The Saint Vincent Gallery is a 2,000 square-foot space nestled on the Saint Vincent campus, hosting roughly 6 temporary exhibitions each year, as well as an intimate permanent collection space that has recently been further transformed into one that pays tribute, honor, and reverence to Saint Vincent's rich history. The past couple months we have been working to put together two displays. One is a display of personal artifacts that belonged to Archabbot Boniface Wimmer, O.S.B., the founder of Benedictine Monasticism in North America and Saint Vincent Archabbey, College, and Seminary (est. 1846). This display brings together everything from Wimmer's personal prayer books, to his pectoral crosses and Abbatial Throne. The display not only educates people on the rich history of Saint Vincent, but pays homage to the abbatial office Wimmer so humbly undertook. The second display is a relic collection of the Archabbey that brings together many priceless relics--many of which Archabbot Boniface Wimmer, O.S.B., authenticated. The relic display was inaugurated on the Feasts of All Saints and All Souls in 2011 and the Wimmer Display was inaugurated on October 2012, the 125th anniversary of the death of Archabbot Boniface Wimmer, O.S.B. Of joyful note, the relic display has been instrumental in opening dialogues with Catholics, and non-catholics alike, who are rediscovering relics or experiences relics for the very first time. Both displays are accompanied by a booklet. The Wimmer booklet gives a detailed account of the life of Wimmer, as well as items displayed and their purpose/significance. The relic booklet contains a detailed essay on relics importance and sacredness, and the significance of relics within the church, and the broader construct of the western tradition as so defined and exemplified by St. Ambrose of Milan.
Here are a few photos of the exhibition:
