Burchard Villiger

Burchard Villiger was born on the morning of May 14, 1819, in Auw, Aargau, Switzerland.{{Harvnb|University of Santa Clara: A History|1912|p=23}} That afternoon, he was baptized at the local parish church by the pastor, a Benedictine priest from Engelberg Abbey, and he was given the Christian name of Joseph Burchard.{{Efn|Though his full name was Joseph Burchard Villiger, he was known only as Burchard Villiger in everyday life.|name=name}} Afterwards, he was offered up to the Virgin Mary at the high altar. Villiger was confirmed by the Apostolic Nuncio to Switzerland, Archbishop {{Interlanguage link|Ignazio Nasalli-Ratti|lt=Ignazio Nasalli-Ratti|it}}, when he was eighteen months old at a church in the town of Cham.{{Harvnb|Villiger|1903|p=66}}

Villiger had five siblings. His older sister, Mary, became a Benedictine nun at the Sarnen Abbey, and his younger sister, married. His three younger brothers also married and had families.

From the age of five and a half, Villiger attended parochial school,{{Harvnb|Villiger|1903|p=67}} and he received his First Communion when he was eight years old.{{Harvnb|Villiger|1903|p=64}} Shortly after his First Communion, he went with his mother and sister on a {{Convert|27|mi|km|abbr=off|adj=on}} pilgrimage to the Marian shrine at Einsiedeln Abbey. When he was 11 years old, Villiger was sent to live with his cousin, a priest, in Abtwyl to pursue higher studies and discern a religious vocation. The following year, he began his classical studies as a boarding student at Muri Abbey.{{Harvnb|Villiger|1903|p=65}} After three years of study, the Swiss government prohibited Catholic monks from teaching, and Villiger continued his studies at a gymnasium in Zug, which was taught by secular priests. The Jesuits opened a college in Schwyz that year, and Villiger enrolled.{{Harvnb|Villiger|1903|p=68}}

In August 1838, after completing his study of rhetoric, Villiger applied to join the Society of Jesus.{{Harvnb|Villiger|1903|p=69}} He was admitted on October 4,{{Harvnb|Schultenover|2021|p=665}} and proceeded to the Jesuit novitiate in Brig-Glis, Valais. On October 10, 1840, he professed his vows at the novitiate. In 1842, Villiger went to Fribourg to study philosophy and physics and in 1844, returned to Jesuit college in Schwyz as the first prefect and as a teacher of mathematics. The following year, he returned to Fribourg to study theology.{{Harvnb|Villiger|1903|p=70}}

The Sonderbund War broke out in 1845, and Villiger was forced out of Fribourg with all his fellow Jesuits.

He then went to Solothurn and awaited orders from the Jesuit provincial superior.

Villiger became the president of the Washington Seminary, later known as Gonzaga College High School, on August 15, 1857,{{Harvnb|Hill|1922|p=58}} succeeding Hippolyte J. De Neckere.{{Harvnb|Hill|1922|p=56}} Villiger's tenure was short-lived, lasting only nine months, because on April 25, 1858, he was named to succeed Charles H. Stonestreet as the provincial superior of the Jesuit Maryland Province, and Stonestreet replaced him as president.{{Harvnb|Hill|1922|p=61}}

Villiger's term as provincial came to an end on November 28, 1859, with the arrival of Felix Sopranis as the Jesuit visitor for North America.{{Harvnb|Ramspacher|1962|p=301}}

On May 21, 1861, Villiger arrived at Santa Clara College, succeeding Felix Cicaterri as its president. He found the school $30,000 in debt,{{Harvnb|University of Santa Clara: A History|1912|p=11}} {{Inflation|index=US|value=30000|start_year=1861|r=-4|fmt=eq}}.{{Inflation/fn|US}}

Villiger died on November 5, 1902, in Philadelphia.

Villiger Hall opened in 2012 as a student dormitory named in his honor.{{Harvnb|Villiger Hall Opens Doors to Class of 2016|2012|p=3}}

