Day #13: Salzburg

The St. Francis Church in Salzburg

Gruss Gott! I had a lovely weekend in Salzburg, Munich (yes, I decided to go), and the small Austrian town of Mondsee!  We left for Salzburg at about 8:00 on Friday morning. The drive there was positively stunning! It looked like a magical winter wonderland with the snow covered pines blanketing the mountainsides, with the snowy peaks of the Alps in the distance. I ended up sitting in front of a good friend of mine and we ended up discussing beauty and the liturgy for a good part of the trip.

A miniature of the St. Francis Church Organ

I had read an article for Art Appreciation titled, "On Beauty," written by a professor of Notre Dame University, in which he stated that beauty is objective, and compared it to the sweetness of sugar. Sugar has the objective property of sweetness, regardless of whether or not the person is able to taste it. The person may be sick so he tastes the sweet as sour, or he may have a poorly developed sense of taste, but that does not change the fact that the sugar is still sweet. Similarly, something can be beautiful and a person not appreciate the beauty of the object. He may need to develop a taste for beauty, or he may in fact have a liking or a tendency to like ugly things - that can happen, too, you know. I think that the tendency to like or appreciate ugly things is rampant in our culture these days. But it is such a controversial issue: some people think that beauty is subjective, while others believe that it doesn't matter. I'm not sure which is worse. So what happens when people like Beethoven, Mozart, Joshua Bell, Itzaak Perlmann have dedicated their lives to Beauty. What's the point? Are they wasting their time, their efforts? Hardly, I should think. Beauty is objective, like truth and goodness. Beauty clothes the truth and draws the heart to it. It is the beauty of the liturgy, of the truth that draws people to it. Sorry, some food for thought, I suppose.
When we arrived in Salzburg, we could see the castle overlooking the city, built on the hill, a vast white monument to the history and beauty of the city. I followed Sister Joan Paul to the Fransicanerkirche where we were supposed to have Mass. I had been told that I was going to have the opportunity to play the organ there before and after Mass, so I wanted to get there early enough to check it out and play around with the stops. When we arrived, the dulcet tones of the organ were sounding the last note. A model of the organ stood near the front of the church. Sister took me to the sacristy where there was a little German Franciscan friar. She asked him in German where the stairs to the organ were, and he pointed to a door at the other end of the sacristy leading to a long stairway. The sacristy was located all the way to the sanctuary, so the stairs reached all the way from near the sanctuary to the far back of the church. Through a hallway lay the magnificent instrument. It was a newer instrument and kept in good condition! We passed a small private chapel where an organist was seated at a smaller organ. I ended up having to ask a Franciscan friar to help me turn on the instrument, and the organist came in and kindly told me in German the different manuals and couplers. I nodded though I only understood only a few words, like Ruckpositif and Couplers. Then I sat down to play Mozart's Ave Verum Corpus (of course) with some flutes, and moved on to Bach's Prelude in E Minor (The Cathedral), when a bell rang right as I went to the second page. Mass was starting! And the Bishop of Salzburg was there! Our Music Ministry started singing Be Thou My Vision and their lovely voices reverberated through the church. I felt like I was stepping back in time to another century, with the Baroque elegance of the church and the sweet notes of the hymn.
It was the feast day of St. Thomas Aquinas, so after Fr. Brad gave the homily the bishop came up and said a few words on the importance of reason to the Catholic faith, which I felt was perfect as my friend and I had just talked about the necessity of reason to Catholicism today. He told a story from Chesterton's Fr. Brown anecdotes, where a man had pretended to be a priest and said Mass nearly perfectly, but Fr. Brown caught him. "How did you know? I thought I did it perfectly!" the man said. "You did," Fr. Brown responded, "But you preached against reason in your homily, and that is not Catholic."

The organ at St. Francis Church

After Mass, I let her fly, fifth gear full throttle! Started with a Baroque piano piece I had learned a long time ago - take it slow, build it up. Plus I knew I couldn't mess that one up too badly if the bishop was still listening... Then I did the Prelude in E Minor, which doesn't have too hard of a pedal part. (I haven't touched a real pedal board in weeks), and finished with the Fugue in C Major from BWV 545, one of my recital pieces. It was rough, but not too shabby, and by that point I didn't care, it was just fun to play that instrument! What a sound! Sister said having two organ majors here is certainly making it a memorable semester! *Sigh* I would love to get the music program over here. This would be such a unique opportunity for students to experience. Maybe some day.

The streets of Salzburg!

The Church where the bread turned to stone

The bread that turned to stone!

The cemetery which inspired the scene in The Sound of Music. They built the set in Hollywood.

The fountain from the Sound of Music, but it's all covered up. :-(

The oldest restaurant in Europe (381 AD), also where the Mozart family would come to dine.

