Merry Christmas

If you enter the monastery courtyard in the dark, you will see a star on the wall. It stands out in the darkness. If you step closer, you can see how fine branches and ivy try to cover the star. It is an image for Christmas, for our lives: The star is there, but worries, fears, question marks, illness and strife can try to obscure the star. It is up to us to make this star shine again and again and to perceive it. We have known this since Christmas: We are never alone. There is God, who became man like us and does not leave us alone. There are people like Mary and Joseph, who set out on the unknown sea of love in their life situation and trusted each other and God. There are shepherds who rush to the manger full of joy and spread this joy. There are inquisitive wise men who search and do not give up until they have found the star. And that is where hearts expand.

A star that has shone out in the dark night. A star that wants to shine in us and through us. The path to the manger is our life and we always need the ray of light from above and the ray of light in our encounters with other people who are there.

I hope that we all see the star shining again and again and that joy, strength and God’s blessing will accompany us through the festive season and the coming year 2026.
Abbot Christian