Saturday, August 28
Back to Klosterneuburg! This time for the feast day of St. Augustine. The monastery once again offered a memorable once in a life time experience. We traveled back to attend the vow renewal of the cannons, which involved three of the Americans we had meant from our first time at Klosterneuburg. We arrived early in the day so we could get a good seat because we were told it would quickly become crowded. We were successful, but Martha and I ended up standing in the back to make room for the older members of the congregation. The two hour Mass began with the procession of the cannons led by six young men in historic military dress. The church was almost overflowing with many of the congregants standing in the back. It was interesting to so many of the locals turn out for the feast day, many of them wearing traditional Austrian folk costumes. The beauty of the Baroque church was enhanced to its full glory with the music from a full orchestra and choir, of course accompanied by the organ. While I could not understand the service, as it was in Latin and German, I still enjoyed listening to all the beautiful prayers. I tried to follow along with the service as much as I could from my limited knowledge of Mass. Thankfully, Martha kept me in the loop. After Mass and the renewal of their vows, the cannons left the church in a procession and were led back to the monastery by the provost.
We were invited to attend the lunch reception after and we tried but it quickly became crowded. Instead we went to lunch at a small cafe, walked around the village, and returned home.
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