After Mass was lunch and a tour of the city. We saw a statue of St. Florian one of the patron saints of the city, and visited a few churches. One of the churches had a loaf of bread that had been turned to stone when one of the parishoners decided to stay home and bake bread instead of go to Mass on Sunday.  then went to check in to our hostel. The hostel was super nice, def. not like the ones we'll be staying in on our own trips, I'm sure, so I enjoyed it while it lasted. The room was small, but clean and warm and bright. During our free time, a few friends and I went to the Mozart Museum. There are actually two, but we went to the one which was the birthplace of Mozart, No. 9 on the most famous street in Salzburg. It had an original manuscript of one of his Kyrie's ( I think from his Mass in Eb Major). I sight read the soprano part through the glass and Elizabeth laughed at me. "You can't keep it from me that easily!" We could only stay an hour there though, as I had a very important appointment at the Cathedral with my friend Annie.

The Mozart Museum + his birthplace

My organ professor Dr. Weber from school had put Annie and I in contact with an organist and teacher at the Mozarteum, one of the finest conservatories in Europe located here in Salzburg. (BTW, the von Trapp house used in the Sound of Music is actually one of the dormitories for the Conservatory). Thus, we were able to arrange a visit with the Professor to go and look at the different organs in the Salzburg cathedral. We met him in front of the Cathedral around 5 pm. He was a little man dressed in black with a cute German accent. At first I wasn't sure it was him, but we finally approached him and asked if he was Professor  Metzger, which he was, of course. He was happy to see us, although he had been expecting a whole group of students, not just the two of us. But he was happy to shepherd us into the cathedral. We walked to the center of the nave, near the sanctuary above the dome, where there were four organs on little balconies surrounding us, and then the big organ in the choir loft in the back. He asked us, "How many organs do you see?" We counted five. "There are actually seven," he said, and pointed to one of the balconies which had two little organs, and then there was a tuning organ near one of the side altars. The organs were all either well-tempered, mean-tempered, or equal temperament (FYI, there are different ways of tuning instruments. Most pianos are equal temperament). He gave us a brief history of the instruments and the cathedral, then, rubbing his hands together gleefully asked, "Now, where shall we start?"
We decided to start with the organ on the far right corner (in reference to the sanctuary). There were two organs there, a really small one and then a "less" smaller one, but still pretty tiny. It was well tempered, and get this, it had two different keys for the D# and the Eb, and a few other sharps and flats. I had never seen anything like it before in my life! The organ had a lot of Italian stops (not sure what makes an Italian stop, will find out). The last five notes on the left of the keyboard were arranged differently though to be five notes of a scale, so what normally would have been an F, F#, G, G# was actually a C, D, F, E, G. It's really bizarre but it's supposed to be for base note reasons, I think Professor Metzger said. The next organ we visited was a replica of the one that Mozart would have played during his years working at the cathedral. It was located on the right closest to the sanctuary, across from the one we had just visited. This one had two manuals and a pedal board, which was the same size as the one here in Gaming (only in tune, LOL, whatever that means). Then we got to see the king of the organs, the big one in the choir loft. The organ was magnificent! This one was tuned to equal temperament, too! I got to play my Prelude and Fugue in C Major BWV 545 on it. THAT was one of the most incredible experiences of my life! That instrument was so beautiful. When I finished the last chord, it drifted slowly, slowly into silence as it reverberated against the walls of the church.
Alas, after that we had to go to get dinner before the Mozart chamber music concert that evening. But it was such a great opportunity to get to meet Professor Metzger, he was so kind to show us around. I could tell he was enjoying it just as much as we were, though. You could see in his face how much he loved sharing the cathedral, its instruments, and its music with us.

The first organ we saw. Notice the extra key for the D#, Eb, and for the A#, Bb.

Annie playing the Mozart organ, w/ Professor Metzger

The big organ!

We got dinner at a little Italian cafe. It seemed like a popular hang out for musicians. There were so many different languages being spoken around us: Italian, German, British English, French. It was so interesting!

The Italian cafe. I like the Venetian touch: San Marco (the cathedral in Venice). Has a nice musical connection, no?

The concert was incredible, the performers were top-notch - of course, after all, it is Salzburg! They played a Mozart chamber piece, some selections from his operas Don Giovanni and The Magic Flute, then transitioned to the Romantic Period with a Beethoven Concerto for piano and violin, and a Cesar Franck Concerto for the same instruments. The Cesar Franck concerto was definitely my favorite. It was a neat contrast to compare Beethoven, Mozart, and Franck's pieces in juxtaposition to each other.
After the concert we went to the Augustiner Keller, a famous brewery in Salzburg. You had to pick a half or full pint off of a huge shelf, pay for it, then rinse it out in this fountain and take it to the bar tender who filled it from a huge keg. It was pretty good, for my first beer! The brewery was interesting, too. It was kinda dark and smelly. It reminded me of what would happened if you took the Golden Hall of Theoden King in Rohan and transformed it into the Prancing Pony. Definitely a great day! No wonder Mozart and Bach wrote such good music, they had great music all around them, great landscapes for inspiration, and good brewed drinks to go along with it. ;-)

Day #11: A Vector, Snow, and Palestrina

Guten Abendt! Good evening! Classes are going well! German is my favorite, I think. Professor Franz Schneider teaches it. He's a native Austrian, a sweet older man. Today he gave us Mozart Kogel (pronounced Kool), these little truffle candies with Mozart wrappers, because tomorrow is Mozart's birthday! We went over his dates. He said, "How long did he live? Only 35 years! Imagine what he would have done if he had lived longer!" I turned to one of my classmates and said, "The world couldn't have contained such genius!" Some things I've learned in German class: English is the most dominant language b/c of British Imperialism, and that Germans capitalize their nouns!


