March 25, 2012
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Saint Peter’s Abbey and Cemetery
The guide book for Salzburg put it well, “In most cities in Europe, this would be the highlight of the ecclesiastical tour. But with Salzburg Cathedral almost next door, this takes second place.” Yes, they were right! It was lovely, but it was not as gorgeous as Salzburg Cathedral. I did feel like it was more of a “working church.” By that I mean it felt like people went there and worshiped God and had Sunday school and all that. Even though it was beautiful, it wasn’t unapproachable.
The church was founded in 646, but this building wasn’t build until 1147. (newbie.)
When our tour of the church was done, I was excited to tour the cemetery and the catacombs. They have excavated old Christian burial sites, which is supposedly unusual for Austria. But guess what? THEY WERE CLOSED!
So, we wandered the cemetery, which was interesting in itself. It wasn’t some abandoned place. There were people buried there as recently as a few months ago.
The cemetery was lined with family crypts as well.
I wasn’t sure if I liked this quote or thought it silly. What do you think?
A great mystery revealed itself to me while we were there. My neighbors in the apartment building have this on their door instead of a name:
I thought maybe it was some sort of chemical equation joke or something. Then, I saw these chalked on doors around the abbey. Hmmm….
Then I remembered my sister-in-law telling me about a blessing by a priest and how it was chalked on the doorframe. So, I went to Google and looked it up. Indeed, it IS a blessing! The first and last numbers are the year, so the two pictures above are from 2012. If it were 19C…B99, it would have been from 1999. The letters in the center are the initials of the Magi and the first letters of the Latin words of Christ mansionem benedicat (Christ bless this house). The things I thought were plus signs are crosses. The blessings are supposed to be written in chalk (sorry neighbors with the sticker) to show that Jesus has accepted our earthly selves (since chalk is made from earth).
Now, what other mysteries can I solve? I hear they are looking for Amelia Earhart again.
