Thursday, February 24, 2011

Day #34: Poland

 Poland was definitely one of my favorite pilgrimages thus far. I knew it was going to be a difficult pilgrimage from the start. A week before our pilgrimage we were required to attend a talk by one of our professors, Professor Cassady, a native of Scotland, where he spoke about the importance of experiencing the Poland trip. I was in tears just listening to him speak about Poland. He said that if you squeeze the soil of Poland in your hand, the blood of the martyrs flows out between your fingers. He said, "Why Poland? Why should you go to Poland? Because you need to learn the lesson of Poland: the lesson of St. Maximilian Kolbe, St. Faustina, and John Paul II." He spoke about Auschwitz, and of the sign above the gate Work makes man free. "Rubbish! Garbage! Christ makes man free! Freedom is for love ... Execute it. You must decide how you are going to love. [You must face] the great battle to find out the truth about one's self."
I would not say I was excited to go to Poland, but I was drawn there nevertheless. I wanted to go. We left for Poland at 8 pm. We would drive through the night and arrive in Czestochowa around 6 in the morning. There were 3 buses traveling to Poland : I was on bus 3 along with my household sisters and the prethes. They were a good group with whom to travel. Our bus also had Fr. Brad, one of the Franciscan Friars, as one of the passengers, thus labeling it the Glory bus. What is the Glory bus? The bus with the guitar and the Gospel music, LOL. We sang for part of the trip, but we also watched a movie about John Paul II by Universal Pictures, Karol: A Man Who Became Pope, one of my favorite religious movies. It has so many great lines in it, and it definitely put us in the mood for the pilgrimage.
Our Lady of Czestochowa Church, Jasna Gora
Little sleep occurred on the bus, and by the time we had reached Czestochowa,  I was starting to come down with a sore throat. As soon as we arrived, we had to run to make it to the unveiling of the image of Our Lady of Czestochowa at 6 AM. Nothing like running through a snowy Polish morning with a sore throat to wake you up in the morning! The church is called Jasna Gora, which means Holy Hill. The church is surrounded by walls, so you have to go through several archways and gates to get to the actual church - it's like a castle protecting Our Lady within. Each archway was adorned with an image of the Madonna and child. As we walked through the darkness, we could hear a rooster crowing, probably owned by the monks who live there.
We passed through the huge dark doors of the church from the darkness of the wintry night into what seemed like a room of gold. The walls of the chapel nave were burgundy, but they were covered with little religious articles of gold, silver, and other precious stones and metals: mostly rosaries and medallions. The actual chapel of Our Lady of Czestochowa is a small chapel within the church itself, separated by an iron grate through which we could pass but it seated only a few people. The icon was covered by a gold curtain engraved with an image of the Garden of Eden, representing the old Eve, and Mary as the new Eve. We gathered outside the chapel, some of us in folding chairs and some of us kneeling outside the black grating. We waited in prayer for a few moments, then a trumpet blast sounded, accompanied by a drum roll as the curtain was slowly lifted. We knelt there for a few moments, but Mass started right after the unveiling, so we hurried out to get some breakfast at a nearby hostel. It was so wonderful to get some hot food and coffee and wash up - it honestly felt like the March for Life - driving all through the night like that, accompanied with the cold and snow outside.
After breakfast we were divided up to go on brief tours - which basically meant we learned about the history of the image as we walked back to the church again. The icon was painted by St. Luke using the wood of a table Christ had made. The icon was discovered by St. Helen, and enshrined in Constantinople for 500 years. It eventually came to Poland in 1382 when the Polish army was fleeing the Tartars, who had struck it with an arrow. The image was attacked again in 1430 by the Hussites (pre-Reformation reformers) who slashed the Virgin's face with a sword and left it desecrated in a puddle of mud and blood. When the monks pulled the icon from the mud, a miraculous fountain appeared , which was used to clean the painting. The icon was repainted, but the arrow mark and the gashes from the sword would not be painted over. Many other miracles have occurred through Our Lady. There are numerous crutches on one of the walls left by those who have been healed because of her intercession. She is known as the Queen of Poland.
As we made our way back to the church, we got a better look of the city of Czestochowa. There was a park located outside the walls of the monastery, blanketed in snow. Coming closer, we saw a huge statue outside the walls of a kneeling Polish cardinal (I don't remember his name at the moment, but he was the other Cardinal who was put in prison by the Communists. He was cardinal before and during the cardinal-ship of John Paul II. There were also several statues located around the walls of the monastery depicting what I think were the mysteries of the Rosary. These were relatively new but I liked them.
The Glorious Mystery of the Resurrection
The Cardinal
One of the archways leading to the monastery
The chapel to the Sacred Heart of Jesus
A painting of a Polish saint who was also a queen, I think she is buried in the Krakow Cathedral.

