Page 14 - Priorities #35 2006-October

The Priory was founded with the “blood and sweat” of seven Benedictine monks who believed in God’s providence to lead them to a new, monastic home in the United States.
Benedictine high schools in the U.S. were called priories. The monks borrowed the money to buy the land and they would continue to have to borrow for many years to come.
As worked out with Archbishop Mitty of San Francisco, the monks would found a Benedictine secondary school with the highest quality education, small size and small classes, and charge tuition to help fund it. The Woodside Priory School would open in September, 1957.
Arriving in California during the summer of 1957, the other monks joined Father Egon, living
in the small ranch house, and then, the modest new monastery that is still in use today. Three had doctorates in Sacred Theology; one had a doctorate in philosophy; one a doctorate in physics; one a doctorate in biology and one held an American teacher’s credential. In addition, five of the monks had achieved experience in teaching at American universities and two in high schools. They worked together to decide how each would participate in the founding and running of the school. They did this under what St. Benedict had written in his rule, “Whatever good work you begin to do, beg of Him (God) with most earnest prayers to perfect it.”
The monks worked together on the overall character of the school. Prior to the school’s
opening, Father Emod, as superior, decided to be the headmaster. Father Egon became the Prior. Father Stanley became the treasurer. Father Leopold took over the supervision of the first buildings’ construction. He also worked with Fathers Christopher and Stanley on the curriculum, books, and school calendar.
According to an old Latin proverb, “monachus ad omnia aptus,” the monk is up to any task. This was true especially for Father Leopold. Needing a cook, Father Emod decided Father Leopold was up to the job. Good humouredly, Father Emod said, since Father Leopold had a doctorate in biology, he would know what was poisonous and what was edible. The father took up this new duty with fervor and learned to love cooking.
Over the years, each of the seven founding monks made his own unique contribution to Woodside Priory School. In addition to serving as the first headmaster, Father Emod was a French professor and a great scholar of French literature, who also spoke other languages. He was quite a few years older than the other founding monks, he was a great lover of dogs and cats, and he was full of stories.
Besides being head of the food service, Father Leopold ran the science department. He taught the
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This photo, probably taken in 1958 or 59, shows the enthusiasm for athletics that is a Priory tradition. Note in the background the bare hillside that was transformed by Louis Kovacs and the Priory community over the years into a landscape of native trees and plants.