Fr. William Wewers, O.S.B.

I am the youngest of four children, a twin, born in Fort Smith, AR. My mother’s parents lived with us in a three-bedroom house on a small truck farm in east Fort Smith. There were eight of us in the three-bedroom house. My father was the janitor at St. Boniface parish where I attended elementary school. I graduated in 1955. Growing up in a German culture—my grandparents spoke very little if any English--we children learned the value of work and prayer. Each night, the family prayed the rosary whether early in the evening or later at night after returning from a visit or trip. We children helped with the farm work, harvesting and preparing vegetables for the local grocery market. Truthfully, our family lacked very little even though we were not very well off. 

I recall considering the priesthood when I was in the fifth grade. I didn’t know anything about monasticism, although the priests in the parish were Benedictines from Subiaco. Boys could learn to be altar servers upon entering the fifth grade. The Benedictine sisters of St. Scholastica, Ft. Smith, taught all the grades in school. Boys desiring to be servers had to learn the Latin responses at Mass. Also, the entire student body attended Mass each morning of the school week. Fr. James Foley, O.S.B. was the assistant pastor who encouraged the boys to become servers.  

I had two cousins who were Benedictine priests at Subiaco. I didn’t get to know them very well until my two brothers and I entered the minor seminary here. My oldest brother was two years ahead of me in school. Fortunately for me, I was able to attend Vocation Camp at Subiaco for two years prior to entering the seminary in 1955. My high school summers were taken up with helping my father with custodial work at St. Boniface. During my junior and senior summers, I also worked at St. Scholastica Convent at various odd jobs. I graduated from Subiaco Academy in 1959. 

After graduating from Subiaco Academy, I entered the seminary college at Subiaco in the fall of 1959. I completed my first year of college, taking courses taught by the monks. During the summer of 1959, I continued working for my father and the sisters at the convent. During the summer months of 1960, along with my fellow college students, I attended the first and—I am certain—the last summer school for seminarians at Subiaco. During the first year of college, my classmates and I resided at the Academy, living in what were affectionately known as the Lakeview Apartments in the southeast tower of the main building—Lakeview because one could see the horse pond in the pasture on the farm. 

In August of 1960, six of us college students entered Subiaco Abbey as novitiate candidates. Our candidacy lasted until September 7 when we were invested as novices. Six entered, five were invested as novices, the same five made temporary vows in 1961, three made final vows in 1965, and the same three were ordained in 1967. The year of novitiate was a happy year in that each day seemed to present something new.  

In regard to the tools God used to lead me to Subiaco, two stand out. One was my grandmother who lived with my family until she died in the early ‘60s. She was crippled with rickets, resulting in her not able to get around much. She prayed the rosary daily, maybe even hourly. When leaving the family to enter the novitiate she, in her broken English, assured me of her daily prayers for me. 

The other was the example of the Benedictine priests at St. Boniface, along with the monks I met during the vocation camps and summer camps I either attended or worked at. One priest was instrumental in guiding me—although he probably had no idea—Fr. Stephen Eckart, O.S.B. He was the first priest-monk I encountered the first vocation camp I attended. 

I suppose the fact that my older brother attended the seminary, entered the novitiate but decided the monastic life was not for him helped me understand what seminary life was about. Some may find the following strange, but I knew from those days in the fifth grade, serving Mass those many years, that the priesthood was my calling. Monasticism, especially as practiced at Subiaco, solidified my desire.  

I never thought about “visiting” Subiaco. There were two choices of high school education for my brothers and me. One was Subiaco; the other was St. Anne’s in Fort Smith. St. Anne’s was a co-ed day school operated by the Sisters of Mercy. Being educated by Benedictines—sisters and priests—made the decision to attend Subiaco easy.  

I am currently on assignment as pastor of Holy Redeemer Church in Clarksville, AR. I have been pastor for several, several years. Entering the monastery, I knew I wanted to be ordained. I am a monk first, priest next. My desire was to be ordained and teach in the Academy. I fulfilled both those desires. My monasticism does not interfere with my priesthood. The choice of being a monk at Subiaco has always been there. The living out of that choice as a priest, an educator, a director of athletics, and now a pastor fulfills the admonition of St. Benedict to seek God in one’s life. 

Being a pastor necessitates living away from the monastery. True! However, there is still that vow of stability that binds me to the place called Subiaco. And the bond is one of solidarity with my fellow monks. The vow of stability is the best form of Social Security. Subiaco is my home and my final resting place, whenever that may be. 

No regrets.