Our Lady of Czestochowa, The Black Madonna

Th chapel next to the chapel of the Black Madonna

The actual chapel to the Black Madonna
Inside the church, they were doing some repair work so it was hard to make out the layout of the place. It seemed like a maze to me, with little side altars and chapels located here and there. There seemed to be two main chapels, one to our Lady of Czestochowa, and another one, which was where a lot of the construction was going on. I found up a flight of stairs a small chapel to the Sacred Heart of Jesus, with a stained glass window of St. Faustina. The next thing I found was the other main chapel, where a Mass was being said.
But I could hear the sultry tones of the Credo III wafting through the walls from the Black Madonna's chapel next door. My heart was tugging me in the direction of the music, so I followed. It turned out that there was another Mass being said in the little chapel to Our Lady, a Novus Ordo Mass in Latin with chant and polyphony. There was a walk around the sides of the chapel that went behind the wall enshrining the image which pilgrims could do on their knees. This walk took the pilgrim right next to the Black Madonn'as little chapel, separating them only by a marble rail. I went on my knees through part of the walk and paused when I had reached the tiny chapel. I stayed there until Communion (fortunately there was no one behind me, though they could have slipped past me), as our school Mass was to follow and I wanted to be able to be near the image. I was enchanted by the beauty of this Mass, the chapel, the music. I softly joined my voice with that of the singers when I knew the chant. You couldn't see the singers - they were either behind a screen or in the choir loft - making it seem as if it were wafting down from heaven itself. The organ was accompanying some of the music as well. The Mass was for a religious group or pilgrimage it seemed, as most of the people in the chapel were nuns or sisters. I leaned my head on the railing and looked at the image of Our Lady. Her garments were adorned with a mosaic of precious stones and metals, as were the Christ Child's - recalling to mind a play the university had put on last spring titled The Kitchen Madonna, which I still rank as one of the best plays I have seen. Both Madonna and Child wore golden crowns. Christ's right hand was raised in blessing. Mary's face radiated serenity, and kindness shone in her gentle gaze. I have never felt so close to heaven in my life, surrounded by such beauty, gazing at Beauty Himself and the most beautiful of His creation, His Mother. I thought to myself, "Every Mass should feel like this - feel as if heaven has come to earth and caught us up into the communion of love between Father, Son, and Spirit." I finished the walk, and waited for our Mass with the rest of the Franciscan students as the previous Mass ended. The last motet they sang was a Renaissance polyphonic setting of Ave Regina Caelorum.
For our Mass I was able to get up very close to the image, which I was glad of - one of the students, Justin, was kind enough to offer me his seat as he would be returning to Poland for ten-day. I prayed for the strength to meet the silent terrors of the day that awaited us in Auschwitz, for God to teach me what He desired me to learn through the lesson of Poland.
After Mass we were allowed to look around for a little while. The monastery had a couple museums, which we went through. The museums contained exquisite chalices and monstrances from the previous popes and saints, as well as articles owned by the monastery over the years. We then boarded the bus for Auschwitz.
A rose on the train tracks of Auschwitz
Auschwitz was, as my friend Joey said, the best part of the trip, as it was the most spiritually growing. There was a chill there that pierced through my layers of clothing to one's very bones. Ravens were perched in the trees outside the entrance. There was an intense stillness there, unlike anything I have ever experienced. We were separated into groups for tours of the place. We walked beneath the famous entrance, beneath the famous words, "Work makes you free." Near the entrance was a spot where a band of prisoners who were musicians were forced to play music as the soldiers checked and counted the prisoners to see if any had escaped. The musical band of prisoners reminded me of Olivier Messiaen, who wrote a quartet during his time in a concentration camp in France and performed it with a group of musicians in the camp. I think it's called The End of Time.We saw photos of so many of the prisoners on the walls, each of them with their own stories, families, their lives lost, brutally cut short. We saw their "beds," washrooms, cells, and one of the gas chambers. We saw the cells where prisoners were kept or executed. The entire place seemed flat, lifeless, dead.  The air was damp, cold, still and the weather overcast. There was no wind, no movement save for the tourists. It was as if a shroud had covered the place, a shroud of death. We saw the thousands of shoes, suitcases, pots and pans the Jews had brought with them when they had first come off the trains. They had thought they were coming to live and work there, but many of them were executed. When the Russians were coming, the Germans tried to burn the evidence of their crimes, mostly the clothes, suitcases, and shoes but they didn't have time. There was a pile of eyeglasses - a rat's nest of glass and wire. There were so many atrocities within that death camp, to look at it was sickening. How could people do this to one another? This work of satan? THey couldn't see these people as humans but saw them as animals, but in reality the Nazis were the animals and they the humans. I could see a person either losing all belief in God or being convicted of God's existence and strengthening their faith all the more, nothing in between. It shows the strength of the human will, of faith. It was so hard to imagine the horrors there, the millions of ghosts, the shots ringing from the machine guns at the execution wall. And even when the land had been desecrated with the blood of the innocents, God sanctified it with the sacrifice of his beloved saint, Maximilian Kolbe. The man signed with the cross of Christ went gaily in the dark, singing hymns with his fellow prisoners as they were starving to death in Cell 21. It was a great testimony to the power of God, how He could take the worst of men and bring out the best. To conclude the tour we went to Birkenau, known as Auschwitz II, an extension of the camp where most of the mass extermination occurred. There was a monument to the victims at the end of the railroad tracks where the trains came with the Jews and the other victims. There was a rose on the tracks at the gate house, a dark red rose. We prayed the Chaplet of Divine MErcy at the memorial, then drove to KRakow to check in to our hostel. Hopefully one day the abortion mills will be just like this place, a memory to a horror that is no more.

