Preparing for Easter

Living in a catholic country means that the year is marked by religious holidays. This does not necessarily mean that the meaning behind these holidays is celebrated, but it does mean that traditions are carried on, stores are closed and the year becomes cyclical. This last week, the holiday we know in the US as Mardi Gras or Fat Tuesday (the day before Lent begins) was celebrated. Here, "Fasching" generally involves dressing up in costumes, having parties and celebrations, and eating candy. There are also carnivals and parades in some cities.

The benefit to living in Austria, where days like Fasching are hard to miss, is that it reminds me of the church calendar and seasons of preparation. In the States, I would often allow Ash Wednesday and the start of Lent to go by without noticing, but here I cannot forget. So this year, this reminder led me to finally download a lenten devotional I had been wanting to read for years and to start daily readings.

I am a big fan of Walter Wangerin's Christmas devotional book "Preparing for Jesus", so I was excited to start reading his lenten book "Reliving the Passion: Meditations on the Suffering, Death, and the Resurrection of Jesus as Recorded in Mark". Walt has a way of communicating creatively and whimsically about the story of the bible and when I read his thoughts, I am often transported into the world of the characters themselves. He helps me understand how the disciples were really feeling at the time of Jesus death and resurrection. So far, his devotions have been a blessing to me.

I'd like to share a quote from Saturday's reading that really struck me:

The disciples approached the Resurrection from their bereavement. For them the death was first, and the death was all. Easter, then, was an explosion of Newness, a marvelous splitting of heaven indeed. But for us, who return backward into the past, the Resurrection comes first, and through it we view death which is, therefore, less consuming, less horrible, even less real. We miss the disciples' terrible, wonderful preparation.

This was a new perspective for me, to really think about what it would have been like to see the man the disciples followed and served as a disciple for three years be brutally murdered on the cross. And did they really know or understand what was to come? They may have hoped for resurrection, but didn't expect it. They were down in the depths of anguish when Jesus returned and their world was turned upside down.

May we, too, allow ourselves during this season of Lent to truly ponder Christ's death. He suffered and died for us and it was terrible. He went to hell for us. As we also celebrate his return, may we also not forget what came before.

The Viennese and Death

Zentral Friedhof - Central Cemetery of Vienna

Yes, the title of this post is morbid. But in honor of Halloween, I thought it appropriate to write this post after attending a language school lecture with the same title. Halloween is hardly celebrated here, but there is still a focus on death this time of year due to this coming Friday's holiday "All Saints Day".

Here are a few interesting tidbits about the relationship between the people of Vienna and death:

• On "All Saints Day" (this Friday), all businesses will be closed so that Catholic families can visit the graves of dead loved ones, leaving flowers and lighting candles to remember them.
• Many Viennese these days are leaving the Catholic church (giving up their official membership) to avoid paying the mandatory church tax. However, many of them rejoin the church late in life so that when they die, they can have a "proper" Catholic funeral and appease their families
• Everyone here is automatically an organ donor when they die, unless they specifically ask not to be (the opposite of the American system)
• There were a few famous cases in Vienna's history (1800s and earlier) of someone being buried alive. Out of these came a fear of being buried alive. Still today, some Viennese have it written in their will to have a knife stabbed through their heart  before being buried, to ensure they are truly dead.
• For most Catholics, the funeral ceremony with the body takes place at the cemetery and then the church service (Requiem) takes place a few days later, after the body has already been buried. Therefore, the body is never actually in the church for the funeral (with the exception of very prominent or wealthy figures).
• It is illegal to bury a pet (or a person, for that matter) in your yard or garden when they die, because of sanitary reasons. Pets must be cremated or buried in a pet cemetery.
• Several centuries ago, all cemeteries in Vienna were next to the Catholic churches in the city. However, the bodies were contaminating the soil and water, so it was decided to move all graves to a central cemetery "far out of the city". Unfortunately, the city kept growing and soon this new cemetery location was right in the middle of bustling Vienna! So the bodies were moved again, further outside of Vienna, to the location known today as the "Central Cemetery".