Remembering Monk 100 Years After His Death on the Titanic

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April 15, 2012

Among Titanic deaths was Fr. Joseph Peruschitz, OSB, who was on his way to Collegeville to work at Saint John's Preparatory School.

Three Catholic priests died when the Titanic sank on April 15, 1912. Among them, Fr. Joseph Peruschitz, OSB, who was on his way to Collegeville to work at Saint John's Preparatory School. Though offered a seat in a lifeboat, Fr. Peruschitz remained on board to comfort the remaining passengers. Eyewitnesses reported seeing him pray the rosary as the last lifeboat was lowered into the water.

Fr. Peruschitz is honored with a limestone plaque in the cloister of Scheyern Abbey. In Latin it reads, "May he rest in peace - Father Joseph Peruschitz, OSB who died on 15 April 1912, dutifully gave his life on the ill-fated ocean liner, Titanic, in the 42nd year of his life, the 17th as a priest and monk."

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