The Klosternueberg Experience

08/06/09

Today was by far the most fun that I’ve had since coming to Europe, and it certainly ranks as one of the coolest days that I have ever spent anywhere. It was of course our infamous trip the Klosternueberg, with the coolest Augustine Monk in the entire world; the one, the only, Father Clements of NY. When told that we would be touring with a monk I expected him to be very nice willing to show us around and tell us about the history of the Monastery, but with a thick Austrian accent and an extremely serious demeanor. Of course we know that this was not the case, and we were somehow graced with the coolest, most engaging, most interesting and interested man that I’ve ever had to pleasure to meet. I could not have been more surprised with myself; standing as close as possible at every stop to hear what he had to say about the monastery that he has called home for the last 11 years.

I have never been personally interested in religion on the whole, and even this tour did not necessarily make me incredibly interested in knowing more about all monasteries. But for whatever reason I felt as though I could listen to him talk about that place for as long as he could, and to that end I really hope to be a part of the return trip for a personal tour that would hopefully take us into the depths of the monastery. The most striking thing to me about Father Clements was his complete willingness to talk to us about any subject that we might ask about, whether it was personal or philosophical or just a general question that seemed like it might be slightly tedious. That coupled with his remarkable willingness to make value judgments about the level of importance and intrigue of the different attractions of the monastery made for by far the most entertaining tour I have been on.

The amount of wine that was consumed by our group after the tour was nothing short of legendary, and I’m proud that I was able to stay until the end and hear as much as I could about all of the difficult topics that came up over the course of the night. I would never presume to ask a canonized monk about subjects such as gay marriage, abortion, global politics, church politics, forgiveness; but all of those subjects were brought up during the course of the night. Every time something like this sprang up I always expected his face to darken somewhat, or a reluctance begin to show itself in some way, but every time he gave a thoughtful and accepting answer. He never wavered in his own beliefs, but was very willing and interested in discussing our thoughts and concerns about all of the subjects that have plagued the church’s reputation over the last quarter century or so.

I could continue to write about Father Clements (and I plan to write a narrative about the experience of the day), but there were of course other things that struck me about our day. I thought that the wine production of the monastery was very cool, but it brought up several interesting points about the nature of the changing market for wine and what that means for the monastery financially. It almost seems as though whenever both he and our winery tour guide spoke about the financial aspect of the wine production, they seemed a little defeated with the options that are available. The production seemed to be losing money, but I guess now that they have all of the equipment and capabilities they would just be losing more money if they decided to try to phase it out. I appreciate the history and amazing tradition that goes along with Klosternueberg wine production, but just like everybody else they have to deal with expenses and the realities of the way that the world is changing. Hopefully they will be able to continue without too many problems, I can attest first hand that their wine is excellent (as can most of the folks that remember the evening.