WOLTER, MAURUS (RUDOLF) - Enciclopedia Cattolica, Vol. XII, p. 1058

Machine translation of the 1948–1954 Italian original. The original text is authoritative.

WOLTER, MAURUS (RUDOLF). - Benedictine abbot, born on 4 June 1825 at Bonn, died on 8 July 1860 at Beuron.

Ordained priest in 1850, he first served as director of the Gymnasium at Jülich and of the cathedral school at Aachen, then entered the Benedictine monastery of St Paul Outside the Walls (1857), where he taught theology and devoted himself to Christian archaeology under the guidance of G. B. De Rossi. In 1860 he returned to Germany with his brother Placidus to restore Benedictine life there, with the consent of Pius IX and following the example of Dom Guéranger. The first monastery he founded was Beuron (q.v.) in Hohenzollern (1863), of which he became the first abbot in 1868 (blessed at St Paul Outside the Walls by Cardinal Reisch). The suppression of the *Kulturkampf* (1875) forced him to take refuge abroad: he restored the monasteries of Emmaus at Prague (1886) and of Seckau in Styria (1883) and founded the monastery of Maredsous (q.v.). In 1884 he received the title of Archabbot of the Beuronese Congregation and in 1887 was able to reopen his abbey at Beuron.

Among his writings are to be noted: *Praecipua Ordinis Monastici elementa* (Bruges 1886) and *Psallite sapienter*, a commentary on the Psalms in 5 vols. (Freiburg im Br. 1871-90).

PLACIDUS (Ernst), brother of Maurus, born at Bonn on 24 April 1828 and died at Beuron on 13 September 1908. Ordained priest in 1851, he professed at St Paul Outside the Walls in 1856, where he served as master of the students; among his pupils was Mario Fani (q.v.), the future founder of Italian Catholic Youth. Returning to Germany in 1860, he was the faithful and tireless cooperator of his brother in the restoration of Benedictine life. From 1878 to 1890 he was the first abbot of Maredsous and then in 1890 succeeded his brother Maurus as Archabbot of Beuron. During his abbacy the Beuronese Congregation grew considerably: several monasteries were restored and founded, including Maria Laach in the Rhineland (1892), St Joseph in Westphalia (1904) and the abbey of Our Lady of Ormno Batate in Jerusalem (1906).

BIBL.: for W. Maurus: G. van Caloen, *Dom M. W.*, Bruges 1891; A. Schott, *Leben und Wirken*, Beuron 1891; J. Uttenweiler, *M. W., dem Gründer Beurons zum 100. Geburtstag*, 1892; for W. Placidus: U. Berlére, *Oraison funèbre*, Bruges 1908; S. von Oer, *Erzabt P. W., ein Lebensbild*, Freiburg in Br. 1909; R. Molitor, *Erinnerungen an Erzabt P. W. für 100. Wiederkehr seines Geburtstags*, in *Benedikt. Monatschrift*, 10 (1928), pp. 81-103.

Ambrogio Würth