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Author Archives: Martina Patzl

For the birthday of Mother Mary

Good morning on such a nice sunny day šŸ™‚

186 years ago Mother Maria was born. A long time and yet her life radiates charism to this day – and still influences us.
She was a strong woman, who steadfastly seeked her way. That was certainly not easy for her at that time. She broke some conventions in her search for the right place in life. The repeated joining and leaving of several religious congregations were very courageous steps – facing the gossips of the people in the area was certainly not an easy way for her. And in a similar way also for her family, who also had to endure this chatter. Nevertheless, she was supported by them in her search, and they gave her strength and security.
For me, she is a role model for the unwavering quest to find the right path through life and not to worry too much about the gossip of others. Reflection and confirmation I receive in the conversation with God and our Salvatorian community, in which her work is still noticeable. It is our Salvatorian community that supports me and gives me the strength to seek and find my way. I hope you can experience this as well. Each of our paths is unique and different – but together we go into the same direction. In openness and tolerance for our different ways, we assist each other to make the love of God sensible for others.

Happy Birthday, dear Mother Mary!

CDS-Austria: Day of contemplation 2017

On Saturday December, 2 the groups of the Austrian Lay Salvatorians had their annual day of contemplation at the Salvatorian Sisterā€˜s Province house in Vienna. The topic of the day was guided by the Father Jordan memorial year and turned around the question: the beatification of Fr. Jordan ā€“ what are the important things in his life for me?

In a small preparation at home in advance, each participant was invited to find some short lines, sentences, and keywords about his/her individual access to Fr. Jordan and the process of beatification. At the beginning session, each one had 3 minutes to present his/her thoughts. Afterwards, we filtered out the words or terms which were mentioned repeatedly and wrote them on a flipchart. With that, we went into small groups for more intensive discussion and exchange of thoughts.

Some sections of “minutes of quietness and prayer” as well as common sharing the food each one brought had brought with him, made up a spiritual day for body and soul with reach deepness and manifold meetings.

Thanks to the Lord for this wonderful experience.

Pilgrimage of the Austrian Laysalvatorians

img1_1024_x_768On Saturday 19 September 2016 the Laysalvatorians of Austria went for a pilgrimage with the motto ā€œLaudato Siā€ according to the Encyclica of Pope Francis. Additionally, he recently incorporated the integrity of creation as the 8th work of mercy and proclaimed Sept 1 as the Creationā€™s World Day of prayer.

Together we went by train to a village located at the Danube River somewhere north-west of Vienna, our starting point. In front of the local church (unfortunately it was closed) we held the initial spiritual momentum with some statements from the encyclica and a song. Then we started our walk into the Wienerwald towards the destination of our pilgrimage, the Lourdes Cave of Maria Gugging. The first part of our path was steep up a hill through the wood but afterwards the path went over fields and through forested areas sometimes uphill sometimes downhill but not as steep as at the beginning. We made two stops for contemplation on the way. The final prayer we held at the LourdesĀ  Cave. There our personal concerns and requests were offered to the Lord and Mother Mary in quietness and prayer. A public bus brought us back to the meeting point of the morning. It was a good day with many interesting interchanges of ideas, common prayer and lived Salvatorian community.

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European Laysalvatorian meeting – June 2013

DSC_0138_(1024_x_768)It was one of the first beautiful early summer days after a long period of cold and rainy weather as a group of Laysalvatorians from 6 European countries met in Vienna. The meeting took place in a hotel located amongst the well wooded surrounding of Vienna. Not only these great conditions but also the good mood of the participants gave a kind and cordial atmosphere from the very beginning. Although the persons of different nations Continue Reading