Kolossal Klosterfest
A trip to Klosterneuberg with Father Ambrose the Augustinian Canon
While today was our day traveling to Klosterneuburg and learning about the order of Augustinian Canons, it began at the Karl-Marx-Hof, the largest public housing structure in Europe. It encompasses houses, restaurants, schools, stores, and everything else people need to ensure their basic needs are met. When Austria was controlled by the Nazis they tried to shut down the Karl-Marx-Hof and change its name because many immigrants lived here and, obviously, they despised immigrants and Karl Marx. After Austria's liberation, the Karl-Marx-Hof was restored and still exists as part of what makes Vienna the most livable city in the world. I've certainly noticed its effects while walking around as I've seen almost no homeless people since I got here, something that could never happen in a hypercapitalist country like the United States.
When we left the Karl-Marx-Hof, we began our journey to Klosterneuburg. According to the monastery's foundation myth, Leopold III Babenberg, later St. Leopold, was getting married to his wife Agnes in 1103 when her wedding veil blew away in the wind. This was viewed as bad luck but, luckily, their marriage was happy and they had several children. Years later, in 1114, Leopold was out hunting and stumbled across the veil, untouched and whole, in an elderberry tree. That day he declared that a monastery had to be built with its center at the spot of the elderberry tree since this was clearly a sign from God. This location was remarkably well defended, had access to water, and was high up to view potential invaders which is sooo convenient so thanks God I'm absolutely sure that the veil was found right there and that the multiple strategic reasons to place a monastery there have nothing to do with Klosterneuburg's construction.
When the region the Holy Roman Empire controlled began really advancing, Klosterneuburg served the same executive function for the Holy Roman Empire as Westminster Abbey did for the British Empire.
The star of our show for the day was Father Ambrose, an Augustinian Canon and Catholic Priest who we spent most of the day with and learned some of his more...controversial opinions. Before we get to those though, let me walk you through my first impression of him.
You hear Augustinian Canon in Austria and probably picture a man in his 80s who speaks no English and has a beard that goes down to the floor. Father Ambrose is none of those things. He was born on the East Coast in the US, he's got a strong WASPy accent (which is kinda funny seeing as he very much does not fit the description of White Anglo Saxon PROTESTANT) , he's pretty young all things considered, and he really loved making corny, sarcastic jokes. In the main church at Klosterneuburg, Father Ambrose told us a little bit about the order of St. Augustine and the church's foundation myth, which he insisted be called a legend instead as myth implies falsehood.
After that, he took us to one of the coolest things I've gotten to see on this trip: the Verdun Altar. I'm going to be completely honest, I did not know anything about this prior to seeing it with my own eyes but after learning about it from Father Ambrose, I couldn't believe that I got to be this close to it. Behind a gate was this beautiful gold and copper three-panel altar.
Made in 1181 by Nicholas of Verdun, the Verdun Altar in the Chapel of St. Leopold is normally locked up and unable to be viewed up close where visitors can admire its beautiful details. Over the three panels are 51 gilded copper plates that tell the story of Jesus's life as well as the stories of Noah and David.
This panel shows sinners burning in the pits of hell. Judas, who is typically associated with Jews, is at the top holding a bag of money. This is because money lending was considered a sin by 12th century Catholics and, thus, those who did not have to worry about committing Catholic sins (i.e. non-Catholics) were the only ones who could do the job. All 12 disciples and Jesus himself were Jewish, but Judas is the only one typically portrayed in the clothes and with the symbols of Jews because of his role as a traitor. By showing only Judas as a Jew and not Jesus or the other Apostles, the Verdun Altar portrays the antisemitism of the time period. If the only person depicted accurately as a Jew is a traitor who sold his best friend out for money, the piece paints a certain very negative picture of the Jewish community that really doesn't represent them as a whole and is deeply rooted in antisemitism.
After leaving the Verdun Altar behind, we went through the rest of the Chapel of St. Leopold and saw a lot of other artifacts, including a candelabra from 1114 when the monastery was founded. Emerging from the chapel into the palace that attaches to the monastery allowed us to see some incredibly fascinating artifacts from the reign of the Habsburgs.
This throne, beneath a beautiful bed canopy, belonged to King Charles VI, the last male leader in the Habsburg line. Oddly, though, Charles VI did not live at the palace at Klosterneuburg much. Ove the many years he was Emperor, he spent just 1 night at this palace, saying the rooms were too small and not befitting a man of his standing. That's how I know I'm humble, even with the small rooms, I feel like I could live there just fine.
After Charles VI's death, his daughter, Empress Maria Theresia far preferred living at the beautiful Schonbrunn Palace and halted construction on Kloesterneuburg. Just as construction was halted by Maria Theresia, our tour was halted by Father Ambrose who took us outside the monastery to answer any questions we had about his life as a Canon. Remember those controversial opinions I was talking about before? Yeah...
When asked about whether women should be priests, Father Ambrose gave a vehement no. He says that being a priest means letting Christ speak through you and thus, only men were built for that. He believes that Pope Francis has gone in the right direction on a lot of things but may be too liberal on his reforms to the Catholic Church. He also thinks that being gay is not a choice someone can make but, if someone recognizes it as a sin and wants help, he's not going to judge them and will help them figure that out. While discussing this, he also forgot most of the letters in LGBTQ and seemed to skirt the topic of trans people all together. I admit these were hardball questions but it's not like he didn't think we'd be asking them.
After our tour, we got to relax in a far more modern heuriger than Weinhof Zimmerman. There, Father Ambrose bought us wine, ate with us, talked mainly to the male members of our group, and ended the night smoking a cigarette outside his car while he scrolled on his phone. I guess the Lord is fine with that for him. My night ended in a more fun way as my friends and I enjoyed more wine and wandered through the beautiful streets of Klosterneuburg before finally returning back to Vienna.