Physics is so easy it's hard! The professor doesn't give us any math b/c most people don't like it, so he's just giving us concepts to work with. I guess other people appreciate it, but I don't like it. I WANT Math! It doesn't have to be hard. It's simple formulas. Today we had a little. We had our first quiz today. I think I did okay, but not sure. We were learning about pressure, and our professor did an experiment on camera. I had to laugh when we learned about vectors though. "Because I am committing crimes with DIRECTION - and - MAGNITUDE! OH YEAH!" (Despicable Me reference, FYI)

I'm enjoying Art Appreciation. I know a lot of it already, or a lot of it is at least familiar, so it's nice. We're learning about the Ancient Greek Period. It's cool because the art is divided into four major periods: Ancient, Medieval, Renaissance, Baroque, and Modern. I know some about the Renaissance period and the dates for the Baroque because of Music History class! It's fascinating how they overlap. Our text book has sections on drama and music along with the art, but we're only supposed to read the specifically art sections. :-( There's so much I want to learn and so little time! I wish I could read them...

Foundation of Ethics is hard, but I like the professor. I have Brian to help me, too, and Joey Walsh. Joey tried to explain the difference between phenomenology and thomism to me a few days ago. We established that evil is the absence of good rather than existing in and of itself. This is what happens when you take a philosophy course: your whole thought process gets turned upside down. Christian Marriage is hard too, but Dr. Asci is a great teacher!

It's been snowing almost every day here. Today and yesterday it was a little warmer though, so it's melted some. To those who live in the Pennsylvania area around Lake Erie, this is like lake effect on crack! SO MUCH SNOW! And it's so pretty! Annie and I walk through the town to go practice at the church in Gaming, and we feel like we're walking through one of those decorative Christmas villages. There's a little winding stream through the village with bridges weaving over it. There's fish in the stream - but you need a license to fish in it. One of the prethes, Josh, is really tempted to fish in it. 


We had our first Music Ministry Mass today with our "traditional" choir as Sister calls it. It went beautifully! I played organ and so did Annie, and we sang hymns and such. I love singing and playing for Mass here: it's like therapy. Our practices are on Monday night, just like Schola back at school! Father Brad, one of the TORs came up to say hi during our rehearsal on Monday and said how lovely we sounded. He asked if we knew any Palestrina and I about died! Palestrina was one of the greatest Catholic composers from the Renaissance Period, although he is rarely heard in the typical Catholic Church these days. He said he loves Palestrina and he wants us to sing some of his music for his birthday! Fortunately I even had a Palestrina piece on hand! We're going to try to learn it, I think. Mark Daniels, Hannah, Annie, Elizabeth, Holly, Brian, and Nathan and I make up the choir. Mark pulled me aside last night, excitedly, and said he had found a Victoria Ave Maria for free online, and he was hoping to try it! It made my heart happy. He and I are looking forward very much to the new translation of the Mass in Advent. 

We're going to be singing for the Friday Mass in Salzburg this weekend, and the bishop might be there! Yikes! Sister is trying to get permission for Annie and I to play the organ. *fingers crossed* I'm excited that we might get to play it, but I hope I don't embarrass myself in front of the bishop of Salzburg! We may get to meet with the organ professor that Dr. Weber put me in contact with while we're in Salzburg as well. I might just stay in Salzburg the whole weekend, rather than going to Munich on Saturday. We'll see. I hate being dragged from one church to another without really SEEING them.

Day #7: Vienna!

Yesterday we took a day trip to Vienna! We departed at 7:30, drove about an hour and a half, during which I did my best to figure out the best means of transportation to the Zentralfriedhof - The Central Cemetery - where lies the great Beethoven, Brahms, Schubert, and Johann Strauss I & II. I sat near Sister Joan Paul, so she was able to offer some excellent advice.
When we arrived we had Mass at the Kapuzinerkirche, the Capucchin Church. It was decorated in a more modest Baroque style, and depicted a great deal of the Franciscan saints. Beneath the Church is buried a great many of the Hapsburg family members, such as Maria Theresa and Emperor Joseph II. Apparently his tomb is a just a black box with a gold cross on it, as opposed to the ornate tomb of Maria Theresa. Exactly as he deserves. I told Sister I hoped he was out of purgatory by the time I got there, otherwise I'd have a couples bones to pick with him. When one of the Hapsburgs was going to be buried in the Church, they would bring the casket to the Church and knock on the door. The first time they knocked they would ask the monk to permit the Emperor/Empress into the Church, listing all of his/her primary titles, to which the monk would reply, "We do not know him/her." Then they would knock a second time, listing all of the emperor/empress' secondary titles, to which the monk again would reply, "We do not know him/her." A third time they would knock, this time saying, "Emperor/Empress so-and-so, a humble sinner, wishes to enter." Only then would they allow the Hapsburg into the Church.
Outside the Church was the statue of a Capucchin friar who organized the battle to defeat the Turks in the Battle for Vienna.

