Members and friends of the Vienna English Speaking Community came out in full force last Sunday, December 12, to bring some Yuletide cheer to the children of Cara Fey Kinderheim, a home for especially-disadvantaged children. The group donned on red shirts and Christmas bonnets and sang Christmas carols in English and in German.
The carolling project has been a yearly activity of the VESCC community, led by Carmen Camarata, a long-standing community member. It is an event that the children of Kinder Fey look forward to each Christmas, particularly since a hearty snack always follow the performance. For the participating community members, it is a worthwhile and meaningful event that allows the community to spread the spirit of Christmas to those less fortunate.
More pictures are available at this link.
Since November 2005, VESCC has had an organized devotion to Our Lady of Guadalupe. The image of Our Lady, called retablo, is transferred at an appointed time from one family to another. Four images are now circulating among families and individuals within the community every three days or every week to promote the praying of the rosary. Images have also been given to the Philippines, Nicaragua and Haiti.
Those interested in receiving the image of Our Lady of Guadalupe and praying the rosary as a family or group of friends, please contact Efren of Jane Abaya.
Registration for the VESCC Religious Education Program for 2010-2011 is now going on. We encourage parents wanting to enroll their children for religious education in English, especially in preparation for receiving First Holy Communion or Confirmation to register them as soon as possible.
You can download and print the registration form here [in pdf format]. Or you can also contact Beth Babroski, the Religious Education Coordinator at vesccreliged@gmail.com.
Classes available include:
- From age 5 up through confirmation class;
- Classes to prepare for the sacraments of First Holy Communion and Reconciliation, as well as Confrimation;
- Post-Confirmation Teen Activity Group (meets once a month); and
- Adult cathechesis (taking place at the same time as the children’s)
Schedule for 2010-2011:
Religious education will be held during the following Sundays immediately after the 10 o’clock Mass (starts promptly):
- September 12 and 19
- October 3 and 17
- November 7 and 21
- December 5 and 12
- January 16 and 23
- February 6 and 27
- March 13 and 20
- April 3 and 10
- May 8 and 15
First Holy Communion: May 8, 2010
Confirmation: May 22, 2010 (tentative schedule)
We need and welcome volunteers as catechists, assistant catechists and organizers of the adult catechesis program.
Members of the VESCC community turned out in large numbers to vote for 4 new members to the parish council. The votes have already been counted and the results will be announced soon. Below are some of the pictures of the election and the community picnic.
“Show us Christ” was the theme of Pope Benedict’s visit to Austria in September 2007. When we pray the Rosary we ask our Blessed Mother to do just that, to give us a deeper insight into the mysteries of Christ, and to open for us a greater participation in these mysteries.
Our Vienna English-Speaking Catholic Community has a tradition of devotion to Our Blessed Lady. We try to support and encourage one another in our appreciation and understanding of the Rosary as a special way of prayer. Especially since the Pope’s visit, and in the Jubilee Year of Our Lady of Lourdes, we thought it would be helpful if someone in the Community could produce some sort of booklet – both practical and inspirational – to help those who wish to learn to pray the rosary more intensely. Our Lady herself asked Saint Bernadette to pray the Rosary and has asked us all to do so in her many apparitions throughout the world. All the recent Popes have written and spoken about this very special devotion and encouraged us to pray it as individuals, families and communities.
Time: 08:45-09:45 (promptly)
Location: Coffee Hall, Mexikoplatz 12
All are welcome.
Guest Speaker: Father Albert Steinvorth, Member of the Prelature of Opus Dei
Summary: Saint Josemaria told students: “God awaits you in your studies”, and to the husbands and wives, he said: “Your path to Heaven bears the name of your husband or your wife.” This is the universal call to holiness its essence: everyone — no one excluded — in living the great and small challenges of every day with love for God, can reach that fullness of communion with the Lord, which is Holiness
Biography: Father Albert Steinvorth was born in Costa Rica. He has studied industrial engineering in Berlin and worked in Costa Rica and Guatemala. He studied theology in Guatemala, Rome, and Spain and was ordained in Rome by Pope John Paul II. Father Albert has done pastoral work in Germany, in the Holy Land, and in Austria. At present he is a University Chaplain in Vienna and performs pastoral activities in St. Peters Church in Vienna.
Nine young children from the VESCC community received their First Communion on Sunday, 26 April at the St. Francis of Assisi Church in Vienna, Austria. Fr. Kevin Soars presided over the solemn ceremonies in the presence of community members, and friends, relatives and guests of the children’s families.
A photo gallery of selected pictures is available on this site.
Sunday masses for the Vienna English Speaking Catholic Community (VESCC) are held 12 noon in the St. Francis of Assisi Church at Mexikoplatz, in Vienna’s 2nd district.
The St. Francis of Assisi Church in Mexikoplatz is the imposing church at the foot of the Reichsbrücke. It is easy to get to – just around the corner from the Vorgartenstrasse stop along the U1 underground line.
If you’re driving from the city centre, take the Lasalle Strasse leading to Reichsbrücke. Turn right at Vorgartenstrasse (just before reachng the bridge) and then another right to get to Mexikoplatz.
Alternatively you can also take the Handelskai street. The church will be at your left just after reaching the Reichsbrücke exit. There is ample street parking around the church and Mexikoplatz itself.
To see the map in detail, please click here.
