Germain Morin


Germain Morin was a Franco-Belgian Benedictine historical scholar, patrologist, and liturgiologist, of the Beuronese Congregation. Born at Caen in Normandy, he entered the Abbey of St. Benedict at Maredsous, Belgium, in 1881 and was ordained to the priesthood in 1886. After a disastrous year as prefect of the college at Maredsous he devoted himself primarily to scholarly research, ranging widely across European libraries and archives. Maredsous remained his scholarly base until 1907 when he moved to the Abbey of St. Boniface in Munich. He spent the years 1914-18 in Switzerland; his support of Germany in World War I brought him lasting unpopularity in Belgium. He returned to Switzerland in 1939, spending his last years at Fribourg. He is buried at Einsiedeln.
Morin's lifelong project was a new edition of the sermons of Caesarius of Arles. He also published important editions of various works of Jerome, of sermons of Augustine discovered subsequent to the edition of the Maurists, and of many other works, often in the series Anecdota Maredsolana. He was awarded honorary degrees by the universities of Oxford, Budapest, Zurich, and Freiburg im Breisgau.

Major Publications