Benedictines (OSB)
25th Ordination
Father Dominic Lenk, OSB
Birth name: Alan Dennis Lenk
Birthplace: Troy
First profession: 1991
Final profession: 1994
Ordination: 1998
Education: Bachelor’s in accounting, Central Methodist College, 1982
Bachelor’s in business education, University of Missouri-Columbia, 1985
Master’s of divinity, Saint John’s School of Theology-Seminary, 1998
Service in the archdiocese: Library assistant, St. Louis Priory School, 1991-94
Assistant to the abbot, St. Louis Abbey, 1998-2006 and 2009-18
Chaplain, Visitation Monastery and Academy, 1998-present
Director of formation, St. Louis Abbey, 2018-present
Theology teacher, St. Louis Priory School, 1998-2006 and 2011-present
Master of liturgical ceremonies, St. Louis Abbey, 2010-present
Chaplain, The Saint Austin School, 2015-present
Archivist, St. Louis Abbey, 2020-present
Theology department chair, St. Louis Priory School, 2021-present
Prior, St. Louis Abbey, March 2023-present
Service outside the archdiocese: Bursar, Saint Anselm’s Abbey, Washington, D.C., 2006-09
About Father Dominic Lenk: Living the monastic life has afforded me opportunities to do many things and meet a variety of persons (e.g, meeting Pope Francis) that I would not have experienced if I had not chosen this way of life. Most recently, I had the happy privilege of publishing my first book, “Voices from the Upper Room.” In this book I give voice to many of those individuals we meet in the Gospel narratives who relate how they came to know Jesus, what He did for them and how their lives changed from that encounter. Lastly, I want to share a saying that one of the older monks shared with me when I was a novice. Father Austin said to me, “It’s nice to think that when you’re lying awake in the middle of the night, that there is someone out there who knows you’re alive.” How comforting to know that we are not alone. The Lord is always with us.
60th First Profession
Father Laurence Kriegshauser, OSB
Birth name: Jerome
Birthplace: St. Louis
Entrance: 1961
First profession: 1963
Final profession: 1966
Ordination: 1969
Education: Bachelor’s in arts, University of Notre Dame, 1961
Licentiate in sacred theology, University of Fribourg, 1969
Service in the archdiocese: Teacher, St Louis Priory School, 1969-2005
Professor of Old Testament, Kenrick-Glennon Seminary, 2010-18
About Father Laurence Kriegshauser: I grew up in Mary Queen of Peace Parish and value the selfless teaching of the Sisters of Loretto. At St. Louis University High, I learned Greek, which proved valuable in my later biblical studies. At Notre Dame I majored in English and discovered the religious poets Gerard Manley Hopkins and T.S. Eliot, who helped me see the presence of Christ in the world. I fell in love with the risen Jesus and in 1961 resolved to give myself to Him as a monk in the newly founded Priory of Saint Mary and St. Louis. During my novitiate in England, I absorbed the spirit of the English Benedictine congregation at Ampleforth Abbey before being sent to the University of Fribourg to study Thomas Aquinas. These were the years of the Second Vatican Council, which provided enthusiasm for the mission of bringing Christ to the modern world, a vision which inspired my teaching and preaching at St. Louis Priory School and St. Louis Abbey. After 36 years, I retired from teaching to write a book on the Christian praying of the Psalms, then taught Old Testament and Hebrew Language at Kenrick-Glennon Seminary for eight years. With wise spiritual and psychiatric help, I’ve outgrown bouts of depression which sometimes dogged my adult life. I’m grateful to my community for their patient support and to God for the opportunities to share the beauty of the Gospel with many wonderful people. Meanwhile I keep straining to accept the fullness of divine love.