The main altar of the Capucchin Church

The Capucchin Monk who saved Vienna, with Father Brad telling the story

When Mass was over, we were divided up into different groups and taken on tours to see some of the main sites of the city. What a city! There were horses and carriages weaving in and out of pedestrians and a few automobiles, street actors and artists, and brightly colored Christmas decorations strung between the buildings above our heads. We saw the Hapsburg palace, the National Library ( I think this may have been depicted in Indiana Jones: The Last Crusade), as it was on the library balcony where Hitler gave his address stating that the Nazis had taken over Austria. John Paul II was there in the year 2000 as well. We also saw the Spanish Riding School, home to some of the best horses in the world. During World War II, to protect them from the Nazis, they transported them to the United States until the war was over. These horses are born black but turn white in about 8-9 years. They were taught to rear up on their hind legs in battle to protect their riders.

The riding school

One of the horses!

The opera house! Home of the Vienna Philharmonic! Not gonna lie, it does look like a train station 

VIVALDI WAS HERE. Right next to the Sacher Cafe and the Opera House!

The library... doesn't this look familiar?

We saw the Vienna opera house! The building is not that spectacular looking from the outside; when it was first built the patron told the architect it looked like a train station, and so the architect threw himself from the roof of the building. It was nearly destroyed in World War II, but was restored. The themes on the inside of the building are taken from Mozart's The Magic Flute, which is a signature opera of the opera house, along with the song "The Blue Danube." Several balls are hosted here between Christmas and Ash Wednesday. Beside the opera house was a plaque stating that Vivaldi had once lived there. :-D
We also saw two of the most famous Viennese churches, St. Peter's Church and St. Stephen's Cathedral. St. Peter's was decorated in the Baroque style and is run by Opus Dei. There is a shrine to St. Josemaria Escriva at one of the side altars. The paintings and the organ were absolutely gorgeous! We could only spend ten minutes within the Church, however, so we didn't get a very close look.

One of the side altars in St. Peter's

The main altar in St. Peter's

The final stop before lunch was St. Stephen's Cathedral. This was a stark contrast to the Baroque St. Peter's, as this church was decorated in the Gothic style. The Gothic style is meant to elevate the heart and the mind to God by drawing the eyes upwards, whereas the Baroque style is meant to draw us to look around vs. up, focusing on how God is present among us and emphasizing the humanity of Christ. The Gothic Church had huge arches and pillars that soared up into the darkness, with lofty windows, stained in pale colors save for the tops where vivid reds, blues, purples, golds, and greens were used instead. The roof is unique in that it has ceramic colored tiles - unusual for a Gothic Church. The stonework looks so light, like lace. St. Stephen's Church is the tallest building in the central part of the city with its huge tower. It houses an adoration tower, and an icon of the Blessed Mother and Child that has been known to cry real tears.

St. Stephen's Catheral

The organ at St. Stephen's. By the looks of the wood the organ looked like it was either restored or  a completely modern instrument.

Cafe Sacher

After lunch, I went with some of my household sisters to a palace/museum once home to a French general that had assisted the Hapsburgs/Austrians in a war. The palace was known for housing the famous Klimpt painting, "The Kiss." There was Baroque, Medieval, Classic/Romantic Period art. We saw a medieval painting of St. Catherine's Mystical Marriage, in which the Child Jesus, sitting on Mary's lap, is putting a ring on Mary's finger. There were paintings of St. Joachim and Anna, depicting Joachim as a shepherd. I loved the portraits and the still life paintings from the Baroque period! They were stunning, and the fine details were so intriguing to look at! For dinner we went to the Cafe Sacher, one of the most famous cafes in Vienna, and known principally for its Sacher torte (pronounced Sacker Tor-teh), which is a chocolate cake with a layer of apricot in the middle and a chocolate icing. It's dry, but I had it with a Hot Chocolate, which was the best I have ever tasted! The foam on the top was like drinking a warm, light, chocolate cloud, and the chocolate itself was very sweet, so sweet it was making me sugar sick.
We finished the day with purchasing a few souvenirs. One day was far too short a time to spend in such an excellent city! We were told during the tour that the quality of life in Vienna is very good: there are very few poor people (which was true, as I don't recall seeing any homeless or beggars in the district we were in). Austrians also tend to be very laid back people (according to a survey, the people in Vienna walk the slowest out of all the major cities). I think Vienna may have been my favorite city I have ever encountered. I wasn't able to find Brahms and Beethoven though, as I ended up separated from the people I was planning to go with. However, a weekend trip to Vienna is hopefully in the works, so it will be a MUST on the itinerary for that weekend, along with the Vienna Boys Choir and seeing an opera at the Opera House, which if you get standing room seats is about 3 euro, and a nose-bleed seat is about 9 euro. What a deal! Ich liebe Wien!

P.S. We may not have seen Brahms and Beethoven, but we did make some very interesting finds!

Herr Mozart!

Master Liszt!

