Boniface Wimmer presented these plans to King Ludwig and asked for financial assistance from the Ludwig-Missionsverein, which had been established by the king in 1838 to aid Bavarian missions in Asia and America.  King Ludwig did not actively encourage emigration, but he wanted to assist in the building of churches, schools, seminaries, and orphanages abroad.[18]

   In August of 1846 Wimmer embarked in Rotterdam with four students of theology and fourteen other men who had agreed to join the projected mission as lay brothers. Among the group were a tailor, shoemaker, brewer, and blacksmith. Wimmer received 6,000 florins for travel expenses from the Ludwig-Missionsverein. A Bavarian florin is believed to have been equivalent to about half a contemporary U.S. dollar in the 1840's. It would be roughly equal to $20.00 in present day currency.[19] Before leaving Germany, Wimmer collected books, missals, altar vessels, breviaries, and works of art. He felt that the art works above all would be quite an embellishment in America and very desirable.[20]

   The Benedictine missionary shared a deep and abiding love for the arts with his king and was determined to bring the cultural and intellectual spirit of Bavaria to the New World.[21]

   Before Wimmer's dream could be fulfilled, he had to find a suitable location for his Benedictine mission in Pennsylvania. The land, which Peter Lempke had offered, turned out to be unsuitable. In its place the Bishop of Pittsburgh, Michael O'Connor, suggested the small St. Vincent church and surrounding land at Latrobe in Westmoreland County to Wimmer. It had been established by a Franciscan Father in 1789 and was located on the main road between Pittsburgh and Philadelphia.[22]

   In 1846 a college was started at St. Vincent with thirteen students in attendance. It was organized like a German Gymnasium with instruction in the fundamentals of classical learning. The ultimate goal was to train young German men for the priesthood and to prepare them for missionary work in North America. In a letter of August 30, 1849, King Ludwig in Munich tells Boniface Wimmer in Pennsylvania: "The education of German priests is necessary to keep the Germans in North America 'German'. Religion and instruction in the German language will always be needed for the continuance of the German spirit." [23]

    For the German priest, there were additional priorities to be observed in his missionary activities in North America. These priorities involved the visual arts. With his creation of a college and seminary to train priests, he hoped to instill in them a love and knowledge of the arts that flourished in the Old World. As a member of the Benedictine community, he was well aware of his order's contribution to the history of art.

    The Benedictine Order is the oldest monastic order of the western world and is based on St. Benedict's Rules. The Italian-born Saint, who died in approximately 547 A.D., mapped out a life of prayer and work - Ora et Labora - for monks and nuns serving Christ. The order prospered in Western Europe from the time of its conception, and the many beautiful monasteries and churches, which were erected in towns and villages, testify to the cultural contribution of the Benedictines. They treasured classical learning and art and can be credited for a reawakening of Roman fresco painting in the 11th century.  Their esteem for classical sculpture prompted the incorporation of antique capitals on interior and exterior church columns in the 12th century. At that time carved figures, based on classical prototypes, began to appear on Benedictine church portals. The Benedictines erected their monastic abbeys with a central church surrounded by multiple structures, such as dormitories, guesthouses, libraries, schools, workshops and other buildings that would serve the physical and spiritual needs of the community.[24]  When Boniface Wimmer established his Benedictine abbey at St. Vincent in Pennsylvania in 1846, he followed this tradition, with which he was well acquainted from his earlier years in Bavaria. Benedictine monks during the Middle Ages had copied and illuminated manuscripts with exquisite calligraphy and miniature paintings. Their monasteries were centers for the arts in Ireland, France, and Germany.The German missionary from Bavaria wanted to establish such a center at St. Vincent in a land that was not part of these century-old artistic endeavors. He believed that art and religion must go hand in hand. Art would help religion to become more highly esteemed by earthly-minded men.[25]