In Part 2 I explained what a Stift is.  In order to understand any Stift, especially Stift Klosterneuburg, it is important to have a good understanding of what a Stift was and how they came to be.  In the German speaking world, many monasteries are termed “Stift”,  but very few are a Stift in the original and historic sense.

Klosterneuburg is truly a Stift in the historical and original meaning. The Stift was founded as collegiate church by the Margrave Leopold III (Babenberg) in 1114.  It was to be the largest in the land and a sign of his prestige and power.  In 1132, Leopold decreed that the Church would become a house of Augustinian Canons.   The Augustinian Canons were to build up a spiritual base within the area, in order to promote pastoral work in the spirit of ecclesiastical reform and to develop strongholds of lawful ecclesiastical authority.

Pope Innocent II granted Klosterneuburg papal overlordship on March 30th, 1134.  This freed the new community from outside interference. The new church was blessed on 29 September, 1136.  Shortly after this, Margrave Leopold died and was buried in a crypt beneath the chapter house, which quickly developed into a place of pilgrimage to the “Mild Margrave”, as he was already known in his lifetime. Centuries later the Margrave was canonized and declared a Saint.

Like other Stifts, Stift Klosternuburg was founded to provide a place for St. Leopold and his family to be buried, a religious center for the area, and an institution which would provide social and economic benefits to the local population, and which would initially govern the region.  In order to to provide the material means for this to happen, St. Leopold endowed Stift Klosterneuburg with the necessary economic means to fulfill his hopes.  In classic medieval fashion, Klosterneuburg possessed from its beginnings properties all over present day Lower Austria, as well as governance over the city of Klosterneuburg.  While the Stift no longer governs the city, the other endowments and obligations continue.

The life Stift Klostneuburg is still active and vibrant. The Stift pastors 25 parishes, which make Klosterneuburg akin to a small diocese. The Canons continue their obligations to its  founder, his family and the subsequent ruling family of Austria, the Habsburgs.  We continue to pray for the repose of their souls and of the countless others buried in  this sacred place.  Through the centuries there have been various centers of learning here at the Stift, from the early monastic school to the philosophical-theological faculty founded here to train students for the priesthood, and the school for choirboys which only passed from existence in the 1960’s.  Today, the Stift is involved in educational programs for street children in Europe and many other charitable endeavors.

Economically, the Stift continues to employ nearly 200 people in its various enterprises, encompassing forestry, household maintenance, wine production and sales, real estate, the abbey museum, and more recently tourism.  We continue to exercise a healthy ministry of hospitality to many guests, as well as pilgrims who come to venerate the relics of St. Leopold, the patron of Austria.

Without the financial security given to the Stift almost 900 years ago by St Leopold none of this would be possible.  The Stift has used his generous gift to feed the local community both spiritually and materially without having to rely on donations or offerings.  The Stift Klosterneuburg was given a task to offer God Praise and Adoration, to proclaim the Gospel, to serve God’s people, to provide for their care and to be good stewards of these gifts so that they may continue.

Near the entrance of the Church at Stift Klosterneuburg there is a book for visitors to write their prayer requests.  These requests are prayed for by the Canons.  During my first visit, I flipped through the book.  I saw requests written in many different languages from all around the world.  Some were simple. Some where for thanks. Some were for help. Some were for strength.  But, occasionally someone would write a comment like “Sell all the gold and feed the poor. Do what Jesus would do! – Jennifer from Canada”  This reminded me of a story from the gospels:

Now when Jesus was in Bethany in the house of Simon the leper, a woman came up to him with an alabaster jar of costly perfumed oil, and poured it on his head while he was reclining at table. When the disciples saw this, they were indignant and said, Why this waste? It could have been sold for much, and the money given to the poor. Since Jesus knew this, he said to them, Why do you make trouble for the woman? She has done a good thing for me. The poor you will always have with you; but you will not always have me. In pouring this perfumed oil upon my body, she did it to prepare me for burial. Amen, I say to you, wherever this gospel is proclaimed in the whole world, what she has done will be spoken of, in memory of her.
(Matthew 26:6-13)

Recently,  this comment came into mind again as I was reading Jesus of Nazareth by Pope Benedict.  The Devil tempted Christ by saying, “If you are the Son of God, tell these stones to become bread.” The desire for people to want to relieve the suffering of others is great.  But, the need to spread the Word is greater.  We must remember Jesus’ response: “Jesus answered, “It is written: ‘Man does not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.’”  It is true the Stift could be sold.  Its wealth could be used to feed the poor.  But, once that is done what do we do about the poor tomorrow?  St. Leopold endowed the Stift with great wealth.  He did this like Mary poring perfumed oil on Christ.  The sweet smell of his offering is still among us 900 years later.  Through the works of Stift Klosterneuburg the Gospel is proclaimed, not just in word but also deed.

What is a Stift?. Most people familiar with German will think of a pen or pencil.  The word “der Stift” can mean pen or pencil.  But, the Stift I am talking about is “das Stift”.  If you look this word up in an English/German dictionary, it will probably read “monastery”.  If you were to look it up in a German Dictionary (Wörterbuch) you will find a definition like this:

Stift² das-[e]s/e: auf eine Stiftung zurückgehendes größeres Kloster.

This means: a large monastery that goes back to a charitable gift. In English we lack a word or concept that accurately conveys what a Stift is.  500 years ago an overly amorous English King made sure that they no longer existed in the English speaking world.