I know that guy! Arvo Part's Adam's Lament!!!! In a music shop in Vienna!!!! 

P.P.S. My favorite parts of the day was: A) St. Stephen's Cathedral. Now that I think about it, it reminded me of that epic scene when they reach the remains of the dwarf city in the Mines of Moria, where Sam says, "Well there's an eye opener and no mistake!" It was so vast, and so sacred, I wish that we could have spent a week in that church. There was a free organ concert going on that night, too! :-(

B) Walking the streets where the great composers walked! Annie and I were wondering what it would have been like to see them wandering the streets of Wien. Of course, I imagined Mozart in Amadeus, swaggering around in his pompous little wigs and frock coat, dashing to and fro amidst the crowd. Beethoven I think would have been off in his own little world, humming to himself, some dazzling melody in his head, and Brahms, a little more social with candy in his pocket for children, a gruff look on his bearded face but a twinkle in his eye.

Day #6: Snow + Classes sounds like Steubenville!

The view outside my bedroom window

First day of "B" classes started yesterday (Tuesday, Thursday classes). Today is our first day of "A" classes (usually Mondays and Wednesdays). Christian Marriage looks like a good class, but lots of reading (90 pages of Love and Responsibility). I have my first philosophy class: Foundations of Ethics with Prof. Javier Carreno. He seems like a good professor but very challenging. That one's going to be my hardest, I think. Art Appreciation was this morning. I'm enjoying that one immensely! Today we went over some of the artwork we could see tomorrow in Vienna at the museum. It was a lot of Renaissance art, but some modern stuff, too. I recognized a lot of them from the art memory game we have back at home. Hurrah for good cultural home school education! :-D This afternoon I will have Survey of Physical Science and German 101. Physics is only going to be an hour long, I think, so I'm very happy for that. An hour and a half of class is a lot of note-taking.
We had the opening Mass of the semester yesterday with the bishop! I played the opening hymn for the Mass, Come Holy Ghost, on the organ in the Maria Thron. I also had to teach the congregation before Mass how to sing the Heilig (the German Sanctus). That was a little nerve wracking, but I pulled it off! I'm so glad we had to sing German last semester, it's so good for pronunciation purposes.
Annie and I went to go practice at the church in Gaming yesterday but there was a funeral going on so we had a change in plans. It was interesting to see the funeral though from a distance when they came out of the church. It appeared that some VIP had died, as there was a small brass band waiting outside, which played soon after the priest and the coffin and the congregation moved outside. They were dressed in feathered hats and dark green coats. It was unlike anything I have ever seen in America, and it made me think of Bach's father, who was a town musician (among other things) and who would have played with his music group for funerals and weddings and such. BUT Annie and I visited the flower shop instead, which was lovely. They had orange roses with petals with pointed tips! I also went on my first trip to the Spar (a Gaming grocery store), got my first Melka, and my first Mozart chocolate (but it has Marzipan in it, so I don't know if I'll like it, but I don't care it's Mozart).
Well, tomorrow is Vienna, and I must find where Brahms and Beethoven are buried and directions to the cemetery, plus get a good chunk of reading done before we depart tomorrow morning, so I must go. A trip to Venice the first weekend in February may be in the works as well! *fingers crossed*

Day #4: Gaming, Organ News!

Today was definitely one of my favorite days so far, despite the rain, and yes, it does have something to do with music. ;-) We started with another Orientation meeting about the school-sponsored trips around Europe, then we got our books and our laundry baskets. Today's highlight was a little tour of the city of Gaming, thus today I learned the locations of the illustrious grocery store, Spar (pronounced Shpar in German), the local pub, Urs, the ever so important ATM machines, and Book Mountain. During the tour I walked with a girl named Justina, an LCI student from Lithuania who is studying English and Theology at the Kartause. She will be in my Art Appreciation and my Christian Marriage classes. She was super nice and her English was excellent! The city itself is very cute! There's a little stream that runs next to the shops.
The highlight of the tour was Mass at the church in Gaming. The church is very, very old, older than the Kartause (which was built in the 1300s, to give you an idea). I didn't get to look around at the actual artwork much yet, or take many pictures, so hopefully those will follow soon.  After Mass we met the parish priest, Father Franz, a cute little German man, who was gracious enough to permit us to practice on the organ!!!! It's a small yet beautiful instrument, and the pitch isn't that off! It's better than the piano in the St. Francis Hall or the organ in the Maria Thron! Annie and I went up to look at it and try it out. The stops are very old, of course, but you had to pull them out and they were little blocks of wood with knobs on the end. You could hear the stops working behind you in the wind chests! The pedal board goes from E2 to A3 (I think, don't quote me on that though), which was better than I had hoped. The keys are harder to play, but I expected that. It was so wonderful to be able to play it though! Annie and I are hoping to go down and practice a lot, but we'll see how it goes with classes and such. We were elated though: we got to play on an organ that Mozart played on!!! How cool is that?!
Classes start tomorrow: Christian Marriage at 8:40 with Dr. Asci, followed by Foundations of Ethics with a new professor they brought in. We also have Mass with the bishop tomorrow! Sister Joan Paul asked me to play the final hymn on the organ in the Kartause, as they've never had an organist here! Wish me luck and say a prayer for me! Pictures will soon follow!

