Next weekend we'll head back to the USA for a month to visit our families! We spent our final weekend of our first year here exploring parts of Austria we had not seen before!
Mondsee
Our first stop was the little town of Mondsee on one of the Salzkammergut lakes a little less than 2 hours from Gaming.
Fussen (Germany)
Tyrol
Fussen is just a few kilometers from the border with Austria. We drove south from Fussen into the region of Austria called Tyrol. The Tyrol is famous for its magnificent scenery. Our drive through the Alps and the countryside - with sleeping children in the car - was wonderful!
Seefeld
We were headed for Innsbruck when we saw the sign for Seefeld. The name sounded familiar to Brian - who correctly recalled that this town was the location of a Eucharistic Miracle!
On the night of Holy Thursday 1384, a knight named Oswald Milser attended Mass at the parish church in Seefeld. He was the guardian of a nearby castle - and was a man of great arrogance and pride. During Mass, he approached the high altar and demanded a large host for himself - the small host normally given to the congregation was too ordinary for him. Milser had his sword drawn and a band of intimidating armed men surrounding him as he made this demand. The frightened priest handed him the Host. As soon as Milser had the Host in his mouth, he sank into the ground up to knees. Pale with terror, he grasped the altar with both hands, leaving imprints that can still be seen. He begged the priest to remove the Host from his mouth. As soon as it was done, the ground became firm beneath him again. Some accounts say that live Blood began to flow from the Host. Milser rushed to the monastery, confessing and repenting his sin of arrogance. He spent the remaining two years of his life continuing to perform penance for his sacrilege. Shortly after the miracle, a knight (perhaps Milser himself) donated a silver monstrance in which to enshrine the Miraculous Host.
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| Parish Church of St. Oswald |
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On right side of the high altar you can see a black grate - it covers the hole in the ground where the knight sank.
The knight's handprints in the original stone altar can still be seen under the new altar built over it. |
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| Near the high altar, marble steps lead up to the Chapel of the Holy Blood, which contains a monstrance holding the Miraculous Host (which was in the tabernacle when we visited). On the ceiling is a fresco depicting the miraculous event. |
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| Enjoying ice cream on a walk in Seefeld (church steeple in the back). |
Innsbruck
Our final stop was Innsbruck, the capital city of Tyrol. Innsbruck hosted the 1964 and 1976 Winter Olympics. We stayed here two nights - meeting up with Brian's friend and his family who are currently stationed in Germany. We had a lovely weekend!
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| Old Town |
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| Goldenes Dachl |
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Hungerburgbahn funicular ride up the mountain
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| View of Innsbruck from half way up the mountain |
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| Continuing up the moutain |
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| Getting closer to the top - playground stop on the Nordkette mountain range |
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| Sheep! |
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Ellie posing in the "sheep spot"
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| One more cable car ride and we were at the top! |
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Great day for red pants!
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| The very top! |
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| Back down the mountain with a stop at the Alpine Zoo |
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| A moose |
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| Another moose?! |
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| Ellie & friends |
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| Great day at the mountain zoo! |
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Sunday morning - praying at Jesuitenkirche
"Mutter der Barmherzigkeit" (Mother of Mercy) statue
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Sunday morning Mass at Dom zu St. Jakob (Cathedral of St. James)
Maria Hilf painting (c. 1530) above the high altar - one of the most venerated Marian images
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Next stop: USA!
We have a loooong travel day this coming Saturday -- Gaming to Vienna to Paris to Minneapolis to Cedar Rapids -- please keep us in your prayers! Especially for our sanity with a 14-month-old lap child who doesn't like to sit still for more than 30 seconds ;) Thank you!!
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