Common images of religious and monks are Friar Tuck, Sister Theresa, poverty, sandals, men in orange sheets, etc…  Most Americans view religious life as one of poverty and serving a disadvantage group of people.  They think anything the monastery needs is provided by the generosity of the faithful.  This idea comes from the time that our country was being founded and from the large presence of missionaries in the United States.  This view is also heavily influenced by the 19th Century Romantic Movement which envisions religious life in a rather different way than its much earlier predecessor. But, this idea is actually fairly new in the history of the Church.

Stifts are really only found in the “Old Orders”,  the ones from before the mendicant orders (e.g., Franciscans, Dominicans, Carmelites) . These “Old Orders” are the monastic orders which had a vow of stability to one monastery: those monasteries following Benedict’s rule, as well as the canons regular.  When bishops, nobility and royalty founded monasteries, they came to understand the necessity of endowing them with the ability to survive in an uncertain world.

Poverty was one of the greatest factors in the decline of a monastery. Poverty creates a sense of insecurity about the future.  It becomes difficult for a community to take on new novices, since they may be unable to support them.  Buildings are not able to be repaired. In order to support the community, some members might need to go out of the community to take a position at a distant church or chapel.  Many communities became controlled by wealthy, unscrupulous laymen who used them to their own ends and as pawns in the struggle between Church and temporal powers. All this was destructive to the community’s spiritual life and discipline.

By the 11th Century,  the Church and the temporal powers had learned what can happen to an insufficiently endowed communities of monks, canons and nuns. They started to give monasteries land and some wealth to provide support without the need of donations. There were many reasons why the benefactor would do this.  It was considered a Win-Win situation.  The benefactor got a sacred place for his own burial and for his family. He would be assured that the praise of God and the sacraments would be continually offered for the repose of their souls.  We live in a very secular age so it might seem a bit strange; however, back then this was a big deal.

If you weren’t the benefactor, then you probably would not care about where he was buried.  So, the Stift would be able to provide countless benefits for the area.  The monastery would be a spiritual, cultural and educational center for the area. There would be beneficial social impact with its charitable works as well as its  role as employer.  Every monastery was meant to be self-sufficient, which meant that every community had a host of religious and laypeople working in all the many workrooms and shops of the abbey, not to mention the many laypeople who worked the outlying farms.   The monastic communities frequently exercised a governing role over the local populace.  In the end one of the most important benefits would be their permanence; these communities were built and endowed to last, and most of them did so for several centuries.

So where did all of these Stifts go?  Well, where do think they went?  A group of monks that had enough land and money to support themselves and the local community for an endless amount of time? They were destroyed by the wars of Europe and the constant changes in temporal power.  Their lands were seized and secularized.  Their art and treasures were stolen. For many of the Stifts there are only traces of their existence left. Once gone an endowed monastery can not be revived as they had been before.  Instead, new forms of religious and monastic life were introduced into the areas which religious life had been destroyed.  But, some of these Monasteries were able to survive in Austria and Switzerland, where secularization spared a few communities.

The history lesson is over for today.  I hope that this post gives you some understanding of what a Stift was.  The next installment will be about Stift Klosterneuburg.

The answer to the question is simply “I am moving to Austria to join the Canons Regular of St. Augustine.”  But, this rarely answers anyone’s question.  It just creates more questions.  They normally arrive in this order:

• You are moving away from San Diego?  Why would anyone do that?
• Have you visited them before?
• When you were there did you see kangaroos?
• What is the Canons Regular of whatever?
• Are they Catholic?
• Are you going to be a monk?
• Don’t you like people?
• I thought you had a good job, why are you giving it up in this economy?
• Will you be a priest?
• and the list goes on and on.

I thought it might be easier if I just write a few posts explaining what I am doing. To make this easier I am going to break this down in to parts.  Part one is going to deal with where I am going.

• Kangaroos

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The first question I need to answer is the question about kangaroos.   When I first went to visit the Stift. People asked me to take pictures of Kangaroos and Koalas.  They also had requests like “Bring me back some beach sand”, “Bring me back some coral”, or “Throw a shrimp on the barbie, mate”.  I wish I was making this up.  But, I am not.

So, I am sorry to disappoint you all, but …

For the geographically challenged, Austria is a landlocked country on the eastern edge of Central Europe.  Australia is a country that is its own continent in the southern hemisphere.  For the visually inclined, here is a picture:

Now that I have dispensed with the truly important question.

• Where is klosterneuburg?

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I am going to Klosterneuburg, Austria.  Here is a brief explanation

of Klosterneuburg that I got from the web.

Klosterneuburg is a city in Lower Austria, 5 1/2 m. N.W. of Vienna with a population of 24,442. It is situated on the right bank of the Danube, immediately north of Vienna. From 1938 to 1954, it constituted the 26th district of Vienna. Today, it is a site of industry and a suburb of Vienna. The city is tightly linked to Vienna and houses some of the most affluent citizens of Lower Austria.

The Klosterneuburg Monastery, the existence of which was first documented in 1108 and soon after was given to the Augustinians, is of particular historical importance. On a hill rising directly from the banks of the Danube stand the magnificent buildings (erected 1730-1834) of the Augustine canonry. This order “die Chorherren” is one of the oldest and richest of its kind; it owns much of the land upon which the north-western suburbs of Vienna stand. Among the points of interest within it are the old chapel of 1318, with Leopold’s tomb and the Verdun Altar, dating from the 12th century, the treasury and relic-chamber, the library with 30,000 volumes and many Manuscripts, the picture gallery, the collection of coins, the theological hall, and the winecellar, containing an immense tun like that at Heidelberg.

Here is a map to help you find it.

• To Be continued …

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Part Two will talk about what a Stift is.  In the meantime, here is an aerial photo of the Stift.