Day #3: The Kartause

This afternoon we went on a tour of the Kartause (which actually means Charter House, fyi). We started the day off with an Orientation meeting, meeting some of the staff, and a tour of the dorms and the classrooms. The tour was given by my Art Appreciation professor, Prof. Healy. We began in the chapel titled Maria Thron (pronounced “Maria Trone”) which means Maria Throne. This is demonstrated particularly in a statue within the sanctuary itself which depicts Mary with the Child Jesus in her lap. God is enthroned in her lap. Also, though, Mary is enthroned in heaven as Queen. The statue is a copy of an original statue at the most famous Marian Shrine in Austria, Mariazell, which I may be visiting later in the semester. 

The original ceiling was a Gothic ceiling built in the 1400s and was fifteen feet higher than the ceiling in the Maria Thron now. The Gothic style was focused on lifting the eyes and the mind towards heaven, so the church is in fact three times as high as it is wide. The second ceiling was built later as the Carthusian monks were claiming that the draft was making them sick because of the cold. 

The dome over the sanctuary of the Kartause was from the Renaissance Period, but it is only apparent on the interior of the chapel : outside it is  a Gothic steeple. The dome was built because it is circle and a circle was representative of heaven, and it is in the sanctuary that heaven touches earth during the divine liturgy. 

In the early 1700s, the paintings on the ceiling were done of the Carthusian founder, St. Bruno. The Carthusians had inhabited the monastery since the 1300s, but they were forced to leave when Emperor Joseph II closed the Kartause in 1782. The emperor closed down any order that he did not believe was doing anything actively useful for society, such as teaching. The Carthusians are a very contemplative order, thus they were closed. The Kartause thus fell into disrepair and was later desecrated when the Russians came to the city and used it as their stable.

In 1983 the architect Hildebrand bought the Kartuase and began renovating it. He later invited the Franciscan University of Steubenville to found a study abroad program here.

We also saw the Baroque library, which had lots of lovely paintings on the ceiling. The Carthusian monks only slept for 3-hour periods and would get up in the middle of the night for prayer, so outside one of the windows of the library we could see, instead of a sun dial, a MOON dial. You learn something new every day! 

A photo of the ceiling from the Baroque library. The central dome was dedicated to the liberal arts. The group in the center is a group of musicians (Brian called them Baroque music ministry, LOL).

The moon dial

We got to go up above the ceiling to see the original ceiling, the beams and the arches. There were two levels: the topmost level was very very dark, while the other was lit by windows and you could see the decorated original painted ceiling. They let us go around the beams to see through the windows to the outside. I have never been so scared in my whole life! You had to cling to the walls as you scooted around the ledge (and I mean a small ledge) until you reached a small passageway between the windows and walls looking outside and the windows and walls looking inside. There was graffiti from the Russians all over the walls of this passageway - they said the Russians came up here and wrote their names because it was considered a feat to get to this place. I could see why! Fortunately Craig, one of the RAs, was around for me to hold onto when it was a little too much, although I think sometimes Craig was just as scared as I was. 

The top most level of the ceiling

The lower of the roof, where we were walking across the actual ceiling, and the ledge we had to climb across to get to the  tower. SCARY! You can see the guy in the black sweater climbing into the cranny between the outer and the inner wall. The cranny goes all the way around the tower to the other side where you have to creep across the ledge again to get back.

A photo shot from the window inside the layer. 

A Russian autograph in the tower wall.

The next stop was the museum, which contained a few altars from the original church. There was no pictures of the original organ though. :-( The original sanctuary was beautiful though, very dark and ornate compared to the original! They also showed us the two side chapels. One of them was more modern, finished in 2009, while the one above it was much older, but both were very simple. 

The final part of the tour was the Byzantine chapel on campus. This was my favorite part of the tour, I think. The written icons were incredibly beautiful, and the way they made the space seem symmetrical and balanced despite the dissimilarities and the imperfections of the room itself was a great accomplishment! The imagery all over the chapel was wonderful, as well. I think I might come there to pray a lot during the semester! 

I ate dinner with one of the LCI students (people from foreign countries who come here to study Catholicism and learn English). He was an older priest by the name of Father Andrej from Slovakia who was working in Siberia until he had a heart attack. Then his boss gave him a year off to go study and such. He was very sweet, and wanted to know about my family and their names and such. His mother was named Emily! 

We had our organ auditions tonight! They went well, but the little electric organ in the choir loft is also tuned differently, so that’ll be an adjustment, esp. for the choir. The space is magnificent, but we're really going to have to be careful to make sure our vowels are very good, otherwise we'll go flat very quickly. :-P Well, people say that Austria is full of new challenges, I guess I shouldn't be surprised to find them even in the choir loft! Sister also said we could use the electric keyboard in her office for practicing. Yay for middle C, right where it should be!

