Marmion Abbey founder celebrates 100th
AURORA -- Abbot Emeritus Gerald Benkert radiates joy, peace and gratitude.
But, he says, "I don't have a secret for a long life."
(Heather Eidson/Staff photographer)
"Memoirs of the founding Abbot of Marmion Abbey," is available for $10 at the academy, 1000 Butterfield Road, Aurora.
"Memoirs" will be available at the birthday open house from 1 to 3:30 p.m. today at Marmion, and can be purchased through Marmion's Hammes bookstore online for $10 after Nov. 1 at www.marmion.org.
The Benedictine abbot does have a mantra for a joyful and productive life drawn from his devotion to God: "The will of God gives joy to the heart. We see all things in his light."
Marmion Academy this week hosted a birthday celebration in the academy gymnasium where brethren, friends from Guatemala, students and faculty gathered.
Abbot Gerald, the founding abbot of Marmion Abbey, celebrates his 100th birthday today. He is the oldest living abbot in the country -- perhaps even the world -- and the oldest monk of the Swiss-American Benedictine Congregation. An open house to observe Abbot Gerald's 100th birthday is scheduled from 1 to 3:30 p.m. today at the academy on Butterfield Road.
Students presented a slide show highlighting world events during his lifetime and announced the date of his birthday, Oct. 24, will forever be "Abbot Gerald Benkert Day" at Marmion Academy.
Abbot Gerald had a smile when the Marmion Academy choir sang their rendition of the Beatles' birthday song and the entire 480-student body sang the traditional birthday song to him. A group of young men carried in 100 frosted cupcakes.
Abbot Gerald said religious life was in his mind since primary school.
"Looking back over 100 years, I can see the work of divine providence step-by-step in my life," he said.
He was born in Louisville, Ky., in 1909, son of Constantine and Pauline Effinger Benkert.
He recalled a fond memory from his childhood, when boys would sneak through the back gate of Churchill Downs, the race track where the Kentucky Derby is held, and someone asked if he wanted to be a jockey. "I said no. I have other ideas in my mind."
Abbot Gerald attended St. Meinrad Minor Seminary in Indiana starting in 1923, took his Benedictine religious vows in 1929 and was ordained to the priesthood in 1934. He received his doctorate in philosophy from Catholic University in Washington, D.C., in 1942.
In 1947, Abbot Gerald was appointed the founding abbot of Marmion Abbey when it was raised to the status of an independent abbey from St. Meinrad Archabbey in southern Indiana. He served as abbot of Marmion Abbey and president of Marmion Academy for 23 years.
During his tenure, property on Butterfield Road in Aurora was purchased and a monastery was built. A new school campus was built on the abbey grounds in 1959. After he retired as the abbot of Marmion in 1969, he served for more than 30 years as a teacher at the mission priory and school in Guatemala.
He is currently retired at Marmion Abbey.
The Rev. Joel Rippinger, faculty chaplain, said the abbot "engages people in all levels."
"He also is a very holy man," Rippinger said. "What we have come to see is that his personal holiness (and) monastic witness has served our community so well."
"He is unique in his love for life," Rippinger said.
And as for those 100 cupcakes, the abbot said, "I'll bless the cupcakes. That doesn't mean I have to eat them."