Tuesday, February 22, 2011

Day# 28: Prague

The next day the school had organized a day trip to Prague for students interested in going to see the city. We left at about 4:45 am with two buses full of students. A new friend I have made this semester, Marianne, had organized a private tour of the city for a few students. Thinking it a worthy cause, I signed up and paid the ten euro. Our tour guide was an older Czechoslowakian woman named Paula. We met her at our bus stop. "You are all Catholic, yes?" she asked us. We nodded. "I am a Protestant, I hope you don't mind," she said with a smile. Of course we didn't mind. She was very kind and it was nice to learn a little about the city, and very helpful to have a local to tell us where not to shop or exchange our money.
We saw the astronomical clock in the main square, which at the noon hour had little figures that moved. It was orginally built as an attraction for the city of Prague. The figures included the twelve apostles who appeared at two windows towards the top, and a skeleton who rang a bell telling hte people symbolically, "Memento more," - Remember your death. There was also a trumpeter who played when the clock was finished to announce the hour to the city. Also in the main square was the place where the guillotine once stood. Also nearby was the Dvorjak Concert Hall. Dvorjak was originally from Prague, I think, but he eventually moved to America.
Paula took us up to the castle- Prague has one of the largest castles in eastern Europe. We didn't take the tour because it was too expensive for the amount of stuff you got to see. In the square within the walls of the castle was a cage where adulterous wives were placed so that everyone knew who was being unfaithful to whom. We asked what happened to the adulterous men and Paula said, "The cage wasn't big enough to hold all of them!" Paula showed us the general layout of the castle, the entrance to the gardens - which used to house wolves and bears to protect the castle as opposed to having a regular moat. Connected to the castle was the cathedral, dedicated to St. Vitus, a young early Christian martyr. The cathedral was in the Gothic style and made of sandstone, which Paula pointed out as being more porous material and thus very susceptible to pollution. The church was modified and added to over the years but the pollution had so darkly stained the outside that you couldn't tell which part was older.
We could only stand in the back of the cathedral as the rest of it was part of the tour. The stained glass windows were extremely beautiful. Most of them were in the same style, a mosaic sort of style, but each was a little unique in how the figures and faces were portrayed. There was one however that was very different in its style. This stained glass window, designed in the 1930s, was by the famous painter, Alfons Mucha. His window reminded me of a water color painting. It was also very striking in its color contrast, as a lot of the other windows used vivid, deep shades of colors of reds and purples and blues, while this one had softer shades of golds, greens, and blues of aqua and turquoise. There were also some mosaics on the walls, one of which depicted the Baptism of Jesus in the Jordan by John, but these were blocked of by guard rails so we couldn't get very close. Good King Wenceslaus is buried there, as are some of the Hapsburgs, I think. Those Hapsburgs are everywhere! There was an organ in the left part of the transept, but I couldn't get a good look at it since we were in the back.
We visited another church that was once Russian Orthodox but now belonged to the Czechoslowachian government, whatever that means. There was no blessed sacrament, and Czech flags were in the sanctuary. But the organ was playing when we came in - it sounded familiar, like something you might hear at a wedding. I think it was in D Major.
