Consecration in Salzburg

Secluded life as a nun and virgin

From the pharmacy to the convent: Sister Benedicta

(Bild: Berger Susi/Camera Suspicta / Susi Berger)

Sister Benedicta (37) decided years ago to live in a convent. She found a home at Nonnberg Abbey in Salzburg, the oldest women's monastery in Europe, where a religious order has been active throughout. Now the Upper Austrian is being ordained as a nun and perpetual virgin. 

When Sister Benedicta tells her story, she goes into great detail: She comes from a religious family in Linz, was a secondary school music student and then worked in a pharmacy. But she was already a seeker back then, says Doris Gruber, as she used to be called. She came into contact with the order of the Sisters of the Cross: "Back then, I saw that there was something other than the traditional path of marriage and family." She joined the order and worked in nursing.

But Sister Benedicta had not yet fully arrived: "I had a vocation experience for the monastic life. It pulled the rug out from under my feet," she says.

Today she lives in Nonnberg Abbey high above Salzburg's old town. New arrivals like her lower the average age in monasteries. 14 Benedictine nuns live at Nonnberg, the oldest is almost 90 years old.

Sister Benedicta in the monastery garden

(Bild: Berger Susi/Camera Suspicta / Susi Berger)

The convent gates usually remain closed. "We are connected to the world in prayer." There are seven prayer times a day. Work is done in between. "I'm responsible for the laundry," she says. The sisters rarely leave the convent. The exception is visits to the doctor. Doesn't that also restrict you? "I already felt a strong sense of inner peace after living here for the first time." The hustle and bustle in the city is now too loud. She prefers to enjoy the peace and quiet in the monastery garden.

New home in Europe's oldest monastery
Nonnberg Abbey is the oldest women's monastery in Europe with a continuously active religious community. It was also made famous by the world-famous film "The Sound of Music" about the singing Trapp family. Benedicta and her fellow sisters have already become accustomed to the tourists in front of the collegiate church. "Sometimes we have nice conversations." However, she does not see herself as a "sound-of-music sister". It also happens that fellow sisters don't even know the movie. "Then we have a movie night," laughs Sister Benedicta, who also wants to become active as an organist.

On Saturday, all eyes will be on her. During the festive week celebrating 400 years of Erentrudi's patron saint, she will bind herself to the order and celebrate her wedding to Jesus as a virgin. Everything is prepared, the church is carpeted and decorated. "A dream," she says.