Anniversaries At St. Meinrad
The Benedictine monks at St. Meinrad Archabbey celebrated the 70-year jubilee of priesthood ordination and 75-year jubilee of monastic profession for Benedictine Father Cletus Miller on May 25.
Also honored were Benedictine Father Benedict Meyer for his 60-year jubilee of priesthood ordination; Benedictine Archbishop Daniel Buechlein, 50-year jubilee of priesthood ordination, and Benedictine Father Louis Mulcahy, 25-year jubilee of priesthood ordination.
• Father Cletus is a native of Evansville, where he attended St. Benedict School before studying at St. Meinrad in high school, college and seminary.
He professed his vows as a monk of St. Meinrad on August 7, 1939, and was ordained to the priesthood on May 30, 1944.
In 1950, St. Meinrad founded a new abbey in South Dakota called Blue Cloud Abbey. Father Cletus was one of the founding monks. He was assigned to work in the Dakota missions that served the Sioux tribes. In 1981, he served at Resurrection Priory in Cobán, Guatemala.
When Blue Cloud Abbey closed in 2012, Father Cletus rejoined the St. Meinrad community.
• Father Benedict, a native of Cedar Grove, Ind, professed his vows as a Benedictine monk on August 1, 1949. He was ordained a priest on May 3, 1954.
He earned a bachelor’s degree from St. Meinrad College in 1950 and received advanced degrees from The Catholic University of America in 1955 and 1956.
He taught at St. Meinrad Seminary for five years and served for a number of years in St. Meinrad’s Brazil and Peru missions. Father Benedict was a chaplain and pastor for 26 years in Arkansas, including 15 years at St. John the Baptist Church in Brinkley.
• Archbishop Daniel Buechlein is archbishop emeritus of the Archdiocese of Indianapolis, where he served from 1992 to 2011. He served as bishop of the Diocese of Memphis from 1987 to 1992.
A native of Jasper, he studied at St. Meinrad from 1952 to 1964. He then did graduate work at Sant’ Anselmo in Rome, earning a licentiate in sacred theology in 1966.
At St. Meinrad, he was a teacher and administrator in the college until 1971, when he was named president-rector of St. Meinrad Seminary, a position he held until he was appointed the bishop of Memphis.
He professed his vows as a Benedictine monk on August 15, 1959, and was ordained a priest on May 3, 1964.
• Father Louis is a native of Lynn, Mass., where he graduated from St. Mary’s High School in 1945. He then enlisted in the U.S. Navy. He studied at the IBM Institute in Washington, D.C., and did research for the Naval Bureau of Personnel. After discharge from the Navy, he worked for IBM in Boston.
He began religious life at St. Benedict Priory in Harvard, MA, where he professed vows as a Benedictine monk in 1981. He transferred to St. Meinrad in 1984.
He attended Boston College and Weston College of Theology, completing his Master of Divinity at St. Meinrad in 1988. He was ordained a priest on May 20, 1989.
He has served as director of mail services, monastery guest master, coordinator of research at Abbey Press, custodian of Monte Cassino Shrine and an associate chaplain for Monastery Immaculate Conception in Ferdinand.
