In April of 1876, Father Herman Wolf, OSB finally left [Saint Vincent Abbey in] Richmond to start his new monastery. He was accompanied by two Richmond boys, Henry Plageman and Anthony Lauman, who were to be the new schools’s first pupils and the farm’s first laborers. Garibadi [Station, now the City of Belmont] was reached on the twenty-first, and since Father Herman immediately established residency, the “priory” came into existence on that day. There were just two priests and two boys; only one of the four was a monk, but such are the beginnings of missionary monasteries.
Father Herman decided to name his new priory “Mariastein,” on honor of the Blessed Virgin Mary and the large granite boulder that dominated the property. This stone was supposed to have been a Catawba [Indian] altar. Subsequently, the Caldwells had used it as the slave block. Wolfe planned no use for the rock, but the name at least acknowledged its rather conspicuous presence.
Dom Paschal Baumstein, OSB
My Lord of Belmont, p. 36
Belmont Abbey
Congratulations to all the good monks of Belmony Abbey (and to the Oblates,too ) 🙂
-Lou