 This drawing from the December, 1921 issue of Chi lo sa? portrays a seminarian holding his first speech, presumably in a class on public speaking. No, he is not looking at his smartphone. The drawing was made by a fellow seminarian at the Venerable English College in Rome. Chi lo sa? is the seminary diarium. The Venerabile is the seminary magazine, old issues are online here.
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 The play was „Das Opfer“ (The Sacrifice [of the Mass]) by Ludwig Nüdling (1874–1947), a German priest who wrote several Eucharistic dramas. The photo shows the highly symbolic religious dimensions of the play, which seeks to explain that each Mass re-presents — makes eternally present — the event of the Crucifixion. The lay brothers at Schlierbach Abbey staged the play from within their own ranks in 1929, casting boys from the abbey school to help with minor roles. See "Ludwig Nüdling", in: Kritische Online-Edition der Nuntiaturberichte Eugenio Pacellis (1917-1929), Kurzbiografie Nr. 3778, URL: www.pacelli-edition.de/gnd/119541890.
 This portrait of Wenzel Anton Dominik, Prince of Kaunitz-Rietberg (1711–1794) wearing a Franciscan habit around 1759–1761 is an example of European nobility engaging in a religious practice well-known in the baroque era. Aristocrats would dress up as monks and nuns, listen to pious talks held by priests, and then pray.
Here is an introductory article which offers an overview of similar examples. Pious laity have often sought the privilege of wearing monastic clothing. More details about the above portrait to follow in the upcoming publication by Christoph Brandhuber and Oliver Ruggenthaler: Macht, Pracht, Stille. Spiritueller Rückzug am Hof Maria Theresias (Salzburg/Wien 2025). Das Musical Just Mary (= die gerechte Maria) wurde im Pfarrheim Steinabrückl (Niederösterreich) am 20.12.2025 uraufgeführt. Just Mary schildert das Leben der Jungfrau Maria nach Inhalten der Visionen der sel. Anna Katharina Emmerick (1774–1824), die diese dem Schriftsteller Clemens Brentano in mystischer Schau diktiert hat. Der Text von Doris Schranz wurde überarbeitet von Dr. Andreas Rager und Mag. Dieter Schranz. Lieder sind von Andreas Rager, Dieter Schranz und Agnes Pichler. Von den Liedern wird es bald ein Liederbuch geben.  La storia monastica è la storia delle regole. Fin dagli inizi, donne e uomini consacrati a Dio si sono orientati a prescrizioni normative che strutturano sia la vita comunitaria che quella eremitica. La più influente tra esse è la Regula Benedicti, che – scritta nel VI secolo – ancora oggi offre a numerose comunità monastiche un quadro spirituale e organizzativo. La ricezione riuscita di questo testo è garantita da commenti, glosse e consuetudines – strumenti che colmano le lacune delle norme e ne permettono l’adattamenti alle diverse realtà. Questi testi testimoniano un costante bisogno di interpretazione e hanno generato molteplici forme di vita benedettina. Un segno della capacità di adattamento della Regola fu la sua precoce applicazione alle comunità femminili, esempio di interpretazione creativa. I commenti, oltre a rispondere alle esigenze concrete, mirano anche a comprendere l’essenza duratura dello spirito di san Benedetto. Mentre le consuetudines sono già state più volte oggetto di studio, i commenti alla Regola hanno ricevuto finora una minore attenzione. La conferenza intende analizzare comparativamente e sistematicamente le forme letterarie, i criteri storici e il contributo spiritualeteolo gico dei commenti alla Regula Benedicti dal VI al XXI secolo.
 Martin Schröters Werk zum Cistercienserkloster Reinfeld (Das Kloster Reinfeld: eine geistliche Institution im Umfeld der Hansestadt Lübeck 1186/90 - 1582) war unter anderem deswegen so faszinierend, weil der Forscher anhand von Archivalien ein verschollenes Kloster hat wieder erstehen lassen. Lange hatte es geheißen, dass nichts mehr bekannt sei von dem Kloster, und dass es ungenügende Archivbestände gebe. Nun geht die "Auferstehung" von Reinfeld weiter. Eine Art Jugendbauhütte, der "Geschichtserlebnisraum Roter Hahn" in Lübeck-Kücknitz, ist ein 1:1 Modell vom Urbau Reinfeld, das Kloster in seiner Holz-Fachwerk-Version. Die Anlage wurde liebevoll von Zimmerleuten, Geschichtsinteressierten und Fachleuten rekonstruiert.   The picture of St. Bernard shown above is from the title page of the Chronicon Cisterciensis Ordinis (Cologne, 1614). The unusual thing about it is Bernard carrying a pillar. He is often presented with other instruments (nails, sponge, spear) used to torture Christ during the Passion, but rarely is there a pillar. It is, however, established as one of the passion instruments and is venerated as such, as the image below clearly demonstrates.   It used to be very difficult to help guests find their way through a monastic breviary. Often, monks use two or even three different books during choir, and if the liturgy is in Latin, it can be very daunting for guests, almost impossible, to find their way. Now, some abbeys have solved that problem by providing a single QR code. Smartphones do have their advantages.
 This is the facade of the once-famous San Bernardo alle Terme, seat of the influential Feuillants, a splitter group within the Cistercian movement who took their name from Feulliant Abbey, where their founder Jean de la Barrière was abbot. The movement had a French and an Italian wing, with the Italians soon dominating and having their administrative seat in San Bernardo alle Terme, located very conventiently near the Diocletian Baths in Rome and today just a jump from Termini train station.  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. |
AuthorPater Alkuin Schachenmayr Archives
February 2026
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