• Update:
  
  March is swiftly moving to its conclusion as is Lent as we approach Palm Sunday.  We had an early taste of summer in the middle of the month.  It was absolutely spectacular: warm, sunny, deep blue skies, even the Danube was blue!  Every day there is more sunlight and now we even enjoy raising to offer Morning Prayer after the sun has risen!

A summary of the events:

• The Chapter Council has approved three candidates for the upcoming novitiate of 2004-2005.  We still have others considering entrance this year, so this is very good news and count on your continued prayers.
   

• The Stift hosted a very successful international orchid exhibition, which brought over 10,000 visitors to us in two weeks.
   

• The parents of Dom Elias, the Carrs, and friends of theirs and of Dom Josef, the the Steeles, enjoyed a ten days  visit to Stift to see and experience our way of life.
   

Touring the medieval cloister

• Juniorat Week

Every year the juniors (novices and those in simple vows) of the Austrian Congregation gather together during the semester break to get to know one another and to learn about the rich heritage of the canons regular.  This year a delegation of juniors from Stift Klosterneuburg, which consisted of Josef, Maximilian, Bruno and Georg, traveled to Stift Herzogenburg for Juniorat Week (February 15-19, 2004).  Juniors from Herzogenburg, Neustift, Reichersberg and St. Florian also participated. 

The group spent five days together during which time they visited a number of important canonical sites in Lower Austria.   

 

Dom Mauritius and the juniors of the Austrian Congregation
                                                                  

 
Dom Kilian of Stift Herzogenburg shows us the main church

The stift church at Herzogenburg

             Propst Maximilian of Stift Herzogenburg leads the juniors around

the famous blue church of Dürnstein, which was a house of canons regular

until Emperor Joseph II suppressed it

The spectacular high altar inside of Dürnstein

The cathedral in St. Pölten, whose chapter once consisted of canons regular

• Upcoming Events:
   

  • On Easter Monday Dom Hugo and Dom Lukas will receive the ministry of acolyte and Dom Rudolf and Dom Josef will receive the ministry of lector.
     

  • Dom Elias will spend Holy Week and Easter Week visiting Dom Alois and Dom Clemens at our parish in Bergen, Norway.
     

  • Dom Pius Reinhard Feiler will be ordained a priest on May 9th.
    
    
     

• Pilgrimage to Austria & Hungary (May 9th-17th)