Ordinations in Heiligenkreuz

The Prefect of the Papal Household, His Excellency Archbishop Georg Gänswein, was here in Heiligenkreuz today. He ordained three of my confrères and one Augustinian Canon Regular. Archbishop Gänswein brought us greetings from Pope Francis. He said that when he told Pope Francis where he was going, the Holy Father remarked “Ah, Heiligenkreuz. I have heard of it.”

His Excellency Hugh Gilbert, O.S.B., Bishop of Aberdeen, was here as well. He used to be the Abbot of Pluscarden Abbey, where my confrère Pater Ælred, ordained today, was one of his novices many years ago.

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The Mandatum in Heiligenkreuz

Photo credit: Ing. Franz & Franziska Besau

Pater Cornelius

Over at popula.com I’ve written something about a confrère of mine, who was imprisoned on suspicion of high-treason in the Third Reich. He was still alive when I entered the monastery, and I knew him as a very gentle and polite old man.

The Feast of the Crown of Thorns

Today is the Feast of the Crown of Thorns in Heiligenkreuz. The Feast commemorates the solemn translation of the Crown of Thorns to Paris under St. Louis IX. St. Louis gave one thorn to the Babenberg Duke  Frederick the Quarrelsome of Austria, who gave it to Heiligenkreuz. Today it is exposed on the altar. There’s a medieval painting of the Sacred Head, crowned with thorns, in a niche our Church that was probably where the reliquary used to be kept. (Now it is kept in the neo-Gothic Sacrament altar).

 

Corpus Christi 2018 in Heiligenkreuz

Easter Sunday in Heiligenkreuz

Easter Vigil in Heiligenkreuz

Good Friday in Heiligenkreuz

Here are some pictures of the Good Friday Liturgy in Heiligenkreuz yesterday. The last few pictures show the custom of carrying a veiled monstrance in procession to an altar decorated as a tomb.

Holy Thursday in Heiligenkreuz

Nearer, My God, to Thee