Father Vincent Mary Oberhauser, C.P., Holy Cross Province (1895-1979)

Born October 16, 1895 in Fremont, Ohio he received his early education from the Precious Blood Fathers at St. Joseph’s College, Rensselaer, Indiana. After graduation he entered their house of theology at Carthagena, Ohio and was ordained a member of their congregation on May 5, 1921. While serving as the Secretary General of the Precious Blood Fathers in Rome he decided to enter the Passionists in 1929. He professed his vows on November 5, 1930 after making his novitiate at Maria Shutz, Austria. His first assignment as a Passionist was as the assistant pastor to the monastery parish at Maria Schutz. From 1932 until 1938 he was a professor of theology and director of seminarians, first at Schwarzenfeld and later in Rome at the Passionist monastery of Sts. John and Paul. When World War II was on the horizon Father Oberhauser returned to the United States like many of the United States citizens in Europe. He became a member of the western province and from 1941 until 1947 and became master of novices at St. Paul, Kansas. From there he taught at the Passionist theologate in Louisville, Kentucky until 1950. In 1965 he was elected as provincial consultor. During his years back in the United States with Holy Cross Province Father Oberhauser was a student of Passionist history and spirituality. From 1943 until 1946 he was the first founder and editor of The Passionist which was a scholarly publication for English speaking Passionists throughout the world. During the renewal years prompted by the Second Vatican Council he founded and edited The Province Newsletter from 1965 until 1968. For sixteen years he produced the Passionist Ordo which was the liturgical calendar for the Passionists. In September 1969 Father Oberhauser became a charter member of the House of Solitude, Birmingham, Alabama which was founded to concentrate on the contemplative dimension of the Passionist life and the apostolate. When the community moved to Bedford, Pennsylvania he returned to Chicago, Illinois to engage in apostolic activity. His last assignment was chaplain to the Christian Brothers at Winona, Minnesota. When his health began to decline he moved back to the community in Chicago at Daneo Hall.