Kansas Monks
we remember...
Father Jude Burbach • 1927-2012 Father Jude Burbach, a monk of St. Benedict’s Abbey in Atchison, Kansas, died on Wednesday afternoon, August 22, 2012, the Feast of the Queenship of the Blessed Virgin Mary. Elwin John Burbach was born on February 9, 1927, in Hartington, Nebraska, the son of Henry and Anna McFadden Burbach. He attended Holy Trinity Catholic Grade and High School there, graduating from high school in 1945. After one year of college studies he entered the novitiate at St. Benedict’s Abbey in July 1946, receiving the name Jude, and professing vows on July 11, 1947. He graduated from St. Benedict’s College in 1950 with a BA in Philosophy. After theology studies at the Abbey School of Theology, he was ordained to the priesthood on May 30, 1953, by Archbishop Edward Hunkeler at St. Benedict’s Church in Atchison, Kansas. For the first five years of his ordained life, Father Jude served as a dorm prefect and Latin instructor at St. Benedict’s College. Then for 10 years he served in parishes as Father Jude served as pastor of several assistant pastor at St. parishes, a job he says, “was a challenge Benedict’s in Atchibut...an opportunity for growth.” son from 1958 until 1961, and then St. Mary’s, Purcell, Kansas, St. Patrick’s (south of Atchison), and Burlington, Iowa. From 1968 to 1970 he was chaplain for the Benedictine Sisters at St. Scholastica Monastery in Chicago, Illinois, while pursuing graduate studies at Rosary College in River Forest,
Illinois. After completing his MA in Library Science in 1970, he worked in the college library for 5 years. From 1975 until 1983 he responded to an invitation from Abbot Brendan Downy to serve at our Priory in Brazil. Upon his return from Brazil Father Jude worked at the Benedictine College Library again, serving as Head Librarian from 1984-1986. From 1990-1995 he served as the last weekend celebrant at St. John’s, Doniphan, Kansas, and later was Pastor at St. Joseph’s, Wathena, Kansas, and St. Charles, Troy, Kansas. From 1995 until his retirement in 2003 Father Jude served faithfully in the parishes at Onaga, Lillis, and Blaine, Kansas. One of his crowning accomplishments was improvements to the church at Onaga. Father Jude in his quiet way was a witness to the transformative power of Christ in Father Jude earned a masters degree the Benedictine way of in Library Science. In his later years life. Always faithful to he frequently made visits to the college library. prayer, lectio divina, and community, he had an interest in the new and the old. He was curious about the world around him and the people whom he met. He was always supportive of monks in their projects and expressed an interest in how things were going. Father Jude was preceded in death by his loving parents, four brothers, and four sisters. He is survived by his brother monks at St. Benedict’s Abbey, by a sister, Ann Janssen, Bellevue, Nebraska, and by numerous nieces and nephews. The monks of the Abbey prayed Vigils for the Dead for Father Jude in the Abbey Church at 7 p.m. on Sunday, August 26. The Mass of Christian Burial was offered there on Monday, August 27.
P r o f e s s e d • J u ly 1 1 , 1 9 4 7 O r d a i n e d • M ay 3 0 , 1 9 5 3 4
