With sadness, but trusting in the God of life, the community the Benedictine monastery Melk announces that

Fr. Hubert Adalbert Vavrik OSB

Pastor emeritus, the oldest monk of Melk Abbey and the Austrian Benedictine Congregation,
bearer of the titles Erzbischöflicher Geistlicher Rat and Konsistorialrat,
honorary citizen  of Matzendorf-Hölles

has died on Tuesday, April 7th, 2020.

The funeral will take place on Wednesday, April 22nd, 2020 at 2 pm in Ziersdorf. Due to the current restrictions it can only be attended by very few people. The funeral mass in the parish church of Matzendorf will be at a later date.

Parish of Matzendorf-Hölles

Abbot Georg Wilfinger OSB and convent of Melk Abbey

The undertaker will drive slowly through Matzendorf-Hölles with Fr. Hubert on Saturday, April 18th, 2020 at 11.30 am (Dr. Max Jungstraße, Badenerstraße, Höllesstraße, Hauptstraße), in order to give the population the opportunity to take their leave to him in compliance with the regulations during these times of the corona crisis.

We plan that the funeral in Ziersdorf will be broadcasted via live stream.

https://player.twitch.tv/?channel=relilehrer&mute=false

Rejoice in the Lord always! Once again I will say: Rejoice! (Phil 4:4)

Adalbert Vavrik was born on 12 Dec.1922 in Ziersdorf. His parents lived opposite the parsonage; Father Hubert Weilguny was parish priest in Ziersdorf at that time. Through him Adalbert Vavrik came to Melk to study and he later chose Hubert as his religious name. On 1 Aug. 1948 he entered the monastery and studied theology in Salzburg. On 29 June 1954 Father Hubert was ordained priest by the diocesan bishop Michael Memelauer and celebrated his first Mass in Ziersdorf on 4 July 1954. From 1956 to 1959 he was chaplain in Ravelsbach, on 1 Nov. 1959 he became parish priest in Matzendorf, and from 1988 to 1989 he was Exkurrendo-Provisor in Steinabrückl.

In the 53 years that Father Hubert worked as parish priest in Matzendorf, he accompanied several generations of his parishioners from Matzendorf and Hölles – old and young, from baptism to funeral. He liked to celebrate big and beautiful feast days, and he was a “bringer of joy.” He was a well-known friend of flowers (preferably pink ones), which he also liked to give away as his gift, and he loved artistic cakes in book form.

After his retirement in the summer of 2012 he continued to live in the vicarage of Matzendorf, well looked after and cared for by his nurses Eva, Beata, Iveta, Emilia, Janka, Eva and Aniko.

His favorite motto was: “You should never lose your cheerfulness.”