Today, November 21, 2024 at Saint Vincent in Latrobe, PA, we gather together as the Archabbey, College, and Seminary (including the IMF) community for our annual celebration of Founders’ Day. Our founder, Boniface Wimmer, who was already a Benedictine priest when he came to America in 1846, founded Saint Vincent Archabbey as the first Benedictine monastery in North America. In the next forty-one years, he founded monasteries and parishes all over the country and welcomed thousands of men into Benedictine monastic life and formed hundreds of diocesan priests. His vision for the establishment of the Benedictine Order in America and the formation of the clergy was realized substantially during his lifetime and continues to have a significant influence on the American Church (and beyond!) long after his death on December 8, 1887.

As we remember him with thanksgiving for his vision, courage and contagious missionary zeal, we also remember withthanksgiving the great number of his collaborators and all those who believed in his vision enough to receive from it. In particular, as we, in the United States, approach Thanksgiving Day, we want to thank you, who continue to believe in the vision of Archabbot Boniface Wimmer, especially as it is lived out through the Institute for Ministry Formation. Since our foundation in 2019, we have been able to reach thousands of laity, religious and clergy all over the world to share the formation treasures of Saint Vincent Seminary. Through our academic degrees, certificates and courses in Spiritual Direction, Catechetics and Theology, as well as through our parish workshops, formation programs and missionary outreach, we have had the privilege of serving so many beautiful, faithful Catholic communities, organizations and individuals, working to build a culture of accompaniment.

So, we want to thank you for believing in us, supporting us, participating in our programs, and especially praying for us. We are grateful to our faculty, parish collaborators, students, alumni, and all who have participated in our various formation programs. We pray that your time this year with family and your own local parish and neighborhood communities is filled with Thanksgiving and continues to overflow with the life and love that comes to us through the Holy Spirit.