Abbot Ralph

Born • January 20, 1929 Professed • July 11, 1956 Ordained • May 31, 1962 Elected Abbot • November 28, 1980 Died • March 21, 2020

The Right Reverend Ralph Koehler, sixth Abbot of Saint Benedict’s Abbey, died peacefully early Saturday morning, March 21, 2020, the Solemnity of the Passing of our Holy Father Saint Benedict. He had been fortified by the Sacraments of the Church, the Apostolic Pardon, and was surrounded by many of his brother monks at the time of his death. Abbot Ralph (Wilfred) Koehler was born on January 20, 1929, in Seneca, Kansas, to John Koehler and Helen (Heideman) Koehler. For grade school and high school he attended Sts. Peter and Paul in Seneca, graduating from high school in May 1945. He enrolled at St. Benedict’s College in the fall that same year. He went on to enter formation for the monastic life at St. Benedict’s Abbey, but did not stay at that time. In 1947 he enlisted in the newly created United States Air Force. He served as an airborne radar technician in the Eighth Air Force based in Roswell, New Mexico. In 1950 he was honorably discharged, having earned the rank of sergeant. In 1954 he returned to St. Benedict’s College and in July 1955 he entered the novitiate at St. Benedict’s Abbey, receiving the name Ralph. He professed first vows on July 11, 1956. In 1958 he earned Having learned Portuguese, Abbot Ralph served the sacramental needs of the people of Brazil for 13 years. a bachelor’s degree in mathematics from St. Benedict’s College. After studying at the Abbey School of Theology, Abbot Ralph was ordained to the priesthood on May 31, 1962. In September of that year he went to the Abbey’s new mission of St. Joseph’s Priory, Mineiros, Goiás, Brazil, along with Father Herbert Hermes, who later would become a Bishop in Brazil. While in Brazil for the next 13 years, Abbot Ralph learned the language of the people, and served as a pastor and Prior. He also helped welcome the Sisters of Mount St. Scholastica Monastery from Atchison, Kansas, when they founded their monastery to serve the people of Mineiros. In 1975 Abbot Ralph returned to the Abbey. He taught mathematics at Maur Hill Prep School, and served as Director of Camp St. Maur. In 1976 Abbot Brendan Downey asked him to serve as Prior of the Abbey. Upon the death of Abbot Brendan in 1980, Abbot Ralph was elected sixth Abbot of St. Benedict’s Abbey on November 28, 1980, assuming the role of spiritual father to the community. He was blessed as Abbot on January 4, 1981, by Archbishop Ignatius Strecker of the Archdiocese of Kansas City in Kansas. During his years as Abbot he guided the community in revising its Liturgy of the Hours. He also oversaw the renovation of portions the monastery, creating a new infirmary area to care for the monks with healthcare needs. Upon resigning as Abbot on December 3, 1989, Abbot Ralph began a fruitful career as a pastor, first serving as Administrator of his childhood parish, Sts. Peter and Paul in Seneca. Between 1990 and 2000, he served as Pastor of St. Ann, Effingham, Kansas; St. Louis, Good Intent, Kansas. From 1998 to 2000, he served as Pastor of St. Mary’s, St. Benedict, Kansas; St. Bede, Kelly, Kansas; and St. Patrick’s, Corning, Kansas. From 2000 to 2008 he served as Pastor of St. Ann, Hiawatha, Kansas.

Following the passing of Abbot Brendan Downey, Abbot Ralph Koehler was elected as our sixth Father in Christ on November 28, 1980, and was blessed on January 4, 1981.

After returning to the Abbey in 2008, Abbot Ralph kept busy with projects around the monastery. He still enjoyed lifelong hobbies of golfing and fishing, and rarely missed a home

Benedictine College Ravens’ football game. He enjoyed visiting with family and friends and reminding them, rather hilariously and loudly, that he was “suffering in silence.”

Abbot Ralph was preceded in death by his parents, John and

Helen, and by two brothers, James and Ronald, and his sisters

Rita Broderick and Mary Lear. He is survived by two sisters,

Esther Profitt, and Barbara Buckley, and many nieces and nephews and dear friends.

With the COVID-19 outbreak, the monks celebrated Vespers for the Dead and the Mass of Christian Burial with interment in the Abbey Cemetery with his two surviving sisters present as well as a few nieces and nephews. At a later date the Abbey will celebrate a Memorial Mass for Abbot Ralph open to the public.

Memorials in honor of Abbot Ralph may be sent to St. Benedict’s

Abbey using the enclosed envelope.

We commend our brother, Abbot Ralph, to your prayers. Abbot Ralph’s Coat of Arms explained

The left side of Abbot Ralph Koehler’s coat of arms is that of St. Benedict’s Abbey – a feature of all Abbots’ Coats of Arms. The crescent moon on a field of blue represents Our Lady of Divine Providence, patroness of St. Benedict’s Abbey. The lower half features a Cross Moline, a cross widely used by St. Benedict and Benedictine monks since the foundation of our order – the eight points on the cross represent the Beatitudes. The right side of the coat of arms is unique to each abbot. The lower half is the Koehler family crest, featuring two six-pointed stars, an eight-pointed star, and a sprawling cross set in a field of blue; the eight-pointed star represents a strong spirituality from birth to death. The upper half is representative of Abbot Ralph, set on a field of red with a plow in remembrance of his patron, Blessed Ralph Milner, a convert to Catholicism and farmer, who was martyred for the Faith on July 7, 1591. The field also features a yellow quill for Abbot Ralph’s service as a teacher. The coat of arms is surrounded by a black galero and six tassles, indicative of the office of abbot. Atop the coat of arms are a mitre and crozier; together with the pectoral cross and ring (at right) they comprise the articles of the office of abbot.

Abbot Ralph suffers in silence no longer. Rather he shouts the Good News of the Resurrection. In truth, Abbot Ralph knew the gift of silence, and he knew the importance of human affection and interaction. His fatherhood to our community came out in that. I was taking a closer look at Abbot Ralph’s pectoral cross, which depicts episodes of Jesus’ life. As I prayed with these scenes I noticed that most, if not all, of them relate a call into relationship and a call into active discipleship. As we reflect on the life of Abbot Ralph, I believe the true gift he offered to our community, and all those he ministered to, was the gift of helping us see what God was calling out of us. Being called into relationship with God, and having something called out of us to share that relationship, we begin to promote the Kingdom of God in which we strive to live. We must allow ourselves to be led – to trust. We offer our gratitude to God for the work that Abbot Ralph offered in providing for us in the current Divine Office we pray each day. It was under his guidance that this work came to fruition, a father who had great concern for his sons. “Blessed are those who hear the Word of God and put it into practice.” Abbot Ralph was a provider: providing our method of prayer, providing for us in a period of transition in the community, providing for our apostolic work, and being one who led by example in rolling up his sleeves and diving into the work himself – a strong farm boy from Nemaha County. St. Benedict reminds us that the abbot is to teach more by his example than by his words. Abbot Ralph, we pray for you that you are enjoying the eternal banquet, the eternal and everlasting Eucharist, that you have been called into that eternal relationship with the Father who loves you, and that you are quietly, in joy-filled silence, offering intercession for us.