Ansgar Vonier, engl. Anscar Vonier,

O.S.B. , image = Medalla San Benito.PNG , caption = Design on the obverse side of the Saint Benedict Medal , abbreviation = OSB , formation = , motto = (English: 'Pray and Work') , found ...

(11 November 1875 in Ringschnait,

Oberschwaben Upper Swabia (german: Oberschwaben or ) is a region in Germany in the federal states of Baden-Württemberg and Bavaria.''Brockhaus Enzyklopädie.'' 19. Auflage. Band 16, 1991, p. 72. The name refers to the area between the Sw ...

– 26 December 1938 in

Buckfast Buckfast is a small village near Buckfastleigh in Teignbridge district, Devon, England, on the bank of the River Dart. It is the home of Buckfast Abbey, an active Benedictine monastery, which gave its name to Buckfast Tonic Wine, originally made ...

), was an Abbot of

Buckfast Abbey Buckfast Abbey forms part of an active Benedictine monastery at Buckfast, near Buckfastleigh, Devon, England. Buckfast first became home to an abbey in 1018. The first Benedictine abbey was followed by a Savignac (later Cistercian) abbey cons ...

(1906–1938).

Life

Born Martin Vonier in 1875 (on the feast of

Martin of Tours Martin of Tours ( la, Sanctus Martinus Turonensis; 316/336 – 8 November 397), also known as Martin the Merciful, was the third bishop of Tours. He has become one of the most familiar and recognizable Christian saints in France, heralded as the ...

), he came from a large family, that had emigrated to Württember from the

Tyrol Tyrol (; historically the Tyrole; de-AT, Tirol ; it, Tirolo) is a historical region in the Alps - in Northern Italy and western Austria. The area was historically the core of the County of Tyrol, part of the Holy Roman Empire, Austrian Emp ...

. His father was a farmer, who also ran a brickworks. After a few years, the family moved to Rissegg, where Martin attended the local school and became an altar boy.Clark, Augustine. "Vonier, Martin", ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography"
/ref> In 1882, monks from :fr:Abbaye Sainte-Marie de la Pierre-qui-Vire, who had been exiled from France, purchased the site of a former monastery near

Buckfastleigh Buckfastleigh is a market town and civil parish in Devon, England situated beside the Devon Expressway ( A38) at the edge of the Dartmoor National Park. It is part of Teignbridge and, for ecclesiastical purposes, lies within the Totnes Deanery. ...

in Devon. In 1888, Vonier was one of the youths recruited for the new abbey at Buckfast. The boys were first sent to a school in

Beauvais Beauvais ( , ; pcd, Bieuvais) is a city and commune in northern France, and prefecture of the Oise département, in the Hauts-de-France region, north of Paris. The commune of Beauvais had a population of 56,020 , making it the most populous ...

run by the

Holy Ghost Fathers , image = Holy Ghost Fathers seal.png , size = 175px , caption = The seal of the Congregation depicting the Immaculate Heart of Mary, and the Holy Spirit proceeding from the Trinity. , abbreviation ...

in order to learn French. They arrived at Buckfast in the summer of 1889. After four years in the alumnate, Vonier entered the novitiate in 1893, and was given the name "Anscar". He was professed the following year, and ordained in 1898 by bishop

Charles Maurice Graham Charles Maurice Graham (1834–1912) was a British clergyman who held high office in the Roman Catholic Church. Life Graham was born 5 April 1834 at Mhow, India. He was educated at Sacred Heart College at Prior Park and the English College, R ...

. In 1900, he was sent to study at St. Anselmo's in Rome, where he received a doctorate in philosophy. In November 1905, Vonier was sent back to St. Anselmo's to teach philosophy. He was returning the following summer in the company of Buckfast's abbot, Boniface Natter, when their ship, the

SS Sirio SS ''Sirio'' was an Italian merchant steamer that had a shipwreck off the eastern Spanish coast on August 4, 1906, causing the deaths of at least 150 Italian and Spanish emigrants bound for Brazil, Uruguay, and Argentina. The shipwreck gained no ...

, was shipwrecked off the Spanish coast. Natter and Vonier ministered to the steerage passengers in the ensuing chaos. Dom Natter was among the many who drowned. When news of the sinking reached the Community at Buckfast it was believed that both Abbot and Vonier had perished and Requiem Masses were said for the repose of their souls. However, Vonier was saved by a fishing vessel. On 14 September 1906 Vonier was elected by the Community to succeed Boniface as the second Abbot of Buckfast. He was thirty-one years old. Dom Vonier decided to rebuild the abbey church on the site of the original Cistercian church. The foundation stone was laid in January 1907.Smith, Leo. "The Life and Work of Abbot Anscar Vonier", English Benedictine Congregation History Commission, 1996
/ref>

Work

* ''The Christian Mind'' * ''The Personality of Christ'' * ''The Victory of Christ'' * ''The Divine Motherhood'' * ''The Spirit and the Bride'' * ''The People of God'' * ''A Key to the Doctrine of the Eucharist'' * ''The Human Soul and Its Relations with Other Spirits'' * ''Christianus'' * ''The Life of the World to Come''

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Vonier, Ansgar 1875 births 1938 deaths People from Biberach an der Riss People from the Kingdom of Württemberg German Benedictines Benedictine abbots