Abbot Hilary Pfraengle

On 16 November 1886 with the President, Archabbot Boniface presiding, the fourteen capitulars of St. Mary’s Abbey on the third ballot elected their second abbot. Fr. Hilary Pfraengle, director of the college and seminary at St. Vincent. Wimmer telegraphed the news and Pfraengle replied at once that he could not accept. A series of telegrams were exchanged during the day with Pfraengle remaining adamant. Finally the Archabbot wrote a forceful letter exhorting Pfraengle to accept, appealing to possible abbatial and episcopal ambitions and painting a very positive picture of conditions in Newark:

A brilliant future cannot be expected for Newark, but in a small diocese an abbot is an important man. Under a good abbot the small abbey has a promising future. If I should be compelled to appoint an abbot I cannot appoint one of the resident fathers. They want no Newarker although this does not reflect on anyone. Even Abbot James was not popular for this reason. The monastery too will suffer if the abbacy is refused. It will be a reflection on the local fathers, because it is rumored that Abbot James did not get on well with some of them
 
However, an abbot must not be so sensitive, and the fathers in Newark are not so bad. In fact there is a beautiful order in the monastery, much better than at St. Vincent. They attend choir regularly, there is no idea of neglecting Mass, they do not miss chapter, waste time, or talk after recreation. As far as I can see, there is good understanding among them and they work diligently. In fact it is a nice little monastery and the food is good and sufficient. 

Pfraengle felt compelled to succumb to the pressure and telegraphed his acceptance. Following confirmation by the Holy See, Abbot Hilary’s blessing took place on 17 February 1887, not in Newark but at St. Vincent, with the bishop of Pittsburg presiding. A delegation of five fathers from Newark attended led by Prior Ambrose Huebner. On Monday, 21 February the new abbot quietly took possession of his monastery.

Abbot Hilary was born in Butler, Pennsylvania on 9 May 1843. He entered St. Vincent College and applied to enter the monastery. He pronounced his first vows on 13 November 1862. He was ordained to the priesthood on 26 May 18 1866.

In order to insure highly qualified professors in the seminary at St. Vincent, Father Hilary Pfraengle was among the first group to study at Wimmer’s house of studies, St. Elizabeth’s, in the Eternal City. Pfraengle embarked with Father Oswald Moosemüller, former prior in Newark, whom Wimmer had appointed rector of his new Roman community. Pfraengle received his doctorate from the La Sapienza University.  Upon returning to St. Vincent, he taught theology and in 1872 was appointed rector of the seminary which position he held when he was elected abbot of St. Mary’s.

Abbot Hilary was, by all accounts, a remarkable man. He was a tall, burly, bearded man whose height was accentuated by his use of a stovepipe hat. He is said to have had a keen sense of humor, to have been a “character” but also a man of character and courage with whom everyone was impressed. He seems to have absorbed at its source the Wimmer motto of “Forward, always forward!”

The advent of Abbot Hilary inspired the community with new life. He set about providing for a scholasticate at the abbey in Newark in which aspirants to the community could pursue the liberal arts. Recognizing that there were not sufficient priests, Abbot Hilary was forced to relinquish the missions in Rahway and Irvington and St. Hedwig’s, the Polish parish in Wilmington, after the death of Fr. Leo Szczepanski in 1895. But he traveled to the Bahamas to explore the possibility of accepting the invitation to open a mission there. Nothing came of this, due no doubt to the lack of priests in the community. Ultimately St. John’s Abbey established a monastery and school dedicated to St. Augustine in Nassau.