Rev. Fr. Bernhard Bendel

The founder of the Opus Spiritus Sancti is Rev. Fr. Bernhard Bendel. Bernhard Bendel was born on October 20th, 1908 in a little village called Steinfrenz, in the Westerwald District. Steinefrenz lies between the towns Limburg, Lahn and Montabaur, in the State of Hesse in Germany. His Father Heinrich Georg Bendel, and his mother Katharina n’ee Michel, were particularly good Catholics. They were very good parishioners of the Steinefrenz Parish in the Diocese of Limburg. He did his primary school in his village from 1915 to 1921. His secondary and high school was in place called Hamadar from 1922 to 1928. He was excellent in mathematics and physics. He was also good in aesthetics and used to play football. He could make good friends. He wanted to be an architect and a pilot but later he decided to become a priest.

The year before the outbreak of World War I (1914-1918) were called “Golden time” in Germany. That was because of the economic improvements, which had occurred in the years after 1871, during the former “Imperial Germany.” But the villages of the Westerward had hardly been touched by this upswing.