The Stifstkirche St. Peter is adjacent to the Friedhof von St. Peter (the cemetery), and is the most luxurious church in Salzburg. It belonged to a Benedictine monastery, founded about 700. The �porch� has beautiful Romanesque vaulted arches from the original structure built in the 12th century, but the interior was decorated in the voluptuous late-Baroque style from the 1770�s. I don�t go inside the churches, but sit in the antechamber and wait while Lynda views the art, or sometimes I wait outside in good weather. It doesn�t matter most of the time where I wait as the churches are not heated. Lynda�s favorite church in Salzburg is the smaller Franziskaner Kirche, which she treasures partly for the red marble high altar, a baroque masterpiece, built by Fischer von Erlach, Austria�s most famous architect of the Baroque style. In addition, there is Michael Pacher�s Madonna from 1495, and the ancient frescoes painted against the rough grey pillars.
We delight in the massive old churches and cathedrals in Europe, and Lynda often goes to a Sunday service at the Franziskanerkirche, to hear the choir or organ music. Whether one is of a particular religious bent, baptized and raised Catholic, continues to attend church, or not attend (the latter folks having posted their share of questions to the religious �business� and its priests, bishops and cardinals, but still remain largely in the dark), attendance at the masses to hear the angelic music is undoubtedly a delight for the ears.
Lynda can�t be a bystander in the mass, the hymns are still in Latin and there are so many tugs to her childhood! The Kyrie, how pure, how penetrating, how many times she had sung that hymn in school, and in Latin in her school days! She sings again, certainly I do not think she can sing as good as the angelic choir. The priest, tone deaf, sings along and that sort of ruins the voices of the choir, but fortunately he doesn�t accompany all of the hymns. The service was in German, of course and not easy to follow. The marble and stone do not add warmth to the interior, and it is so cold in the church one can see the pastor�s breath. Everyone is bundled in winter coats and wool or felt hats, though we originally saw them as smart and fashionable, the hats are truly a necessity for warmth. One learns to wear long underwear to sit through the services, even in Spring! Nobody kneels very much except for the consecration, perhaps a modern day allowance for comfort? No longer do we voluntarily suffer for whatever reason. Unlike the posh modern day churches, the pews are short-seated, stiff-backed wooden contrivances, and the �kneelers� are nothing more than raised, bare wood platforms, all this designed in earlier times to ensure pain and discomfort in recognition for what? The pain and suffering of Christ? |
