"Thanks to the guardian angel!"

96-year-old collects the “Tachtel” in church

The "confirmation sponsors" Franz Hebenstreit, Johann Fellner, Deputy Chairman Martin Trimmel, Treasurer Anton Voithofer, Secretary Franz Fichtinger, Chairman Josef Fuchs, Johann Staudinger with the sprightly confirmand Robert Strasser (seated) in the church.

(Bild: Alois Thoma/ÖKB)

At a ripe old age, World War II veteran Robert Strasser got his cheekstick for the holy sacrament of confirmation. The sprightly pensioner was sponsored by his comrades from the local ÖKB association. You can read here why the confirmation is also a late thanks to his special guardian angel.

Towards the end of the Second World War, Robert Strasser from Kirnberg in the Melk district had to enlist. He was lying in a trench with a rifle on his thigh when he felt a powerful detonation nearby. He remained unharmed. However, when he later dared to come out of cover, he suddenly saw that a shrapnel was lodged in the stock of his rifle!

The confirmation took place during a regular mass. Almost the whole town was there. I was already excited, but perhaps it was also the Holy Spirit that I felt.

Der frisch gefirmte 96-jährige Robert Strasser

Almost a miracle again
Soon after the war, he was hit by an off-road vehicle on his bicycle. He was thrown off and the bike got stuck in a tree. "I always had a special guardian angel, maybe it was the Holy Spirit watching over me. With the confirmation, I also wanted to say thank you for the lifelong protection from above," says the sprightly 96-year-old, whose confirmation was somehow always forgotten in the turbulent old days.

Regulars' table as the trigger for the decision
And the missing sacrament did not play a role in the church wedding with his wife, who has since passed away. Strasser has now been a member of the Austrian Comradeship Association for 70 years. He once told the Kirnberg local branch in passing at the regulars' table that he had not yet been confirmed. "Chairman Josef Fuchs overheard this and when I mentioned it a second time later, the wonderful trap snapped shut," explains Strasser. That's how he got his blessed "Tachtel" at the age of 96

Cathedral provost Ernst Prucher (back left), priest Cornelius Tirkey, chairman Josef Fuchs (right) and deputy chairman Martin Trimmel with the newly confirmed Robert Strasser.

(Bild: Alois Thoma/ÖKB)

Cathedral provost: "Probably unique in Europe"
"It was a great need for Robert," says Fuchs. The confirmand was only informed one day before his confirmation: He received the sacrament at a mass in the Kirnberg church. "A confirmation like this is probably unique in Europe," says cathedral provost Ernst Prucher. The entire local association was the confirmation sponsor, and the "confirmation trip" will be to Horn in October for the 70th anniversary celebrations of the ÖKB regional association.