For lunch I got a couple blueberry Czech pastries, the nI got a wrap at K.F.C. because it was cheap. They were playing American pop music in there -Lady Gaga and Rihanna and "Big Girls Don't Cry." Joey Walsh and Craig were bobbing to the music of singing off and on. THAT was amusing. Craig told someone earlier that day, "Emily and I are tight: she plays the organ and I listen!" I thought it rather sweet of him.
During the tour we also went through part of the Jewish part of Prague. Several synagogues had been closed and/or turned into museums. We also saw a miniature of the French Eiffel tower from a distance, and the U.S. embassy -we got to stand on American soil for just a little bit! Because the U.S. owns the property on which the embassy is built in every country except for England.
The final sights of the city we saw were the Charles Bridge and the church of the Infant of Prague. The bridge was lined with statues of the saints on either side, donated by various religious groups or churches I think. Venders selling jewelry, photos, paintings, and other wares had set up stands along the bridge. I bought a photo of the bridge from one of them.
We had stopped at the Infant of Prague church on the way to the bridge. Mass was being celebrated in Spanish at 5 pm, so we returned after the bridge, after we said good bye to our tour guide. There was a solo male singer with an organ accompaniment for the music. The singing was fine, but the organ was very out of tune, so that was a little painful to listen to.
Earlier I had looked around the church and prayed before the statue of the holy Infant. The church was a former German Lutheran church which now belonged to a group of discalced Carmelites. Thus there were Carmelite statues all over: St. Simon Stock, St. John of the Cross, St. Teresa of Avila, and a newer statue of St. Therese of Lisieux. The statue of the infant was about 1 ft - 1 1/2 ft tall, placed on a side altar on the right side of the church in a glass case. I bought a small pin of the Infant and a booklet on the history of the statue and the church.
For dinner we went to a small Czech restaurant. Word had spread amongst Franciscan students throughout the day about how good the food was, so when we arrived the restaurant was full of Franciscan students. We had to hurry and eat as we had about a half-hour to get back to our bus. Marianne got us back safe and sound though. She told me that she thought it would be fun to travel around Europe with me. I was flattered, but I told her it would depend on what she appreciated doing, as I would want to do all sorts of artsy things like go to art museums and concerts. She didn't retract her statement though. I hope to get to know her better as the semester progresses. She and I and another girl will be rooming together in Poland this weekend. We didn't get back to Gaming until 1:30 am. On the bus ride back we watched Dennis Hoffman/Robin Williams' Hook to please the girls and Rocky II  to please the guys. (We had watched Rocky I on the bus ride there). I didn't like Rocky very much, but that's just me. He was a nice guy, but I wouldn't have been able to stand him. I enjoyed Cinderella Man a lot more, and James J. Braddock is much more my type.
Overall, I liked Prague very much, it was a beautiful city. Bit it had a more blatant, darker side to it that in Vienna was a more hidden, I feel. There was witch craft, drugs, and such which I'm sure Vienna may have, too, but at least I didn't have to look at it. The bridge was definitely my favorite, walking across it as it overlooks the river was gorgeous!

