Young Lenten cloths

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The embroidered Lenten cloth from Glantschach shows the 14 Stations of the Cross.

(Bild: Monika Suntinger Diözese Gurk)

Throughout Europe, most Lenten shrouds have been lost over the centuries, but in Carinthia they have not only been preserved, but are still hung in front of the altars during Lent. Artists, children and skilled women occasionally create new hunger cloths. 13 Carinthian altars are covered by embroidered Lenten cloths.

"Before Lenten shrouds were painted with motifs, there were embroidered ones," says Roland Stadler, head of the Department of Pastoral Care for Tourism in the Diocese of Gurk, who often works intensively with colleagues on hunger cloths. Cross-stitching for the cloths that cover the altars during Lent began to appear in Carinthia in the 1980s.