I guess we’ll manage somehow. Practicing in Gaming is also in the works. I met with the go-between between the Kartause and the Gaming parish church and she said we would need to speak with Father Franz. Perhaps we will meet with him tomorrow when we take the tour of Gaming. Mass tomorrow will also be in the Gaming parish church. Looking forward to seeing that organ!

Day #2: Maria Taferl, Melk

Today we visited the second most popular Marian Shrine in Austria, the Maria Taferl. The shrine is built on a hill overlooking the Danube River Valley. When the area first converted to Christianity, they constructed a cross in a tree where a former pagan altar had been located. When a man tried to chop down the tree with an ax, both of his legs were seriously injured in an "accident," (no one seemed to know the details) and so he repented and supplicated the Blessed Virgin for aid. She healed him and a shrine to the Pieta was built there in her honor. Later a church was constructed around the shrine. Many miracles have occurred because of her intercession.
When we arrived at the shrine, the valley was covered in a blanket of mist, so we couldn't actually see the valley. But the mist extended far into the horizon like a sea of white, which was lovely, as it lapped against the nearby hill crests. The pagan altar was outside the church off to the side. It reminded me of Aslan's stone table.

But what was really beautiful lay inside, in the church.  I have never seen so much salvation history crammed into one building. I stepped inside and my breath was taken away! There was gold all over the sanctuary, beautifully crafted. The Pieta was surrounded by golden rays of light above the central tabernacle. The ambo was decorated with statues of the four evangelists, and behind where the lector would have stood was a relief of the finding of Jesus in the Temple. Above the door to the stairway leading to the ambo was an image of the Holy Face - which I think was meant to point to the purpose of the prophet : to reveal to the people the face of God. There was a painting of St. Teresa of Avila ( I think, I know she was at least a Carmelite) pointing to the words"Aux Pati, aux Mori": Suffering or Death.

The side altars were also riddled with Scripture. The side altar on the left contained a painting of the Nativity with a statue of a shepherd and a Magi on either side. Above the tabernacle was a Pascal lamb. The side altar on the right had a painting of the Crucifixion. On one side of the altar was Moses with a snake on a pole healing a sick man at his feet, while on the other side was Abraham about to sacrifice Isaac. Every detail was carefully placed, such as the set of dice above INRI on the gate to the right side altar.

The organ itself was a sight of awe and splendor. Elizabeth and I gawked at it when we saw it, and we determined that if we ever become rich we will have a room with stained glass windows and an organ decorated with gold lief. My fingers itched to play it!

There was also a staircase in the foyer leading up to the choir loft which was full of images of the Blessed Mother and others which intercessors had given the church. This one was one of my favorites (sorry about the shadow).

Next on the itinerary was lunch, which was exquisite. I'm so glad the school pays for us to get such fantastic food! I felt like one of the food tasters on Iron Chef America, the presentation was so fine and nice. We ate a crepe soup with a chicken and vegetable broth, a very tender beef steak ( I think) with gravy and golden potatoes and vegetables. The dessert was a crusted cream cheese with cranberries (I think).

The next stop was the Benedictine Monastery in Melk. Elizabeth, Annie, and I sang helped sing for Mass. The organ, was, once again gorgeous, although this one also we were only able to gaze upon from a distance. :-( This one had an inscription below it:  In tympano et choro in chordis et organo laudate deum. The high altar was set far from the altar rail with the choir stalls built between. Another altar had been built closer to the pews (an addition since Vatican II). Then we received a tour of the monastery! During which we saw a 600-700 year old copy of the rule of St. Benedict, the oldest, smallest hand written book in Melk, vestments of a Baroque Benedictine Abbot, still in use for special occasions. There were also some vestments implemented by Emperor Joseph II during the Age of Reason. This emperor had a strong over-emphasis on practicality, so he had leather vestments made because they last longer. He also had a re-usable coffin. :-P The Church was reconstructed in the 18th century in the Baroque Style, which was meant to show the strength and energy of the Church.

Some cool musical facts about the place: Marie Antoinette came to the monastery on her way to get married (she was 14), traveling with about 290 servants, and the monks had an opera composed just for her visit. Mozart also came to the monastery at the age of 14 with his parents and sister. There was a concert room with windows which opened onto a raised room where the musicians were kept, so the music would drift through the windows onto the scene of an opera or a ball. The windows could be closed if the music was too loud. The organ was from the 20th century (it was restored and then a new one was built). The facade is still the same from the Baroque Period, however. The organ chests were also kept. It consists of 3500 pipes and is used every Sunday and also for concerts. The church itself, dedicated to Peter and Paul, had a rather theatrical feel to it, in a way, because the designer was a theater artist, as the Baroque Period was a time where opera was a strong influence.

To finish off there was a beautiful sunset!!! The bus ride back I got to talk to Sister Joan Paul, a TOR sister here in charge of music. She was so excited that there were two organ majors on campus! She didn't even know there was a music program/major at Franciscan, she hasn't been there in five years. Annie and I are going to have an "audition" for music ministry tomorrow in the Mariathron (really, I think she just wants to hear us play).
That's my second day! Tomorrow we get a tour of the Kartause, and Orientation starts! Tedious but necessary. Subject to the requirements of the service, eh?

