Brother Maurus joined Subiaco after mental health career

Published: December 4, 2020

Brother Maurus Glenn, OSB, who served several years at Subiaco Abbey’s Santa Familia Monastery in Belize, died Nov. 19. He was 78.

He was born Arthur Glenn July 8, 1942, in Chicago, one of four children born to Henry and Olga Biss Glenn. Considering a vocation to the priesthood, he attended Holy Cross Seminary in Notre Dame, Ind., in 1956. He left his sophomore year, graduating from Immaculate Conception High School in Elmhurst, Ill., in 1960.

Brother Maurus worked as a commercial photographer for C-H Studio in Chicago. In the 1960s, he was active in social justice causes and peaceful protests. He received a bachelor’s degree in liberal arts and in 1970, he worked for the State of Illinois Department of Mental Health Services. For 21 years as a mental health specialist, he worked with the mentally ill, disabled and abused children. In 1989, he attended a retreat at Subiaco Abbey, telling then-Abbot Jerome Kodell he did not have “preconceived notions” about being a monk.

His abbey obituary said he recalled, “But as I continued the weeklong retreat, I began to feel I belonged here, that Subiaco filled the 'something missing' in my life. When I began to dismiss the notion as 'retreat euphoria.' Abbot Jerome said that we should both keep an open mind."

He entered Subiaco in 1991. Brother Maurus went to the mission in Belize in 1993 and made his final profession there on Sept. 8, 1996. He held a variety of responsibilities including guestmaster in 1996 and formation director in 1997. When Santa Familia closed in 2002, Brother Maurus returned to the abbey and taught freshman religion at Subiaco Academy. He served as abbey refectorian until 2015. His obituary stated he struggled with depression and mood swings in his later years but was helped with medication and counseling.

“It is a tribute to him that he was able to continue his service to the community during this time,” the abbey stated.

He is survived by two brothers, Kenneth Glenn and Keith Glenn, both of Illinois; and one sister, Arlene O'Brien of Illinois.

A vigil was held Nov. 23 and a Mass of Christian Burial at St. Benedict Church in Subiaco was Nov. 24.