ARCHIVES: BONNY, OUR SONGBIRD

BONNY, OUR SONGBIRD: One of the gifts of Benedictine hospitality we give our diocese is assigning our priests to fill in for weekend assignments at various parishes throughout the state. This allows the parish priests of the diocese to go on vacation, to conferences, and funerals while allowing our monastic priests to talk about our Abbey and monastic life. Fr. Patrick and Abbot Elijah recently went to serve at St. Boniface church in New Dixie, AR. What is unusual about this little church is that it has the grave of one of our monks beside the church itself rather than in the nearby cemetery. This is only because the mother of the monk buried there specifically requested that her son be there rather than in our abbey cemetery or the parish cemetery. Thus begins the tale of our monastic brother, who suffered one of the most painful and tragic deaths in our community:

Boniface Olles was born in Dixie, Arkansas, on February 16, 1885, the fifth of eight children. His parents were members of the Benedictine parish of St. Boniface, and when he was seven years old, Father Matthew Saettele, the pastor, saw the young man's promise and urged his parents to send him to Subiaco. He arrived at the monastery in December 1892 and became one of the first members of our scholasticate, where his fellow students knew him as Bonny. He made his first profession on November 11, 1903, receiving the name Innocent. In a tribute after Frater Innocent’s death, his classmate Fr. Paul Nahlen spoke of him as “the liveliest and happiest of us, and very talented” and spoke of him as “the songbird among the crows.” He was the tallest of his class (over 6 feet tall) and seemed very healthy and vigorous at the time of his profession. But soon after profession, he began to have bouts of fever and was often confined to his bed. In 1904, he was sent to the baths in Hot Springs and then to Altus for medical treatment and rest. The fever came and went. He was sent to Conception Abbey for the summer of 1905 and seemed to be much improved during the following school year. He made solemn profession in November 1906 with the three other members of his class. But in February 1907, the fever returned, and when his classmates were ordained deacons on April 5, he was already confined to a sick bed from which he would never leave. He was sent to St. Vincent Infirmary in Little Rock for observation and treatment, where they thought he had TB of the hip. They attempted to do surgery, but the blackened blood poured out so quickly that they had to stop. During this, he awoke from the little anesthesia they had used. The other diagnosis was advanced cancer with minimal prospect of recovery. Very quickly, Frater Innocent’s suffering became intense, with necrosis in his left leg and bed sores that became open wounds. The patience with which Frater Innocent bore the intense pain impressed all who came into contact with him. On May 13, Frater Innocent then suffered a paralyzing stroke, which made it impossible for him to voice his needs. Through it all, his monastic brothers were by his side. He died on Saturday, June 1, 1907. At the request of his parents, his funeral and burial took place at his home parish in Dixie. His mother said, “Even if he is gone, at least I can visit his grave every day and pray for him and to him.” At the time of his death, Frater Innocent had been a monk for three years and seven months. He is buried beside St. Boniface Church in Dixie, Arkansas, near the altar of St. Joseph. We are monastic brothers in life and death, so we pray for the repose of his soul. One day, we pray to be reunited with our “Bonny” the songbird, all together chanting with the choir of angels in heaven. For that, we monks chant: UIOGD!