Wednesday, February 16, 2011

Days #27: Hallstatt

This weekend Annie and I were planning on making our Bach pilgrimage to Erfurt and Leipzig, but our plans fell through at the last minute, and so I ended up hiking in the Alps and going to Prague instead. My friends Hannah and Brian had made plans to visit the Austrian city of Hallstatt for the day on Friday and invited me to accompany them, so I decided to tag along. We would return to Gaming on Friday evening to leave early Saturday morning for the school trip to the city of Prague, Czechoslovakia.
We left for Hallstatt bright and early at 4:30 in the morning. I had to wake Hannah as she had overslept, but we were still able to make it to our bus on time. Brian took care of us and helped us get to our correct platforms. It was enjoyable riding the trains together, chatting and getting to know one another better. As we drew nearer to our destination the beautiful Alps emerged on the horizon with their snow white peaks. We drew closer and closer until they towered over our little train. We had to cross a lake to get to Hallstatt on the other side, so we took a little ferry across for a small fee.
When we first set foot in Hallstatt, the first thing we set out for was the church. There were two churches, on in the center of town, the other located slightly overlooking the town and the lake higher up the mountainside, but still incorporated into the city. The first turned out to be a sort of Protestant church, but the other was Catholic. Mass wasn't until 6:30 pm, so we wouldn't be able to go, but we went inside to look around and to pray. The church had a unique design to it, as there seemed to be two main altars in what looked like a double sanctuary. A third, modern altar had been built in front of one of them, yet another consequence of misinterpretation of Vatican II. There was a smaller side altar on the left near a beautiful statue of the Pieta. The choir stalls on either side of the sanctuary were painted with images of the Twelve Apostles. Another particularly interesting feature of the church was the Stations of the Cross, which consisted of a series of paintings along the outside of the choir loft. Hannah had the wonderful idea of singing a hymn from their German hymnal, so we found Brian's favorite hymn in German, God Head Here in Hiding, and sang it in the empty little church. It was a nice memory, as we all love that hymn and we all love to sing (Hannah was in Schola with me last semester).
When we finished we went back outside to explore the cemetery surrounding the church. The cemetery started out front, then wound behind the church and upwards, with about three levels as it climbed up the  mountainside. It was neat to see the different tomb markers- one had the name Egger on it, the name of one of my fellow organ majors back on main campus! A lot of them were marked with the image of a saint, a queen, or a princess with a sword, tower, and holding the Blessed Sacrament. I couldn't remember who she was; any guesses? There was also a neat little shrine within the cemetery depicting the Agony in the Garden, with statues of Christ and an angel with the chalice, and God the Father and several angels painted on the backdrop. Each angel carried an instrument of Christ's Passion.
We climbed the levels of the cemetery until we reached a set of stairs and a path, leading to a hiking trail to the salt mines - Hallstatt is known for its salt. We had planned on going hiking, so we spontaneously decided to follow the trail up the mountain. It wound up the side of the mountain, back and forth, back and forth. The day had started out cloudy and drizzling, but as we climbed up, the clouds blew away to reveal a cerulean backdrop of blue sky and plenty of sunshine gracing the little valley. It was a long trek, but definitely worth it! We kept looking out over the valley, thinking, "It can't get much better than this," but it kept getting more and more beautiful almost with each step. We found a spring pouring down a crevice in the mountain into the valley below.  Further up we found one of the mines, but it was blocked off, so we were disappointed. Hannah and Brian had really wanted to go exploring. The mine dated back to Emperor Franz Josef I. But we kept going. We didn't make it quite all the way to the top of the mountain, but pretty close: we made it to a bridge built overlooking the valley. It was breathtaking to look upon. It was as if God was displaying His masterpiece for us, this little Austrian valley. We stood on the bridge for a long time, admiring the general splendor. The bells from Hallstatt rang out the noon hour, so we prayed the Angelus, then sang "Eidelweis" from The Sound of Music. Brian recited Psalm 19. I didn't think of it until later, but I thought of Nahum 2:1, Ecce super montes pedes evangelizantis et annunciantis pacem. - "Behold on the mountains the feet of him who brings good tidings, who proclaims peace."
Eventually we had to leave, so we slipped and slid and ran back down the mountainside. By the time we reached the foot of the mountain, the sky had clouded again and there was a slight drizzle. We had lunch on the dock overlooking the lake. Some local ducks came over to check out our cheese and ham tortillas. Among them was a swan which Brian mock threatened with his water bottle. When we finished, we decided to explore the city and buy a few souvenirs.  One interesting find we happened upon was this series of little shrines to the Sorrowful Mysteries of the Rosary. We had to overcome a few snowbanks to look at them, but that was part of the adventure. The last one consisted of a church on top of a hill. The main entrance was blocked by construction work, so we scaled a snow bank and jumped a stair rail to get to it. Unfortunately, the church was locked so we couldn't see the final mystery, but it was worth the adrenaline rush. We had to buy food for the journey back, so we waited outside a grocery store for it to open while Brian told various stories of his sleep walking and sleep talking experiences - most of which I had heard already, but it was entertaining to hear them again. ;-) Some of those just don't get old.






Afterwards we just wandered around the town some more. The train ride back was fun, too, just to talk and reminisce over memories from previous semesters and to share memories from the fun day we had had together. It was a good day, all in all! We got back to the Kartause at around 10:30, to get up at 4:30 for the trip to Prague the next day.

