REV. ALBERT T. HOLTZ O.S.B. I'm a native of Newark NJ, born Thomas Joseph Holtz on August 16, 1942. I first met the Benedictines when I attended St. Benedict's Prep, from which I graduated in 1960. After two years of college at St. John's University in Collegeville, MN, I spent a year as a Benedictine novice and made my first profession of monastic vows on July 11, 1963. I then completed college by spending one year at St. Bernard College in Alabama, and a final year at St. Benedict's College in Atchison, KS, from which I graduated summa cum laude with a major in Philosophy.
My four years of theology studies for the priesthood were done at St. Mary's Abbey, Morristown, NJ. I was ordained a Catholic priest on March 22, 1969. Three months later I moved from Morristown to join the newly independent community of Newark Abbey on High Street, Newark, where I had gone to high school. I've been here ever since, teaching French and Religion at St. Benedict's Prep, and doing curriculum design and scheduling.
In 1972 I earned a Masters Degree in Philosophy and Education from Columbia Teachers College in New York. I am currently Director of Formation of Newark Abbey (a title I've held since 1976).
I write a weekly spiritual blog that you might find interesting. One of the great experiences of my life was an 11-month sabbatical to 15 countries in Europe and South America in 1994-95. When I returned I began writing sermons based on different interesting places I'd visited. I found that people enjoyed listening to them, so I sent them off to Ave Maria Press, who agreed to publish them as a book, A Saint on Every Corner. I find I really enjoy writing, and have now published eight books of meditations:
A Saint on Every Corner (Ave Maria Press, 1998 - out of print) Street Wisdom (Twenty-Third Publ., 2003) Pilgrim Road: A Benedictine Journey Through Lent (Morehouse, 2006) From Holidays to Holy Days: A Benedictine Walk Through Advent (Morehouse 2008) Walking in Valleys of Darkness: A Benedictine Journey through Troubled Times (Morehouse 2011) Downtown Monks: A Benedictine Journey in the City - Revised Edition (Morehouse, 2012) Faces of Easter: Meeting the Paschal Mystery in the People Around Us (Liturgical Press, January 2019)