[1] He completed high school in Würzburg and at the age of nineteen he entered Beuron Archabbey and made his religious profession as a monk on 25 January 1892 receiving the name Fidelis.

[2] Initial studies at the Pontificio Ateneo Sant'Anselmo in Rome, Italy, led to his ordination to the Roman Catholic priesthood on 27 September 1897.

Unfortunately, World War I proved problematic, would require Stotzingen to close Sant’Anselmo temporarily on 15 May 1915, and then move to Einsiedeln Abbey in Switzerland where he tried to continue his work as Abbot Primate.

This work also involved extensive travel to countries like the US where he would spend ten months visiting abbeys and parishes.

[9] Stotzingen would be reelected in 1925 for another twelve-year term of office, would oversee Sant’Anselmo through the early years of World War II, and would spend considerable time dealing with the ongoing challenges of the Benedictine Order.