BOPPERT, Konrad. - Ascetical writer, b. at Constance on 10 Feb. 1750, d. at St. Paul in Carinthia on 31 July 1811. Benedictine monk at St. Blasien in the Black Forest, he took his vows in 1773 and was ordained priest in 1775. He held various offices in the monastery, where he distinguished himself by marked musical gifts; he administered the parish of Ibach from 1799 to 1803 and, after the suppression of St. Blasien, retired to St. Paul in Carinthia.
His name is linked to a work which cost him eighteen years of assiduous labour: *Scutum fidei ad usus quotidianos sacerdotum* (5 vols., St. Blasien 1806); it was reprinted in 12 vols. by Herder at Freiburg in Br. (1833-55) and by Dura at Naples (1856), and later translated into French and German. It is an *eucharistic breviary*, offering daily meditations and prayers before and after Mass, largely drawn from the Fathers, from councils, and from scholastic theologians (about 2,000 citations). Despite its historical and critical shortcomings, this vast compilation, imbued as it is with sincere piety, still provides solid nourishment useful to priestly souls.