On their first Sunday in Vienna, the Oklahoma Christian University study abroad students attended a German high mass at Augustinerkirche Cathedral, a tradition that the study abroad program participates in at the start of each semester. While in the study abroad program, Oklahoma Christian students will participate in a number of outings to experience European culture.
Ashley Burklin, program director of the Oklahoma Christian study abroad program in Vienna, spoke about the benefit of students immersing themselves into local culture while studying in Vienna.
“We’re talking about integrating into culture and experiencing culture firsthand. So we like to bring students to mass. We bring them to a very historical Cathedral, which is where the Hapsburgs were all married. And they get to experience high mass there, they get to experience Catholic service, which for many students, is a new experience for them,” Burklin said.
High mass was celebrated fully in the German language, with performance throughout by professional orchestra and choir of “Mass No. 2 in G major” arranged by Austrian composer Franz Schubert (1797-1828).
Burklin said, “Mass in itself, there’s a lot of pageantry to it. There’s a lot of symbolism, and many of the reasons why that is, is because back in the Middle Ages, mass was always in Latin. The common people couldn’t speak Latin, so they had to find meaning and connect their faith in other things besides just the sermon, or the prayers.” Burklin said, “It’s also a unique opportunity, not just to experience culture and different sides of a faith practice, but also for the students to have a chance to kind of put themselves back in the Middle Ages of ‘how would I be experiencing my faith?’ And I think a lot of students will find that there’s a lot of meaning in mass and in the pageantry of it all, and in the symbols of it, in the incense that they smell, in the sounds that they’re hearing, in the pictures and the paintings and the architecture that they see.”
Students sat in the pews of the Cathedral that has been hosting Austrians and travellers since its founding in 1327.
Burklin said, “I think it’s really amazing when you think of the persistence of faith, and also the persistence of God coming down to His people and meeting with them, even when circumstances make it harder. So I think we take for granted how accessible the church is.” Burklin said, “In the United States there is a church almost on every corner, and it’s all in the language that you understand, that’s beautiful. There’s so many wonderful things about that. But I think it’s also really meaningful to think about the people back then in the Middle Ages, how God still cared for them and found ways to meet with them even when they didn’t have that kind of access.”
James Miller, a freshman majoring in family science and human development, is participating in the spring study abroad program.
On his experience abroad, Miller said:
“It’s been a lot of fun. I loved getting to experience this new culture and try the food, see the architecture, everything like that. I’m excited for the travel. We’ve kind of been in this one area of Vienna, we will branch out, so I think that would be really fun as well.”
On his experience at the Augustinerkirche Cathedral, Miller said:
“I thought the architecture was amazing and the beauty of the building, the voices of the choir and the organ was also beautiful. I do not speak German, and the mass was done in German, so it was harder to keep up with that. But [the mass was] still programmed and so I knew when they had read a specific verse by keeping track and when people were supposed to be singing because of that program. So I do think I gained some of it, but I don’t think I gained as much as a speaker of German would.”
This outing was the first of many excursions that Oklahoma Christian students will partake in during their time in Vienna. The spring study abroad program in Vienna began last week and will last until April 27.
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