Bernardin Schellenberger
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Bernardin Schellenberger (born 11 February 1944) is a German
Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...
theologian, priest and former
Trappist The Trappists, officially known as the Order of Cistercians of the Strict Observance (, abbreviated as OCSO) and originally named the Order of Reformed Cistercians of Our Lady of La Trappe, are a Religious order (Catholic), Catholic religious o ...
. He has worked as a writer and translator, focused on spiritual topics and the
monastic Monasticism (; ), also called monachism or monkhood, is a religious way of life in which one renounces worldly pursuits to devote oneself fully to spiritual activities. Monastic life plays an important role in many Christian churches, especially ...
tradition.


Life

Bernd Schellenberger was born in
Ellwangen Ellwangen an der Jagst, officially Ellwangen (Jagst), in common use simply Ellwangen () is a town in the district of Ostalbkreis in the east of Baden-Württemberg in southern Germany. It is situated about north of Aalen. Ellwangen has 25,000 inha ...
, and grew up in
Stuttgart Stuttgart (; ; Swabian German, Swabian: ; Alemannic German, Alemannic: ; Italian language, Italian: ; ) is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Baden-Württemberg by population, largest city of the States of Germany, German state of ...
. He completed school in 1963 with the
Abitur ''Abitur'' (), often shortened colloquially to ''Abi'', is a qualification granted at the end of secondary education in Germany. It is conferred on students who pass their final exams at the end of ISCED 3, usually after twelve or thirteen year ...
at the . He then became a
novice A novice is a person who has entered a religious order and is under probation, before taking vows. A ''novice'' can also refer to a person (or animal e.g. racehorse) who is entering a profession with no prior experience. Religion Buddhism ...
at the
Franciscan The Franciscans are a group of related organizations in the Catholic Church, founded or inspired by the Italian saint Francis of Assisi. They include three independent Religious institute, religious orders for men (the Order of Friars Minor bei ...
, taking the monastic name Bernardin. He studied philosophy at the Hochschule der Bayerischen Franziskaner in
Munich Munich is the capital and most populous city of Bavaria, Germany. As of 30 November 2024, its population was 1,604,384, making it the third-largest city in Germany after Berlin and Hamburg. Munich is the largest city in Germany that is no ...
from 1964 to 1966, when he moved to
Mariawald Abbey Mariawald Abbey () was a monastery of the Trappists (formally known as the Cistercians of the Strict Observance), located above the village of Heimbach, in the district of Düren in the Eifel, in the forests around Kermeter, North Rhine-Westphali ...
, a monastery of
Trappist The Trappists, officially known as the Order of Cistercians of the Strict Observance (, abbreviated as OCSO) and originally named the Order of Reformed Cistercians of Our Lady of La Trappe, are a Religious order (Catholic), Catholic religious o ...
s in
Heimbach Heimbach is a town in the district of Düren of the state of North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is located on the river Rur, in the Eifel hills, approx. 20 km south of Düren. Heimbach has the smallest population of any town in North Rhin ...
. Two years later, he studied monastic theology at the . He continued theology studies at the
University of Salzburg The University of Salzburg (, ), also known as the Paris Lodron University of Salzburg (''Paris-Lodron-Universität Salzburg'', PLUS), is an Austrian public university in Salzburg, Salzburg municipality, Salzburg (federal state), Salzburg State, ...
in 1969/70 and at the
University of Freiburg The University of Freiburg (colloquially ), officially the Albert Ludwig University of Freiburg (), is a public university, public research university located in Freiburg im Breisgau, Baden-Württemberg, Germany. The university was founded in 1 ...
from 1969 to 1972, graduating with the Diplom. Schellenberger was ordained as a priest in 1972. In 1975, he became
prior The term prior may refer to: * Prior (ecclesiastical), the head of a priory (monastery) * Prior convictions, the life history and previous convictions of a suspect or defendant in a criminal case * Prior probability, in Bayesian statistics * Prio ...
of Mariawald. He published books and translated from 1978, first translating
Henri Nouwen Henri Jozef Machiel Nouwen (January 24, 1932 – September 21, 1996) was a Dutch Catholic priest, professor, writer and theologian. His interests were rooted primarily in psychology, pastoral ministry, spirituality, social justice and commun ...
's ''The Genesee Diary – Report from a Trappist Monastery''. He translated more works by Nouwen,
Richard Rohr Richard Rohr, (born 1943) is an American Franciscan priest and writer on spirituality based in Albuquerque, New Mexico. He was ordained to the priesthood in the Roman Catholic Church in 1970, founded the New Jerusalem Community in Cincinnati ...
and many other American, French and Irish authors, with topics such as
Zen Zen (; from Chinese: ''Chán''; in Korean: ''Sŏn'', and Vietnamese: ''Thiền'') is a Mahayana Buddhist tradition that developed in China during the Tang dynasty by blending Indian Mahayana Buddhism, particularly Yogacara and Madhyamaka phil ...
meditation, Jewish mysticism,
Church history Church history or ecclesiastical history as an academic discipline studies the history of Christianity and the way the Christian Church has developed since its inception. Henry Melvill Gwatkin defined church history as "the spiritual side of t ...
, dealing with illness, improving health, family affairs,
enneagram Enneagram may refer to: * Enneagram (geometry), a nine-sided star polygon with various configurations * Enneagram of Personality, a model of human personality illustrated by an enneagram figure See also * Enneagon In geometry, a nonagon () or ...
and social criticism. In 1981, Schellenberger and two other friars left Mariawald and tried a community in an empty parish house in
Donzdorf Donzdorf () is a town in the district of Göppingen in Baden-Württemberg in southern Germany. It is located 12 km east of Göppingen, and 13 km south of Schwäbisch Gmünd. The town is home to Nuclear Blast Records, one of the biggest ...
, but failed. He lived in the Abbey of the Genesee in
Genesee County, New York Genesee County is a county in the U.S. state of New York. As of the 2020 census, the population was 58,388. Its county seat is Batavia. Its name is from the Seneca word Gen-nis'-hee-yo, meaning "the Beautiful Valley".THE AMERICAN REVIEW; ...
from 1982, returning to Donzdorf in 1983, where he lived as a freelance writer. Beginning in 1988, he has lived and worked at times in Togo, helping Africans. In 1991, he married a woman with two children, for whom he cared. They separated in 1998. He has lived in
Bad Tölz Bad Tölz (; Bavarian: ''Däiz'') is a town in Bavaria, Germany and the administrative center of the Bad Tölz-Wolfratshausen district. History Archaeology has shown continuous occupation of the site of Bad Tölz since the retreat of the gla ...
from 2006.


