Thomas Oestreich

“ It was formerly an exclusive privilege of this Abbess to crown the Queen of Bohemia—a ceremony last performed in 1808, for the Empress Maria Louisa. Candidates for admission to the Institute must be twenty-nine years of age, of irreproachable morals and able to trace back their noble ancestry, paternal and maternal, for eight generations. They make no vows, but live in community and are obliged to assist twice daily at divine service in the Stiftskirche, and must go to confession and receive Holy Communion four times a year on appointed days. ”

“ In many places, when a vacancy occurred, the bishop of the diocese would choose a superior from among the monks of the convent, but it appears that from the very beginning the appointment of an Abbot rested generally with the monks themselves. St. Benedict ordained (Rule, lxiv) that the Abbot should be chosen "by the general consent of the whole community, or of a small part of the community, provided its choice were made with greater wisdom and discretion." The bishop of the diocese, the Abbots and Christian men of the neighbourhood were called upon to oppose the election of an unworthy man. ”

“ And thus there have been, since the sixteenth century, both Catholic and Protestant Abbesses in Germany. The Abbey of Quedlinburg was one of the first to embrace the Reformation. Its last Catholic Abbess, Magdalena, Princess of Anhalt, died in 1514. As early as 1539, the Abbess Anna II of Stolberg, who had been elected to the office when she was scarcely thirteen years of age, introduced Lutheranism in all the houses under her jurisdiction. The choir service in the abbey church was abandoned, and the Catholic religion wholly abrogated. ”

“ Thus, the Abbess of the Cistercian Monastery of Santa Maria la Real de las Huelgas, near Burgos, in Spain, was, by the terms of her official protocol, a "noble lady, the superior, prelate, and lawful administratrix in spirituals and temporals of the said royal abbey, and of all the convents, churches, and hermitages of its filiation, of the villages and places under its jurisdiction, seigniory, and vassalage, in virtue of Bulls and Apostolical concessions, with plenary jurisdiction, privative, quasi-episcopal, nullius diæcsis." ”

“ She cannot publicly bless her nuns, as a priest or a prelate blesses, but she can bless them in the way that a mother blesses her children. She is not permitted to preach, though she may in chapter, exhort her nuns by conferences. An Abbess has, moreover, a certain power of coercion, which authorizes her to impose punishments of a lighter nature, in harmony with the provisions of the rule, but in no instance has she a right to inflict the graver ecclesiastical penalties, such as censures. ”

“ In case no candidate should receive the require number of votes, the Bishop or the regular prelate orders a new election, and for the time appoints a superior. If the community again fails to agree upon any candidate, the Bishop or other superior can nominate the one whom he judges to be the most worthy and depute her as Abbess. ”

“ With regard to the administration of monastic property it must be noted that in affairs of greater moment an Abbess is always more or less dependent on the Ordinary, if subject to him, or on the regular prelate if her abbey is exempt. ”

“ A further variety of Abbots-Regular are the "Titular Abbots." A Titular Abbot holds the title of an abbey which has been either destroyed or suppressed, but he exercises none of the functions of an Abbot, and has in actu no subjects belonging to the monastery whence he derives his title. The law of the Church recognizes also "Secular Abbots," i.e. clerics who, though not professed members of any monastic order, nevertheless possess an abbacy as an ecclesiastical benefice, with the title and some of the honours of the office. ”

“ The blessing is not in se essential for the exercise of an Abbot's order and office; it confers no additional jurisdiction, and imparts no sacramental grace or character. An Abbot nullius may call upon any bishop in union with the Holy See to bestow the abbatial blessing. By the recent Constitution of Leo XIII, "Diu quidem est," 1899, the Abbots of the English Congregation are bound within six months of their election to present themselves to the ordinary of the diocese to be blessed by Apostolical authority ”

“ Among the houses of minor importance still in existence, the Abbey of Drübeck may be specially noticed. At one time a Catholic convent, it fell into Protestant hands during the Reformation. In 1687, the Elector Frederick William I of Brandenburg granted the revenues of the house to the Counts of Stolberg, stipulating, however, that women of noble birth and professing the Evangelical faith, should always find a home in the convent, be adequately provided for, and live there under the government of an Abbess. ”

“ During the singing of the Te Deum the newly blessed Abbot, with mitre and crosier, is conducted through the nave of the church by the two assistant Abbots, and blesses the people. Upon his returning to his seat in the sanctuary (if in his own church) , the monks of the community come, one by one, and, kneeling before their new superior, pay him their homage, and receive from him the kiss of peace. ”

