The press was a Treadle with a 10 x 15-inch capacity. From 1889 until 1895 it was in heavy use printing catalogues, tracts, pamphlets, as well as the St. Josephs Blatt, a German language newspaper which the Priory had taken over from St. Joseph's parish in Portland. Brother Coelestine Mueller, a native of Switzerland and a highly skilled printman trained in the best shops of Europe, oversaw this sale. In 1895, because of the Blatt's increasing circulation, he was given permission by the monastic chapter to purchase a Schmell Cylinder Press for $800. It was used alongside a Web press acquired secondhand from the San Francisco Examiner after the great earthquake of 1906.

The present red brick -press building, located atop the hill to the northwest of Anselm Hall and the Damian Center, was built in 1908 to the loving specifications of Brother Coelestine, and is, therefore, the oldest structure on the hill besides the picturesque 1882 cemetery chapel. So vital to the life of the community had it become that, all during the night of the terrible fire of 1926, several monks were stationed on its roof to sweep away the flying cinders and thereby preserve the Abbey's one means of publicizing its plight.

The St. Josephs Blatt, with a circulation of about 600, is still being published, though it was sold by the Abbey in 1966. But during its heyday the number of subscribers could reach as high as 50,000. Brother Coelestine was known and appreciated by German Catholics in North and South America as well as Europe in the years prior to and after World War I. He brought them pews and relief when the rest of the world seemed not to care. He died, worn out by his labors, in 1929.

Other publications, such as the Mt. Angel Magazine, Armen Seelen Freund, and St. Joseph's Almanac came and went. Begun in 1927, probably the most beloved of our publications was the St. Joseph Magazine, a Catholic family monthly. Times and Catholic families changed, and it ceased publication in 1968. The MOUNT ANGEL LETTER began in 1949 to bring news and views to those friends of the Abbey who are interested specifically in our life and work.

An important technical advance was made in 1913 with the introduction of the Monotype system of printing. Then in 1926 the press invested in Linotype. All of this became obsolete with the advent of the offset printing and computer typesetting, but the old Kluge and Chandler-Price letter presses are still maintained and used for specialty jobs. In 1985, under Fr. Philip's management, the "cadillac" of offset presses, a Heidelberg, was purchased, and It is the workhorse, doing heavy assignments with great precision.

Over the past century many hands have contributed to the success of the oldest Catholic press in continuous operation in the Northwest. Sisters Theresa and Raphael as well as several others from Convent Queen of Angels worked here regularly from 1900 until about 1925 doing proofreading and typesetting. Many fine pressmen and bindery men and women with names familiar to residents of the area worked alongside monks in a labor of love. Monotypist Robert Zollner was the grandfather of our present pressman, Vince Zollner, who has worked here since 1982. John Schallberger was hired in 1922 for composing. His son, Father Meinrad Schallberger, O.S.B., diligently and effectively managed the press from 1968 until 1981.

From within the monastic community numerous others contributed their time and talents: Brother Leonard Niederpruem in the early years; Brother Martin Mertl as a pressman in the late 1930s; and early 1940s; Brother Maurus Kreutzer as an assistant until recently. Father James Koessler managed the press (for a while serving also as farm boss, teaching in the seminary, and doing parish assistance) with great skill in the '40s, '50s, and '60s. Father Leo Rimmele managed the press from 1981 until 1983. In 1983 Father Philip Waibel was appointed manager. A high level of quality and service to the hilltop community characterized his efforts, and his will be a hard act to follow for Brother Claude Lane, who was asked by Abbot Peter to replace him in August, 1989.

There are, in fact, a whole century of hard acts to follow. Pray with us that the Benedictine Press will move into its next 100 years with a little more grace and case of motion than it did its first century, and that we continue to serve well the needs of the Abbey and the Church.