Monday, February 7, 2011

Days #20-21: The Return to Vienna


Punk Mozart! "No one understands me..."
"You're not the only composer in Vienna, Mozart."
"No, but I'm the best!"
This weekend was our first self-planned as in non school-planned trip, so what better way to spend it than in an area that one is already familiar with, but still has so much to offer! Vienna, the city of music! (Besides Salzburg, of course). We didn't leave until Saturday, so Friday I got to catch up on some homework, study for a German test on Monday, and take a walk through Gaming.
Saturday morning we left bright and early for Vienna. We took a bus from Gaming, then caught a train to Vienna. The train ride was a little nerve wracking, as the first ticket machine refused to work. We were afraid to get onto our next train as we didn't have tickets but we thought it would have a ticket machine like the previous train, but it didn't, so we got ready to get off. Nathan got off, and went back to get a few girls from Franciscan that were traveling to Vienna as well. But at the urging of the conductor we jumped on the train without tickets and Nathan and the other girls. The conductor didn't realize we didn't have tickets until he came around with his ticket puncher. We explained the situation to him, and he was gracious enough to help us. Nathan called us and we decided to wait for him at the train station until he could catch the next train. So our plan was slightly readjusted, but still running smoothly.
Once we reached Vienna, we got Austrian fast-food from a franchise titled Snitzel Land. Snitzel is breaded chicken or pork.
We did homework until Nathan caught up with us, then we went on our way to the Central Cemetery, the largest cemetery in Vienna and the burial ground for some of the greatest composers that ever lived: namely, Beethoven, Brahms, Schubert, and Strauss. There is also a monument to Mozart, albeit he is not actually buried there. We had to walk quite a distance to get there (but we were being stubborn and not taking the metro to save money, and regretting it). We entered the cemetery by Entrance #1, when we wanted Entrance #2. But the man at the gate pointed us in the right direction. It turned out to be very neat as we wandered through the cemetery. I found a few graves with my family's names on them! A lot of the graves were very beautiful, with heartrending statues and Catholic images and symbols. The day was absolutely perfect for cemetery visiting as well. It was blustery and rather chilly, but not terribly cold. The trees were bare because of the winter, but there was no snow on the ground. Trees lined the paths which would go on forever and ever, like an eerie painting or movie. The sunlight came and went as the clouds blew across it. It felt like fall on All Hallows' Eve. It took a while, but we finally found the musicians part of the graveyard. It was so wonderful to stand amongst them! We took lots of pictures, and said a prayer for their souls and in thanksgiving for the beauty they had created for man's wonderment and God's glory.
The cemetery!
Some cool tomb stones
A lovely statue on one of the tomb stones
There may be a thousand princes, but there is only ONE Beethoven.
Mozart's Monument
Schubert!
Then it was off to find our hostel. The hostel was located in a gloomier part of the city, as was the cemetery - makes sense, I suppose.  We couldn't check in yet, though, so we meandered until we found a small but classy Cafe for dinner. There was a statue of the Madonna and Child above the bar, and they were playing a lot of 1940's and 50's music, like the song from Cars, "Life Could Be A Dream, Sweet Heart." We spent a good two and a half hours there. I got a pancake like dish with plum sauce, and a peach wine (it was a little under 10 euro altogether), and caught up on some journaling. The food was very good! But the peach wine at the Keller in Gaming is still my favorite.
We took our time going back to the hostel. We admired a few dress shops which displayed some lovely gowns and some very flashy tuxes in the windows. The hostel was definitely aimed at youth who want to break free and party, so it had a bit more of a darker feel than the family friendly hostel we stayed at in Salzburg. However, the staff was very friendly and spoke English. The rooms were clean, too. We got a free drink at the bar with our room, so once we settled in we went down to get a drink, then we settled down to read Locke, read Philosophy of the Human Person, or study German - that was me. It was an early bedtime though, as we would have to wake up early for Mass... with the Vienna Boys Choir!
We left the hostel bright and early a little before seven, and took the underground to the center of Old Vienna, back to familiar territory from our previous visit. We wandered the streets looking for a pastry shop or somewhere cheap to grab breakfast. All we could find though was a McDonald's, so a parfait and potatoes served as our breakfast.
The Hapsburg palace, bright and early in the morning!