Day #1 : Welkommen!

I'm at the Kartause! Our flight went smoothly and I got both of my bags back., so that is wunderbar! One of them has a small tear in them from the flight, but it's very small. My friend Joey, a junior in the pretheologate, was kind enough to help me carry my bags, and I helped carry his. We sat together on the two hours bus ride and drew sloppy diagrams of Nebraska and Ohio. The drive is beautiful! There's no snow right now, so it looks kinda like spring. The water is a greenish blue in the rivers and streams, so it's quite pretty! It winds through the towns and the hills, and there's little bridges that cross over it. It looks like Steve Mcqueen should be racing his motorcycle through the hills here, too! When we arrived at the Kartause there was a group of children (the children of the professors) waiting for us with flowers! They were so cute in their little sweaters and Austria outfits! 
We had Mass at 4 pm in the Kartause chapel. The chapel was pretty, but there was guitar music -guitar music in that space does not work well at all! It gets all muddled. They should sing a cappella just for clarity's sake. The paintings were gorgeous though!  I saw one of St. Cecilia -speaking of which there is a tiny, tiny organ in the corner of the choir loft. That may come in handy... Especially as the little grand piano they have in the lounge area is tuned a whole step below C4!!!! This might make it a bit of an adjustment for practicing purposes. I'll just have to get better at transposing.
A little history about the Kartause: It was originally a Karthusian monastery. When it was divided up after World War II, the Kartause was destroyed by the Russians. However, in the 1980s an architect began to restore it to what it is now, a lovely hotel for tourists and an amazing place to study for us students!
Later today we went exploring. It feels like we're walking around a humbler version of Hogwarts! There's hallways and courtyards and a little dining hall (nothing like the grand one in the Harry Potter movies, unfortunately. I would liken it a little more to a hobbit's pub). The dining hall is a nice place, and the food is decent. I also found the library! Which lead into another library! Which contained a small selection of books about the composers! Mainly the Classical/Romantic Period: Haydn, Mozart, Beethoven, and Brahms. My music major heart was elated. ^_^
Tomorrow we're going to a Benedictine monastery we passed on the way to the Kartause in a city called Melk. They have a beautiful library - I've seen a couple pictures of it from other Gaming students and it looks like the library in Beauty & the Beast! I'm sooooo excited to see it!!!!! Hopefully pictures will be coming soon! God bless!

My First Blog Post!

During my stay in Austria, I will have four days of class and three-day-weekends to travel to different places around Europe. I thought for my first blog post that I would post the different places I am hoping to visit while I am abroad.

1. VIENNA, Austria 

Things I want to see: 

Zentralfriedhof (German for "Central Cemetery") the largest and most famous cemetery in Vienna where lies Ludwig van Beethoven, Johannes Brahms, Franz Schubert, and Johann Strauss I (all four are composers of the Romantic Period).

Maybe the Art Museum

Organs: perhaps the one at the Michaelerkirche.

http://www.michaelerkirche.at/articles/2010/09/02/a2689/p2/MichaelerkircheZUPANC006.jpg

2. SALZBURG, Austria

Things I want to see/hear: Anything concerning Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. *fingers crossed* Requiem Mass!!!!

3. POLAND:

The Divine Mercy Shrine, John Paul II's Wadowice and Krakow, Auschwitz.

4. GERMANY:

Leipzig, with St. Thomas Church and the grave of J.S. Bach, 

Erfurt, Bach-country with a beautiful Catholic cathedral

Weimar, residency of Bach for several years and where he wrote a great deal of his organ works as court organist

Eisenach, Bach's birth place

Naumburg, home of more cool organs

Altötting, location of a small, beautiful shrine to the Black Madonna

5. ENGLAND:

London: Westminster Cathedral (The Catholic Cathedral of London), Westminster Abbey, St. Paul's Church (Anglican), the London Oratory (founded by St. Philip Neri)

The Yorkshire Dales, home of James Herriot, and just absolutely beautiful English countryside.

Oxford, visit the Eagle and Child (pub where Tolkien and C.S. Lewis frequently met), perhaps take a tour of the home of C.S. Lewis.

6. SIENA: (Italy)

St. Catherine of Siena lived here, one of my favorite saints.

7. BOLOGNA: (Italy)

Burial place of St. Dominic, another favorite saint. (FYI, I happen to love Dominicans!)

8. ROME: 

Find the church of St. Cecilia (I am a musician, after all, so it's only natural). Not sure what else, I've been here before when I was 13, so I'm not quite sure what I'll be doing other than admiring the general splendor of the churches and such. ;-)

9. ASSISI:

Beautiful place, I visited when I was 13.

10. VENICE:

Home of San Marco's, the birthplace of polyphony and one of the centers of music for a great deal of the Renaissance and the Baroque period.

I would LOVE to ride in a gondola on the canal, but we'll see if it's affordable.

For the most part, I want to spend a lot of time in a few places, however, so I don't know how much of these I actually will be getting to see. I'll just have to drink up what I can and be satisfied with that. I hope my classes will not prevent me from posting on here, but I will do my best to keep you updated on my travels! God bless you and keep you always!