The Cistercian monks entered the Brandenburg monastery on Monday - the celebration of the Latin liturgy of the hours and the daily Mass has begun - VIDEOS
Neuzelle (kath.net/pl) The monastery Neuzelle in Brandenburg has been resettled. The first four Cistercian monks from the Heiligenkreuz monastery moved in on Monday. They will live first in the Catholic parsonage on the abbey grounds. Görlitz Bishop Wolfgang Ipolt greeted the religious and said in a speech: "A monk is there to remember God." About 100 people had gathered to greet the new arrivals, children gave flowers to the monks. The four religious men have already begun the regular celebration of the liturgy of the hour. Mass in Latin language.
The Heiligenkreuz Abbot Maximilian Heim had given the four "pioneers" the blessing for the journey and the beginning of the resettlement project. Father Simeon will be prior to the small community, Father Kilian will take care of the economic concerns of the monastery and do pastoral work, Father Philemon will be employed as a teacher in the local schools, and Father Aloysius will provide for the household and sacristy. The Heiligenkreuz penitentiary writes in a press release: "For us, it is difficult to let four confreres move, but at the same time it is a joy and a hopeful sign, which in our time a monastery is re-populated and a spiritual center is revived. If everything goes well, more monks will be sent to Neuzelle in the coming months, and - according to God's will - the "Priory Neuzelle" will be solemnly and officially erected in September 2018."
The monastery was founded by the Cistercians in the 13th century and secularized in 1817 and is now owned by the state of Brandenburg. The monastery complex is considered to be the northernmost example of South German and Bohemian baroque in Europe; it is largely preserved. The former convent church had remained catholic in an environment which had turned to Protestantism.
Trans: Tancred vekron99@hotmail.com