“ The essentials of the episcopal order are of course omitted, but before his benediction the Abbot takes the oath of allegiance to the Holy See and, like the bishop, is subjected to a canonical examination. He receives the insignia of his office—the mitre, crosier, ring, etc.—from the hands of the officiating prelate, and at the Offertory presents to him two small casks of wine, two loaves of bread, and two large wax tapers; he says the Mass with the bishop and receives Holy Communion from him. ”

“ These benefices belonged originally to monastic houses, but on the suppression of the abbeys the benefice and the title were transferred to other churches. There are various classes of Secular Abbots; some have both jurisdiction and the right to use the pontifical insignia; others have only the abbatial dignity without either jurisdiction or the right to pontificatia; while yet another class holds in certain cathedral churches the first dignity and the privilege of precedence in choir and in assemblies, by reason of some suppressed or destroyed conventual church now become the cathedral. ”

“ A simple majority of votes for one candidate is sufficient for a valid election, unless the constitutions of an order require more than the bare majority. The result is to be proclaimed at once, by announcing the number of votes cast for each nun, so that in case of a dispute an immediate opportunity may be afforded for checking the vote. ”

“ The last two Abbesses were the Princess Anna Amelia (d. 1787) , sister of Frederick the Great, and the Princess Sophia Albertina (d. 1829) , daughter of King Adolphus Frederick of Sweden. In 1542, under the Abbess Clare of the house of Brunswick, the Schmalkaldic League forcibly imposed Protestantism on the members of the ancient and venerable Benedictine Abbey of Gandersheim; but though the Lutheran intruders were driven out again in 1547 by Clare's father, Duke Henry the Younger, a loyal Catholic, Lutheranism was permanently introduced, a few years later, by Julius, Duke of Brunswick. ”

“ After the Reformation, their Protestant successors continued to enjoy the same imperial privileges up to comparatively recent times. In France, Italy, and Spain, the female superiors of the great monastic houses were likewise very powerful. But the external splendour and glory of medieval days have now departed from all.
Confession to the Abbess.—Abbesses have no spiritual jurisdiction, and can exercise no authority that is in any way connceted with the power of the keys or of orders. ”

“ In Syria, where it had its origin, and in Egypt, it was first employed as a title of honour and respect, and was given to any monk of venerable age or of eminent sanctity. The title did not originally imply the exercise of any authority over a religious community. From the East the word passed over to the West, and here it was soon received into general use to designate the superior of an abbey or a monastery. In this article we shall treat: I. Historical Origin; II. Nature of the Office; III. Kinds of Abbots; IV. Mode of Election ”

“ But during the Middle Ages, when monasteries had grown wealthy and powerful, kings and princes gradually encroached on the rights of the monks, until in most countries the sovereign had wholly usurped the power of nominating abbots for many of the greater houses in his realm. ”

“ They have, moreover, the right of a decisive vote, and may subscribe to the decrees. The Abbots-President of congregations and the abbots-general of an entire order are also present and cast a decisive vote, though only by virtue of privilege. Other classes of Abbots were not admitted to the Vatican Council in 1870. In provincial synods and in plenary or national councils the Abbots nullius have de jure a decisive vote, and sign the decrees after the bishops. Attendance at these synods is for them not merely a right, but also an obligation. ”

“ Of these there are 71 in Italy, 15 in Spain, 12 in Austro-Hungary, 11 in France (before the Associations Law) , 4 in England, 3 in Belgium, 2 in Germany, and 2 in Switzerland. The Cistercians of all Observances have a total of 77 Abbesses. Of these 74 belong to the Cistercians of the Common Observance, who have most of their houses in Spain and in Italy. ”

“ Mitred Abbots in the United States are the Abbots of St. Vincent's Arch-Abbey, Beatty, Pa.; St. John's Abbey, Collegeville, Minn.; St. Benedict's Abbey, Atchison, Kan.; St. Mary's Abbey, Newark, N. J.; Maryhelp Abbey, Belmont, N. C.; St. Bernard's Abbey, St. Bernard, Ala.; St. Procopius's Abbey, Chicago, Ill.; St. Leo's Abbey, St. Leo, Fla.; St. Meinrad's Abbey, St. Meinrad, Ind.; Immaculate Conception Abbey, Conception, Mo.; New Subiaco Abbey, Spielerville, Ark.; St. Joseph's Abbey, Covington, La.; St. Mary's Abbey, Richardton, N. Dak.; St. Benedict's Abbey, Mount Angel, Ore. ”