Today, almost 100 monks live in the Cistercian monastery of Heiligenkreuz, located south of Vienna.
Newsroom(12/04/2024 18:33, Gaudium Press) Located 20 kilometers south of mythical Vienna is the Cistercian monastery of Heiligenkreuz, named after a relic of the cross the size of a hand, which has been on its premises since 1188.
However, this monastery, unlike others in Europe, stands out for not facing a lack of vocations: it currently has almost 100 monks, the highest number since it was founded in 1133. The monastery is expanding and has three “branches”, the priories of Neukloster, Stiepe and Bochum.
Why so many vocations? According to the abbot, the first reason, as it should be, is grace: “[…] It is an undeserved grace that we cannot create ourselves. Every young person who comes to us is a call for us to give them the freedom to examine their vocation or have it examined,” says Abbot Maximilian Heim.
He also mentions a phenomenon of contagion: “Those who live their religious life authentically infect other people and act like a magnet. In fact, one of the reasons for our growth is the youthful face of our almost 900-year-old monastery. Anyone who enters Heiligenkreuz doesn’t experience anything monotonous, but rather a community that has remained young with a healthy age range.”
These are also the effects of a specific youth ministry, which ultimately constitutes vocational work:
“For almost three decades, the Youth Vigil has been the driving force behind the Heiligenkreuz regional youth ministry. Every Sacred Heart Friday, between 150 and 250 enthusiastic young people gather to praise God, hear his word, worship him in the Eucharist and reconcile with God and each other in confession. It’s like a basic course in the Catholic faith that allows them to experience religious practice.”
In this context of a crisis of faith, particularly in Europe, monasteries become even more “spiritual centers and oases in the desert of a disoriented time, where the sources of faith are tapped, from which we can drink with joy,” emphasizes Abbot Heim.
With information from Infocatólica
Compiled by Teresa Joseph
