Abbot Emmanuel Jungclaussen OSB of Benediktinerabtei Niederaltaich passed away on 8 December 2018. He was 91.
Abbot Emmanuel was born on 15 May 1927 in Frankfurt / Oder, and he was ordained a priest on 25 July 1953 for the Diocese of Osnabrück. In 1955, he entered Benediktinerabtei Niederaltaich, and from 1956-1993 he served as a religion teacher at St. Gotthard Gymnasium as well as a residential prefect in the boarding school. He was a member of the Ecumenical Institute. Then-Father Emmanuel was a monk in the Byzantine Rite beginning in the early 1960s and served from 1966-1974 as pastor of the Niederaltaich community. He worked as Novice Master beginning in 1982, and then as Subprior starting in 1987, assisting also as a spiritual director and retreat master. From 1989-2001, he served as the 84th Abbot of Niederaltaich, taking as his motto Truly seeking God (Wahrhaft Gott suchen). Abbot Emmanuel was the author of numerous books and articles on Christian spirituality, especially on the Jesus Prayer.
On the evening of 10 December 2018, the Office for the Dead was celebrated in the Roman Rite as well as the Pannychida of the Byzantine Rite, in the Byzantine Church. The laying of the death wreath took place in the Basilica of Niederaltaich on 12 December. On 13 December, the Pannychida of the Byzantine Rite was celebrated at the casket of the deceased in the Kreuzgang, with the Requiem Mass on 14 December by Bishop Stefan Oster and subsequent interment in the parish cemetery.
We commend Abbot Emmanuel Jungclaussen OSB to the prayers of the Benedictine Confederation. May he rest in the peace of our Risen Lord!