We found the church where the Boys Choir sang - the church had been pointed to us on our tour of Vienna during our day trip. We were the first in line, so we waited for about an hour watching the little boys hurrying in for rehearsal. They all had matching navy blue coats and sailor hats and sailor suits! So cute! We also perused the schedule for the various Masses they would be singing over the next few weeks. Hassler's Missa Secunda was on the list - Elizabeth and I remembered that one very well! Yay Schola! We got seats for 5 euro. We were directed to a box like room - it felt almost like a theater. But if one went up to the edge of the "box" you could see down below the altar and the really expensive seats. There was a mirror so I could sort of see the Choir Loft where the boys and the orchestra and the organ were located. The "box" was also equipped with a TV monitor so you could watch the altar and/or the boys depending on which part of the Mass it was.
One of the Choir Boys. He's the one closest to the camera, by the woman in the bright blue coat.
The altar at the Vienna Boys Choir' Church
The schedule. If you find 5.2.2011, Joseph Haydn's Harmonie Messe, that's the one we attended!
The Mass itself was quite interesting - it was like a combination of the Extraordinary Form and the Ordinary Form. There was a group of men who chanted the Introit, the Gradual, the Offertory, and the Communion Antiphon. The Choir was performing Haydn's Harmonie Messe. There were only two readings, the Epistle and the Gospel, like in the Extraordinary Form, but the Mass was said mostly in German, save for the Liturgy of the Eucharist which was in Latin. The priest said Mass "ad orientum," facing the altar. It was a very beautiful Mass, and the chant and the singing was all very beautiful.  At the end of Mass, the organist played a Handel piece and the boys went downstairs into the sanctuary where they sang a version of the Ave Maria. I'm so glad we got to hear them, they sang like angels!
The main sanctuary of St. Stephen's
After Mass, we took our time wandering the streets of Vienna. We traced our steps back to St. Stephen's. As we were passing by, we could hear the organ sounding through the walls, which gave me this great image. St. Stephen's is meant to look like a forest on the inside, so I pictured the organ like this great majestic beast trumpeting its might through the forest. So we ran back in to hear the end of Mass. It was amazing!!!! The organist was doing some sort of improvisation on what sounded like the "Ite Missa est." When Mass was over we got to go up close to the sanctuary, which we hadn't been able to do during our day excursion. It was then we found out that there were two more organs. One was located on the side close to the sanctuary, built into the wall - which was why we had heard it through the wall. Then there was a small one on the other side further back from the sanctuary. That church has got to be one of my favorite ones so far. The sanctuary is absolutely gorgeous, and the way the sunlight was streaming in the windows, it was stunning!!! Purely mystical!!! Mozart got married in this church, actually.
The organ we heard through the walls of St. Stephen's. A glorious instrument!
The rest of the day was spent wandering through the city. We counted people with shiny puffy winter coats, sat in front of a natural history museum and washed little kids take pictures on a baby elephant statue in front of the museum, then we spent some time at a park, which was located in front of a butterfly museum (we couldn't go in b/c it was closing soon). Then we made our way to the opera house for the third major event of our trip: Puccini's La Boheme. La Boheme has become quite famous recently because it is the basis of the musical Rent. After reading the plot, I could see how the writer of Rent could have made so many changes to it, as it is a very basic plot. The sad part of it is that so much that was sweet and endearing about La Boheme was perverted in Rent. No, I have not seen Rent, but I have heard the plotline and the characters. Not a good musical in my opinion. But, back on topic.
The Opera House!
La Boheme!
We got standing room seats for 3 euro. (The opera house was cheaper than the Vienna Boys Choir. :-P) The music was very beautiful, of course, and the singers did a fabulous job, of course. The soprano who played Mimi had a gorgeous voice. She soared to these high notes so softly and with such grace! She had so much control and so much talent, it was wonderful to watch! I loved it when the arias would come begin that I was familiar with, especially Rodolfo's when he is telling Mimi about himself, and then Mimi's aria telling about herself. It was interesting though, as after each act the main characters would come out after the close of the curtain and bow, instead of waiting until the end. At the end, still, only the main characters came out, as opposed to including all of the extras. Furthermore, the audiences here don't do standing ovations. I guess they are so accustomed to good music that it's not a big deal to them when something is done well. It was interesting. But it was definitely worth the 3 euro plus the 4,80 I spent on the program.
The trip back went very smoothly, albeit we did get back late - around 2:15 am. But we were expecting that, so that made it a little easier. A wonderful first free weekend! This following weekend is also free, so I'm going hiking in the Alps tomorrow and then to Prague on Saturday! Pray for me!
A clock in a little trinket shop. Made me think of you, Eddie!
One of the parks in the museum area of Vienna