Publications

Works by Schellenberger are held by the
German National Library The German National Library (DNB; ) is the central archival library and national bibliographic centre for the Federal Republic of Germany. It is one of the largest libraries in the world. Its task is to collect, permanently archive, comprehens ...
, including:


Translator

* * *


Author

* * * * * * * * * *


Collaboration

* with Max Taucher: ''Krypten, Ursprung der Hoffnung.'' Echter, Würzburg 1985 * with Ines Baumgarth: ''Treppen, Stufen des Lebens.'' Echter, Würzburg 1989 * with : ''Glaubens A und O.'' Patmos, Düsseldorf 1995 * with Albus: ''Der Zauber des Alltäglichen.'' Kreuz, Stuttgart 2001 * with Albus: ''Worte aus der Wüste.'' Kreuz, Stuttgart 2003 * with (eds.): ''Feiertage einmal anders betrachtet. Gespräche mit Prof. K.-J. Kuschel über den Sinn von Weihnachten, Ostern und Pfingsten.'' Echter, Würzburg 2004 * with D. Weber, , , and : ''Feuerwerke – Gebete am Himmel: Lebensfragen und Einsichten.'' (texts of a radio series of
Hessischer Rundfunk (; "Hesse Broadcasting"), shortened to HR (; stylized as hr), is the German state of Hesse's public broadcasting corporation. Headquartered in Frankfurt, it is a member of the national consortium of German public broadcasting corporations, A ...
2004). Echter, Würzburg 2005 * with : ''Ein Lied, das froh im Herzen jubelt. Texte der spirituellen Erfahrung der frühen Zisterzienser.'' Be&Be, Heiligenkreuz im Wienerwald 2010


Hymn

Schellenberger wrote the text of the hymn " Selig, wem Christus auf dem Weg begegnet" (Blessed who is met by Christ on the way), which was included in the 2013 German Catholic hymnal ''
Gotteslob ''Gotteslob'' ("Praise of God") is the title of the hymnbook authorized by the Catholic dioceses in Germany, Austria, South Tyrol, Luxembourg and Liège, Belgium. First published in Advent 2013, it is the current official hymnal for German-speak ...
'', coupled with a 17th-century melody from Paris.


References


Further reading

*


External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Schellenberger, Bernardin 20th-century German philosophers 21st-century German non-fiction writers Trappists 20th-century German translators 21st-century German translators University of Salzburg alumni University of Freiburg alumni 1944 births Living people People from Ellwangen