Father Berthold

Father Berthold Brown was born in Logan, Iowa January 10,1913. At Baptism he was given the name Arthur. He and his many brothers and sisters were left fatherless about the time that Arthur entered high school, which only compounded the difficulties of this already poor family. In order to help his mother, Arthur would go to high school for one year and then take off the following year in order to work and provide for the family. This process put him three years behind his graduating class.

Arthur came to Conception in the late 1930's for college, but because he could not afford the rent which people in town were asking for room and board, he stayed up at old St. Francis Convent across the highway from the Abbey. We have little information about his life as a college student at Conception, but the monks and the life of the monastery must have had a significant impact on him because in 1938 he petitioned to join the community and was accepted into the novitiate. One year later on August 30, 1939 he was professed. The clericate diary entry for that day reads as follows:

At the offertory of the conventual Mass, celebrated by Father Hugh, the novices took their temporal vows. The ceremonies, at the high altar and according to the new ritual, were very impressive. The new clerics will be known as Fraters Waiter, Kevin, Joachim, Cyril and Berthold." Frater Berthold was short and stocky, with a good sense of humor. One of his confreres recalls that he could make people laugh by merely walking across a room. On the other hand, if he was not feeling his usual self, it was better to steer clear of him. He is also remembered as being an excellent swimmer and diver who added much to the life of the clericate vacations shared together in those times at Monte Cassino, the community's rustic summer camp in the Ozarks.

What many also remember about his clericate days was his inability to master the intricacies of ceremonies. Father Placid tried to come to his assistance by telling him that when he had to genuflect, he (Fr. Placid) would look at him. Frater Berthold had a very busy solemn Mass for if Father Placid so much as glanced in his direction, he would genuflect.

Passing through the anticipated and required years of theological preparation, Frater Berthold was duly ordained to the priesthood on September 23, 1944. Family and friends came from Logan to participate in the joy of this day. About one year after ordination, the young priest was sent to the Abbey's missions in the Dakotas in order to serve the native peoples of the Standing Rock Reservation. Officially, his assignment was as assistant pastor at Fort Yates, ND and pastor of the church at Kenel, SD. Father Berthold had only been on assignment for about two months, when on Tuesday, November 20, 1945 he was taking four of the native children by car from Kenel to the mission school at Marty, SD. He was accompanied by another man. About twenty-two miles south of Miller, SD the car hit loose gravel on the road and turned over several times. The car did not collide with another vehicle, nor did it run into a ditch. Some of the other passengers were slightly injured, but Father Berthold had sustained mortal injuries. His chest was crushed and his right lung had been punctured, causing severe pain. He was immediately taken to the hospital in Miller where he received the last rites of the Church from the local pastor, Father John Hyland. The latter informed Abbot Stephen that Father Berthold had asked about his condition and when told the serious nature of his injuries, he was totally resigned to God's will. Fr. Berthold died the next day at 1:10 P.M.

Father Alfred Meyer, pastor at Ft. Yates, accompanied the body the following day to Logan, IA where a funeral Mass was celebrated on Saturday, November 24, just fourteen months to the day that Father had celebrated his first solemn Mass in the same church. Monsignor Luigi Ligutti, who had also preached at his first Mass, gave the absolution and preached the sermon. Nineteen priests were present including four from the Abbey: Fathers Patrick, Walter, Kevin and Joachim. Father Kevin remained in Logan in order to accompany the body back to Conception.

Father Berthold's brief monastic and priestly life came full circle when on November 26th , Abbot Stephen celebrated a Pontifical Requiem Mass followed by burial in St. Columba Cemetery, where he now rests in the sure expectation of final resurrection from the dead.

May his hope and expectation also be ours.