- svd-prms
- / ECP
- / Mission Animation
Great Success for Open Doors in St. Gabriel
Mag. Ursula Mauritz
Under the motto ‘An old monastery village blossoms’, the ‘Open doors’ on Saturday, 5 April 2025, offered the opportunity to get to know the broad diversity of St. Gabriel in a single day. In spring-like weather, hundreds of people enjoyed a varied programme of culinary delights, guided tours, music and workshops. The Divine Word Missionaries, the GABRIUM event centre and more than 30 businesses opened the doors to the mission house, workshops, pubs, studios, shops, practice rooms and offices. A few years ago, the Central European Province transferred the site of the St Gabriel Mission House to its ‘property fund’, which has opened up the location for new uses.
The exhibition celebrating the 150th founding anniversary of the Society of the Divine Word was a particular attraction. Provincial Fr Christian Stranz SVD guided numerous visitors through the exhibition and provided insights into the history of the Society of the Divine Word , the significance of the St Gabriel Mission House for the SVD and the worldwide activities of Divine Missionaries in the present.
Together with the Rector of the Mission House, Fr Franz Pilz SVD, and the Director of the mission office, Fr Stephan Dähler SVD, he was delighted to welcome many long-standing supporters and companions of the Divine Word Missionaries. However, they were also particularly keen to talk to people who were hearing about the SVD for the first time.
The church tours with rector Fr Franz Pilz aroused great interest. The listeners were given information about the construction and artistic design of the church and were also made aware of many hidden details of the Holy Spirit Church. A large group joined Br Alois Kratzer SVD on a tour of the park, where there were rare old trees, many enchanted corners and the atmospheric pond to discover.
The Steyl Media Apostolate team led by Br Paul Haider invited visitors to get to know and purchase the monthly magazine “Leben jetzt” and the various calendars. The mission office provided information in presentations and with flyers and brochures about SVD-projects all over the world and about the possibility of supporting the social and pastoral work of the SVD with donations.
As part of the children’s rally, Br. Emanuel Huemer SVD told the children the story of Brother Bernhard and his workshop, where numerous beautiful mosaics were created for the church in St. Gabriel, and gave the girls and boys an exciting task: they were to look for a specific mosaic in the church, take a photo of it and then glue the motif in the right colours using small pieces of paper. The young visitors enthusiastically took part and were rewarded for their participation with a stamp for their collection pass.
At the end of the day, the Divine Word Missionaries and organiser Johann Sumersberger from the real estate fund gave a positive assessment of the Open doors. ‘We are delighted about the great interest in our programme, the many nice encounters and conversations and that our guests visibly felt at home in the ‘Lebenswelten St. Gabriel’!”
