Meeting House

A warm welcome

House of Encounter Graz

I am delighted that you have called up the homepage of our house in Graz and extend my warmest greetings to you. I would now like to invite you to take a look around our centre of Benedictine spirituality, which is characterised by the traditional "pray and work". This house was founded by our Benedictine monastery in Admont in order to provide a meeting place for our community in the provincial capital.

Looking forward to this encounter

Abbot Gerhard Hafner O.S.B.

and the Benedictines of Admont

The house of encounter

The life and work of St. Benedict of Nursia were a fundamental contribution to the emergence of European civilisation and culture.

His main work is his Regula, according to which the monks of the Benedictine order organise their lives.

"St Benedict describes the 'Rule' as a 'simple rule as a beginning' (RB 73,8); in reality, however, it offers useful instructions not only for monks, but also for all those who seek guidance on their path to God. Through its moderation, its humanity and its sober distinction between the essential and the secondary in the spiritual life, it has been able to maintain its illuminating power to this day." (H.H. Pope Benedict XVI in the general audience of 9 April 2008)

On 6 October 2002, the Benedictine Abbey of Admont opened the "House of Encounter". By building the House of Encounter, the Benedictines of Admont decided to continue their school work and find a new form of service to others, especially in a time of changing pastoral circumstances, and in this way to enrich and promote spiritual life on university grounds - and beyond.

The House of Encounter invites you to experience faith in a lively community, to reflect on it with intellectual honesty and to deepen it by experiencing Benedictine spirituality and lifestyle in order to find an authentic and credible Christianity.

We seek to give students the space to develop skills for shaping their own lives beyond their studies and to strengthen their responsibility towards the world and all fellow human beings.

The "Haus der Begegnung" offers, among other things: