Fr. Anthony Jacob O.S.B. (1939-2026)

Born: March 29, 1939

Professed a Monk: June 24, 1960

Ordained a Priest: December 18, 1965

Died: January 15, 2026

Our confrere, Father Anthony Jacob, died at the Abbey in the early hours of Thursday, January 15, 2026.  Born in Chicago on March 29, 1939, John Jacob was originally a member of St. Sabina Parish.  After he finished fourth grade, the Jacob family moved to the new and rapidly-growing St. Thomas More Parish, the first to be established in Chicago after World War II.  Though the parish was helped on weekends by monks from St. Procopius Abbey, John had no real awareness of the Benedictines or their schools until he happened by pure chance to see a newspaper article on St. Procopius College as he was finishing up at St. Leo High School.  He came to the College in 1957 and was much inspired by its renowned professor of mathematics and physics, Father William Shonka.  After his sophomore year, he joined the monastery and professed vows on June 24, 1960.  After obtaining a bachelor’s degree in philosophy in 1962, Father Anthony began seminary studies while teaching math at St. Procopius Academy.  In 1964, he joined in the effort to establish a semi-contemplative community in Cedarburg, Wisconsin.  Sent to the Benedictine school of Sant’Anselmo in Rome, he finished there his theology and was ordained to the priesthood by Archbishop Pericle Felici at the church of St. Marcellus on December 18, 1965.  He returned to the United States and two years later to St. Procopius, where he resumed his teaching career at what had become Benet Academy.  Father Anthony meanwhile continued his own study of mathematics, obtaining first a bachelor’s degree in that subject from the College in 1972 and then a master’s degree from Chicago’s Illinois Institute of Technology in 1974.  Two years later, he became coordinator of computer operations at the Academy.  Father Anthony in 1980 began eight years of teaching math at Illinois Benedictine College.  Abbot Hugh Anderson then asked him to study in the Master of Business Administration program at the College, and that degree he obtained in 1991.  He then did much to pioneer the use of computers in the monastery’s financial operations, while serving also as business manager and director of finance at Benet from 1992 until 2006.  In the latter year, he was assigned by Abbot Dismas Kalcic to replace the ailing Father Roman Galiardi as the community’s Prior.  After Abbot Austin Murphy was elected in 2010, Father Anthony requested to step down from this leadership role.  Over the next decade, he continued both to oversee the acquisition and maintenance of computers at the Abbey and to serve as spiritual advisor to the Oblate Sisters of St. Scholastica long associated with the Abbey.  Though neuropathy problems ever more hampered his walking and eventually obliged him to use a wheelchair to get around, he remained faithful in monastic observance and community activities.  

In memory of Fr. Anthony, a lighted candle stands in front of a crucifix and a statue of the Blessed Mother at his place at table in the refectory.

The Prior and monks will receive his body at Vespers on Monday, January 19, 2026, at 7:00 p.m.  The community will celebrate the Mass of Christian Burial on Tuesday, January 20, at 10:30 a.m. with interment in the abbey cemetery.  

Please keep Father Anthony in your prayers.

Prior Guy and Community 

St. Procopius Abbey 

Lisle, Illinois