{{notelist}}

{{Reflist}}

• {{Cite news|date=September 1, 1900|title=Father of Jesuits at Door of Death|page=14|work=The Philadelphia Inquirer}}
• {{Cite book|title=Gonzaga College, an Historical Sketch: From Its Foundation in 1821, to the Solemn Celebration of Its First Centenary in 1921|last=Hill|first=Owen Aloysius|publisher=Gonzaga College|year=1922|location=Washington, D.C.|pages=58–60|chapter=Chapter VII: Rev. Burchard Villiger, S.J. (1857–1858)|oclc=1266588|access-date=November 27, 2019|chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=mZoaAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA58|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191127041019/https://books.google.com/books?id=mZoaAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA58|archive-date=November 27, 2019|url-status=live|via=Google Books}}
• {{Cite journal|last=Love|first=Thomas J.|date=September 1941|title=The Evolution of St. Joseph's College|journal=Records of the American Catholic Historical Society of Philadelphia|volume=52|issue=3|pages=161–173|jstor=44209395}}
• {{Cite journal|last=Ramspacher|first=Joseph H.|date=July 1962|title=Major Superiors in the Northern United States|url=http://jesuitarchives.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/02/woodstock-091.pdf|url-status=live|journal=Woodstock Letters|volume=91|issue=3|pages=300–303|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200211225744/http://jesuitarchives.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/02/woodstock-091.pdf|archive-date=February 11, 2020|access-date=April 24, 2021|via=Jesuit Archives}}
• {{Cite book|last=Schultenover|first=David G.|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=j0AvEAAAQBAJ|title=Jesuit Superior General Luis Martín García and His Memorias: "Showing Up"|publisher=Brill|year=2021|isbn=978-90-04-43308-3|series=Jesuit Studies|volume=30|location=Leiden|via=Google Books}}
• {{Cite book|title=University of Santa Clara: A History|publisher=University Press|year=1912|location=Santa Clara, California|oclc=5528343|ref={{harvid|University of Santa Clara: A History|1912}}|via=Google Books|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=APYaAAAAYAAJ}}
• {{Cite magazine|date=Summer 2012|title=Villiger Hall Opens Doors to Class of 2016|url=https://issuu.com/saintjosephs/docs/magsummer12|url-status=dead|magazine=Saint Joseph's University Magazine|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210424201845/https://issuu.com/saintjosephs/docs/magsummer12|archive-date=April 24, 2021|access-date=April 24, 2021|ref={{harvid|Villiger Hall Opens Doors to Class of 2016|2012}}|via=Issuu}}
• {{cite journal|last1=Villiger|first1=Burchard|title=Autobiography of Father Burchard Villiger|journal=Woodstock Letters|date=September 1903|volume=32|issue=1|pages=51–81|url=http://jesuitarchives.wpengine.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/02/woodstock-032.pdf|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210424161143/http://jesuitarchives.wpengine.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/02/woodstock-032.pdf|archive-date=April 24, 2021|access-date=February 3, 2022|via=Jesuit Archives}}
• {{cite journal |title=Book of interest to ours |url=https://jesuitonlinelibrary.bc.edu/?a=d&d=wlet19060401-01.2.16&e=-------en-20--1--txt-txIN------- |date=1 April 1906 |journal=Woodstock Letters |volume=35 |issue=1 |ref={{harvid|Woodstock Letters|1906}}}}

• {{Cite book|last=McKevitt|first=Gerald|title=The University of Santa Clara: A History, 1851–1977|publisher=Stanford University Press|year=1979|location=Stanford|pages=|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=3C2sAAAAIAAJ|isbn=978-0-8047-1024-4}}
• {{Cite book|last=Ryan|first=John J.|title=Memoir of the life of Rev. Burchard Villiger of the Society of Jesus|publisher=F. McManus, Jr. & Co.|year=1906|location=Philadelphia|oclc=2433043}}

{{s-start}}

{{s-aca}}

{{s-bef|before=Hippolyte J. De Neckere}}

{{s-ttl|title=President of Washington Seminary|order=8th|years=1857–1858}}

{{s-aft|after=Charles H. Stonestreet|as=President of Gonzaga College}}

{{s-bef|before=Felix Cicaterri}}

{{s-ttl|title=President of Santa Clara College|order=4th|years=1861–1865}}

{{s-aft|after=Aloysius Masnata}}

{{s-bef|before=Nicholas Congiato}}

{{s-ttl|title=President of the St. Ignatius College|order=3rd|years=1865–1866}}

{{s-aft|after=Nicholas Congiato}}

{{s-bef|before=Felix-Joseph Barbelin}}

{{s-ttl|title=President of Saint Joseph's College|order=5th|years=1868–1893}}

{{s-aft|after=Patrick J. Dooley}}

{{s-bef|before=Joseph Jerge}}

{{s-ttl|title=Rector of Woodstock College|years=1897–1901}}

{{s-aft|after=William P. Brett}}

{{s-rel|ca}}

{{s-bef|before=Charles H. Stonestreet}}

{{s-ttl|title=Provincial Superior of the Jesuit Maryland Province|order=8th|years=1858–1859}}

{{s-aft|after=Felix Sopranis|as=Visitor of North America}}

{{s-new|office}}

{{s-ttl|title=Pastor of the Church of the Gesú|order=1st|years=1868–1893}}

{{s-aft|after=Patrick J. Dooley}}

{{s-end}}

{{Santa Clara University presidents}}

{{University of San Francisco presidents}}

{{Saint Joseph's University presidents}}

{{Woodstock College rectors}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Villiger, Burchard}}

Category:1819 births

Category:1902 deaths

Category:19th-century American Jesuits

Category:19th-century Italian Jesuits

Category:Santa Clara University faculty

Category:Santa Clara University people

Category:Presidents of Gonzaga College High School

Category:Presidents of Santa Clara University

Category:Presidents of Saint Joseph's University

Category:Presidents of the University of San Francisco

Category:Rectors of Woodstock College

Category:Swiss emigrants to the United States

Category:Pastors of St. John the Evangelist Catholic Church (Frederick, Maryland)