PROBST, FERDINANO. - Liturgist, b. at Ehingen (Württemberg) on 29 March 1816, d. at Breslavia on 26 Dec. 1899. He pursued his first studies in his native town and completed them at Tubinga, where he was ordained priest on 16 Sept. 1840.
Curate at Wangen in 1841, then parish priest at Pfarrich in 1843, he attended Hefele’s courses and received his doctorate in theology on 25 Nov. 1851. In 1864 he was appointed professor of pastoral theology at the University of Breslavia, of which he was rector in 1889–90. Made a canon in 1886, from 1896 he was provost of the Cathedral.
A scholar of ancient liturgy and of the Fathers of the Church, he wrote many important works distinguished by the depth of their critical investigations, although his assertions were not accepted by all: Kirchliche Benedictionen und ihre Verwaltung (ibid. 1857); Liturgie der drei ersten christlichen Jahrhunderte (ibid. 1870); Geschichte der katholischer Katechese (ibid. 1886); Sakramente und Sakramentalien in den drei ersten christlichen Jahrhunderten (ibid. 1872); Kirchliche Disciplinen in den drei ersten christlichen Jahrhunderten (ibid. 1873); Die ältesten römischen Sakramentarien und Ordines (Münster 1892); Liturgie des VI. Jahrhunderts und deren Reform (ibid. 1893); Die abendländische Messe vom V. bis zum VIII. Jahrhundert (ibid. 1896), etc. He also contributed to many scholarly journals.