Fr. Camillus Wurtz (1928-2013)

Father Camillus Wurtz passed away August 16, 2013.

Born and raised in Greenleaf, Kan., Matthias Wurtz did his final year of high school at Maur Hill and entered the Novitiate of St. Benedict’s Abbey in 1946 after his sophomore year at St. Benedict’s College, taking the name Camillus.  He professed vows July 11, 1947, finished his studies in music at the College, and did theology here, being ordained in 1953.

Father Camillus then spent 50 years – from 1954 to 2004 – teaching at Maur Hill in music, history, geography, religion, Latin, English as a second language, and worked in the library.  During the summers of 1953-59, and 1965-72, he took summer studies finishing masters degrees in music and European history; additionally he was a licensed practical nurse.

A monk of the-every-day, Father Camillus had his set patterns, and schedules, and ways of doing things.  There were times during the day one knew exactly where to find him, be it his typical route for his daily jog or walk, listening to a Sunday afternoon Kansas City Royals game on a bench north of the monastery, or his meticulous cleaning of the monastic refectory.  Charged with cleaning and organizing the monastic refectory upon his return to the Abbey in 2004, Father Camillus had distinct arrangements assigning certain-sized drinking classes to certain tables, and the handles on the coffee cups were to be in the three-o’clock position. 

Outside of the time when his dear friends the Guadalupanus Benedictine Sisters ran the Abbey Kitchen, the refectory had never been more clean or ogranized.

Father Camillus was a great example of humility and reliance on God as he would encourage the importance of silence, simplicity and poverty.