Pater Anselm Demattio (Kremsmünster) has published his licentiate thesis on Sebastian Krabler, the pastor of Steinerkirchen and head of the Lambach Deanery in Upper Austria from 1573 to 1590. The publication concerns ms. CC 107 of Kremsmünster, dated 1580. See this excellent review.
The thesis gives fascinating insight into the pastoral care of an abbey-incorporated parish in the 16th century, a time of great ecclesiastical confusion. The codex reveals details about liturgy and theology in Krabler's daily life, beyond (far beyond) the standardized diocesan books. Krabler used German for many liturgical services. He had relations with more than one woman and fathered several children. He may have been typical of parish priests at that time and place.
People of the 16th c. were not sure of the boundaries between Catholicism and Protestantism. "Priests who remained Catholic often used their own private collections along with Protestant agendas and the rituals of Passau and Salzburg," writes Demattio (26). 
Most of Kremsmünster's "old," i.e., pre-Josephine parishes, were staffed by secular priests paid by the monastery. That changed in the course of the 17th c., as part of Catholic Reform, when monks were sent to care for the abbey's parishes. But before the 17th c., only a few parishes, especially those in the immediate vicinity of the monastery, were staffed by monks.

... the more they stay the same ...

Above is a hoodie, a common sight on many a street in 2025. Below is a monk wearing a cloak-cowl from the 5th century. It is one example (of many) showing how much monks' clothing influenced modern fashion. Another example is the graduation gown worn at Anglo-American graduation ceremonies: it is derived from the full cowl worn by the monk-professors at medieval universities. 

It is that time of year. Between All Souls' Day and the First Sunday of Advent, the liturgical year focusses on mortality and the Last Things. Classic elements of memento mori paintings seek to remind us of our mortality and the transience of life, encouraging reflection on death and the afterlife. These ideas were particularly popular in Port-Royal, the Cistercian abbey that has often been described as a center of Jansenism. 
This drawing is based on an artwork by Philippe de Champaigne (1602–1674), who fulfilled many commissions for the famous Parisian abbey ... and Cardinal Richelieu. Note the skull, emphasizing human mortality, the clock as a symbol of time and life's brevity, and the wilting flowers, which signify decay and the fleeting nature of beauty and life.

A new master's thesis about nuns peforming plays and musical compositions in the 20th century in the Cistercian monastery of Magdenau has been accepted in Vienna. Sister Veronika Kucharová describes celebrations within the monastic enclosure on various occasions like name days of  the abbess. This study presents documents (among them, plays written by nuns) from the abbey archives, especially those written by Maria Sophia Gimmi between 1937 and 1947. The study concludes with a theological reflection on the monastic joy of celebration as the expression of lived Christian faith.

Die niederösterreichische Theaterlandschaft war und ist stets von einer großen Vielfalt geprägt. Im Rahmen der diesjährigen Tagung des Vereins für Landeskunde von Niederösterreich werden einige ihrer Aspekte herausgehoben und in mehreren Vorträgen vorgestellt: Die Bandbreite reicht vom kirchlichen und höfischen Theater über die Theaternetzwerke im 19. Jh., den Theaterunternehmerinnen im 19. Jh. und der Theaterzensur 1848/1850 bis hin zur Architekturgeschichte. Als Veranstaltungsort wurde beispielhaft ein Theater (das im Neukloster!) gewählt, das stellvertretend für viele andere im Land mit großem Engagement Produktionen „auf die Bühne bringt“. (Aus der Tagungsankündigung)

In order to accentuate the Marian dimension of the Blessed Sacrament, Abbot Armand-Jean de Rancé replaced the tabernacle in La Trappe with a statue of Our Lady holding a pyx containing the Eucharist. The abbot wrote an inscription highlighting the honor of Mary bearing God. Some found it shocking, but defenders claimed it was an ancient Cistercian tradition, although no one has been able to confirm that.

The theater publisher Albert Langen / Georg Müller in Berlin used a cheap but charming cover for low-budget scripts, like this play (Onkel Theodor by Selma Lagerlöf). 

By simply opening the cover, readers noticed that it had a window in the style of a stage. The effect was a little like the curtain rising in the theater. These covers were applicable to any play, since the title of the play was printed on the title page which, originally, seemed to be part of the cover. 
Other publishers used this technique in more prosaic ways, e.g. for the cost-efficient publication of dissertations.

The recently deceased American stage director, designer, and architect Robert Wilson (1941–2025) was famous for monumental, hypnotizing stage designs and a drastic reduction in gesture and action. Although far away from Catholic monasticism in his own daily life, his style had something "Cistercian" about it, and his interests consistently returned to the narrative forms of parable or folk tale. Howard Fishman noted that spiritual matters form the core of Wilson's work (1). 
The Temptation of St. Anthony, staged in 2003, was a treatment of Flaubert's 1874 novel. Wilson and Bernice Johnson Reagon, a founder and codirector of Sweet Honey in the Rock, joined forces to portray temptation and ascetic self-control in the life of the famous fourth-century hermit saint who is considerd "desert father" of Christian monasticism. 
Wilson's production explored the themes of faith, temptation, and perseverance in ascetic life. Also: must monastics live in isolation or should their Christian charity compel them to serve others?
The result is a more joyous production than one might have expected: "it's all about hope," said one performer.  Another religious aspect of Wilson's work is his extensive work with amateur performers. He founded “The Byrd Hoffman School of Byrds,” a loosely-organized group of volunteers and amateur performers who worked with him for nearly a decade. Catholic performance culture is almost always reliant on amateur performers. 
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