A cute elderly couple visiting a museum. We were sitting on the steps of  a science museum, so I was people watching.

The elephant statue

Some sisters getting Kebabs!
Mozart, yet again. He can't get enough of himself in this city!

Day #15: More Salzburg and Mondsee

Our last morning in Salzburg, we attempted to go to a Mozart Vespers Service, but it ended up being a Mozart Mass, or Vespers selections in the context of Mass? I don't know. It was beautiful music though. We could only stay for part of the Mass though as we had to book it to get to the Cathedral for the Mass the school was attending. The Mass at the Salzburg Cathedral was also gorgeous, and also featured a Mozart orchestral Mass. I think it was in C Major (Joey Walsh thought it was no. 11, I'm not sure where he got that number). The Credo had a Circle of Fifths progression... 
*note-to-self: Must look up Mozart orchestral Masses in C Major...
The organ was absolutely gorgeous, and it was wonderful to hear Professor Metzger play that huge instrument in the choir loft. His chorale preludes were fun to listen to as well. After the Mass it looked like a tour group was going to have a private Mass. There was an organist and a clarinet player (or oboe, I forget which) that ascended the organ loft on the left (see the above photo), and started to play this beautiful, modern, ethereal sounding piece. Salzburg is just full of beautiful music and experiences! I wonder what would happen if you just sat in the cathedral for a Sunday afternoon what sort of music you would hear!




After Mass we climbed onto the buses to return home to Gaming, but not without making a stop at a small town called Mondsee. We had lunch, which included an apple strudel!

 
After lunch we were given an hour to explore the city. The city featured a lake and a beautiful church dedicated to St. Michael, which was where they filmed the altar for the wedding ceremony in The Sound of Music! The cloister part of the movie was built in Hollywood, but the altar is featured in the movie. It was a beautiful church, with lots of gold, black, and pink, which I thought gave it a bit of a Spanish feel. There were so many side altars! My favorite one is featured below. It was towards the left of the Church, with a painting of the Holy Face on the altar, and a painting of the scourged Christ. There was a bouquet of roses before the image of the Christ. This altar was my favorite part of the Church. 



I wish I could have seen the lake, too, but I was glad to spend most of my time in the church. There's so much to see and so little time! It's not fair. :-( The trip back was long and tiring. It was good to be back home away from home in Gaming.

Thursday, February 3, 2011

Day #14: Munich

I did end up going to Munich last Saturday, though I did not like it as well as Salzburg. Mass was at the Frauenkirche, The Church of the Blessed Virgin. Fr. Brad got to wear papal vestments kept at the church for the Pope when he visits. After Mass we got to look around the Church. It had been damaged during World War II during the bombing, but it was rebuilt, not restored. Which means that the new windows were in a modern style. I would have liked to see it with the original altar and the original design. There was a relic of Pope Pius X, author of "On Sacred Music," Tra Le Sollecitudini. He was an amazing man! 
Next we went on a tour around the city. We saw the Glockenspiel, this huge fancy clock with figures that move when the clock strikes. At the end of their little act there's a little golden bird that flaps its wings - that is Fr. Brad's favorite part. He wanted us to cheer when it happened. We also saw the Church of St. Peter's and the Church of St. Michael's. St. Michael's contained a few relics from St.s Cosmos and Damian. This church was the center of the Counter Reformation, and thus was home to the Jesuits. It was a beautiful church! St. Peter's was built similar to the St. John Lateran Church in Rome, as in it had the twelve Apostles lined along the sides, each holding the instrument by which they were martyred (save for St. John, of course).The Church also contained the remains of an early Christian martyr, a virgin saint who supposedly is the patron of young girls seeking husbands. Elizabeth, Christopher, Brandon, and I climbed the tower of St. Peter's for 1 euro to get an amazing view of the city! It was quite a climb, but the structure was well stabilized - much better than the last bell tower I climbed. :-P
After returning to solid ground we grabbed lunch and went to the Deutsches Museum, the largest museum of science and technology in the world. They had a neat ship exhibit and a couple exhibits on musical instruments - they had one with a whole bunch of organs, and there was a lady there playing one of them. I also saw an exhibit on ceramics, in honor of my mom. Most of the descriptions were in German though, so I couldn't read as much about them as I would have liked.
On the way back to Munich Brian sat next to me and we had a theological discussion on veils (and not just the ones girls wear), more like veils in Scripture and in the Church today. When I returned to the hotel I watched part of Master and Commander in German and part of an opera they had live on TV. I love Master and Commander, sooooo classy! They play Mozart, too. ;-)