes Eckert succeeded Abbot Odilos.
Former Abbot Odilo published numerous writings, he worked as a priest, writer and speaker until his death . He died in the early morning of November 3, 2017.
Awards
- 1966: Honorary member of the KDStV Aenania Munich in the CV
- Honorary member of the KStV Erwinia Munich in the KV
- 1971: Honorary member of the KBSt.V. Rhaetia Munich (free of association)
- 1975: Bavarian Order of Merit
- 1989: Federal Cross of Merit, 1st class (August 9, 1989)
- 1995: Bavarian poet thaler for his literary works
- 2002: Prize of the Bavarian People's Foundation for services to the cultural life of Bavaria
- 2003: Honorary doctorate from the Catholic Theological Faculty of the Ludwig Maximilians University in Munich for his groundbreaking impulses for a theology of spirituality
- 2004: Gold Medal of Honor from the Starnberg District Fire Brigade Association
- 2005: Bavarian State Medal for Services to Environment and Health
Quotes
“Germany is certainly not worthless; but values are shifting in a society that is changing, that is struggling with globalization and is facing worrying demographic developments. "
Fonts (selection)
- Expand your heart Art of living from the monastery , Heyne Verlag 2002, ISBN 3453861515
- Why i pray Conversations with God , Heyne Verlag 2003, ISBN 3453874447
- Angel. Encounters with God's messengers , Heyne Verlag 2004, ISBN 3453879449
- Paths to life Benedict's directive for the future , Heyne Verlag 2005, ISBN 3453120302
- with Karl L. Schweisfurth, Hans-Günther Kaufmann: Seven secrets for a good life , Heyne Verlag 2003, ISBN 3453874455
- with Michael Cornelius: The wisdom of the desert monks. On the art of mastering life , Heyne Verlag 2005, ISBN 3453120280
- with Rainer Devens : A human face . Kunstverlag Fink, Lindenberg 2008, ISBN 9783898704731
- From the way of wisdom. A conversation with Michael Langer and pictures by Hans-Günther Kaufmann, EOS Verlag 2011, ISBN 9783830674627
- Signs on the way. Stations of my life, Verlag Herder 2011, ISBN 9783451323904
- Open to a great secret. My life . Vier-Türme-Verlag, Münsterschwarzach 2017, ISBN 978-3-7365-0130-0
Web links
- Literature by and about Odilo Lechner in the catalog of the German National Library
- Abbot and deputy eye to eye: Odilo Lechner discusses monastic life in depth with Otto Schily. Süddeutsche Zeitung , December 15, 1995, archived from the original on July 8, 2004 ; Retrieved November 5, 2017 .
- Stephan Zöller: Honorary doctorate for Odilo Lechner. Catholic Theological Faculty of the Ludwig Maximilians University in Munich, November 13, 2003, archived from the original on June 8, 2006 ; Retrieved November 5, 2017 .
- Benedictine Odilo Lechner dies
- Entry to Odilo Lechner on medals online
Individual evidence
- ↑ Sabine Weis: Through life with a wide heart. Bayerischer Rundfunk , November 3, 2017, accessed on November 5, 2017.
- ^ Benedictine Odilo Lechner consecrated abbot 50 years ago . Catholic News Agency , Aug. 11, 2014.
- ^ "With a wide heart" - Abbot Odilo Lechner OSB. (pdf, 263 kB) St. Boniface Monastery, November 3, 2017, p. 1 , accessed on November 5, 2017 .
- ^ O. Lechner: The Second Vatican Council: Religious Life and Spirituality . In: Konrad Hilpert (Ed.): Generation Council. Herder, Freiburg i. Br. 2013, ISBN 978-3-451-30916-8 , p. 111.
- ^ Lilo Gersdorf: In memoriam Carl Orff (1895-1982) . In: Orff-Schulwerk-Informations, No. 29, May 1982, p. 16, accessed on November 5, 2017 (pdf, 3.7 MB).
- ↑ Office of the Federal President
predecessor | Office | successor |
---|---|---|
Hugo Lang |
Abbot of Sankt Bonifaz, Munich 1964–2003 |
Johannes Eckert |
Augustin Mayer |
Chairman of the Salzburg Abbots' Conference 1972–1982 |
Christian Schütz |
Augustin Mayer Albert Brettner |
Abbot praeses of the Bavarian Benedictine Congregation 1972–1978 1984–1993 |
Albert Brettner Gregor Zasche |
personal data | |
---|---|
SURNAME | Lechner, Odilo |
ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Lechner, Hans Helmut (maiden name) |
BRIEF DESCRIPTION | German religious priest, Benedictine and abbot of the Abbey of St. Boniface and the Andechs Monastery (1964–2003) |
DATE OF BIRTH | January 25, 1931 |
PLACE OF BIRTH | Munich |
DATE OF DEATH | 3rd November 2017 |
Place of death | Munich |