Saint Leo Abbey

Saint Leo Abbey is a Benedictine monastery located in Saint Leo, Florida, United States.

Contents

History

Saint Leo Abbey, located in Pasco County, Florida, traces its beginnings to 1882 when Judge Edmund F. Dunne founded the Catholic Colony of San Antonio. Sent by Archabbot Boniface Wimmer, Father Gerard Pilz, O.S.B., arrived in 1886[2] as the first Benedictine in Florida. He was dispatched to Florida in response to a request by Bishop John Moore of St. Augustine for a German-speaking priest to minister to the growing German-immigrant population of the colony. Abbot Leo Haid of Saint Maryhelp Abbey in Belmont, North Carolina made the arrangements to establish Saint Leo College, now Saint Leo University. On June 4, 1889 both Saint Leo College and the Benedictine mission that would later become Saint Leo Abbey were founded on lands conveyed to the Order of Saint Benedict by Judge Dunne. Saint Leo became an independent priory in 1894 and was elevated to an abbey on September 25, 1902.[3]

In addition to providing priests for the churches of the Catholic Colony, the monks went on to establish Catholic parishes in not only nearby Dade City, but also Zephyrhills, New Port Richey, Brooksville and Crystal River among others. St. Leo continued to supply priests for Catholic congregations throughout Pasco, Hernando and Citrus counties until the last decade of the 20th Century.[4]

The centerpiece of the abbey, the Church of the Holy Cross, was begun in 1935 and consecrated the new monastic church on January 29, 1948[5] and was added to the National Registry of Historic Places in 1998 as part of the St Leo Abbey Historic District.

The sixth and current Abbot of Saint Leo is Isaac Camacho.

Abbots of Saint Leo

(several administrators appointed from 1996 - 2007)

References

  1. ^ http://www.waymarking.com/waymarks/WM2R70_Church_of_the_Holy_Cross_at_Saint_Leo_Abbey_St_Leo_FL
  2. ^ http://fivay.org/pilz.html
  3. ^ Horgan, James J. (1990). Pioneer College: The Centennial History of Saint Leo College, Saint Leo Abbey, and Holy Name Priory. Saint Leo, FL. Saint Leo College Press. p 579
  4. ^ http://www.fivay.org/san_antonio.html
  5. ^ http://www.waymarking.com/waymarks/WM2R70_Church_of_the_Holy_Cross_at_Saint_Leo_Abbey_St_Leo_FL

Further reading

Horgan, James J. (1990). Pioneer College: The Centennial History of Saint Leo College, Saint Leo Abbey, and Holy Name Priory. Saint Leo College Press. FL. ISBN-13: 978094575901

Abbey Church:[1]

Church Stained Glass:[2]

References

External links