For all tho se who have gone b efore u s
Father I g n at i u s Smi t h , O SB August 31, 1926 - April 27, 2013
photo by Abbot Barnabas Senecal
Father Ignatius (John) Smith, O.S.B., died the afternoon of April 27, 2013, at the Atchison Hospital, having received the sacraments of the Church and apostolic pardon from Abbot James Albers. He was born on August 31, 1926, in Wilmore, Pennsylvania, the son of Peter Joseph and Florence (Beyer) Smith. He was the oldest of three children. Father Ignatius grew up in the heart of Benedictine territory in Pennsylvania, a short distance from Carrolltown, where Father Henry Lemke, OSB, the first Benedictine monk to come to Kansas, is buried. Six first cousins went on to the priesthood, including several who became monks at Saint Vincent Archabbey, Latrobe, Pennsylvania. Father Ignatius followed them and professed his vows as a monk at the Archabbey on September 23, 1946. Father Ignatius transferred his stability to Holy Cross Abbey, Cañon City, Colorado, a foundation of St. Vincent. He was ordained on December 18, 1954, as a monk of Holy Cross Abbey. While a monk there, he served in parishes throughout Colorado, as well as serving as Prior at the monastery in Cañon City. In July, 2002, when the monks of Holy Cross Abbey voted to close the monastery, Father Ignatius was appointed the temporary superior. Afterward, he came to Atchison, transferring his vow of stability here. Father Ignatius was a quiet man, faithful to his monastic vows. Throughout his life he saw much change: growing up in the great depression, moving to Colorado, and then witnessing the closing of his monastic community. Through it all he remained faithful to his commitment to Jesus Christ as a monk and a priest. He is survived by his brother monks; his brother Thomas in Cañon City, Colorado; and his sister Rose Norris and her husband Joseph of Cresson, Pennsylvania, and their children Gia, Tanksley, and Joseph.
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Celebrating Father Ignatius: “Uphold me, O Lord, as you have promised, and I shall live; let me not be disappointed in my hope.”
- Suscipe
For nearly 66 years , Father Ignatius made this prayer and hope his own, at various places in his assignments , and in three different monastic communities as God called him to transfer his vow of stability, yet through it all to love and ser ve Him all the same. - Excerpt from homily by Abbot James Albers
Kansas Monks
