Beauty as a Wellspring of Strength
A Conversation with Father Augustinus On Art, Faith, and the Quiet Power of Sacred Places
at the Museum im Schottenstift
On the courage to seek the good and the beautiful, the art of gaining resilience, and becoming a soul fit for life — and what all this has to do with Saint Benedict, a museum, and favola in musica.
“BEAUTY IS A WELLSPRING OF STRENGTH.
We must find the courage once more to speak of the good, the beautiful. Let us not be dissuaded.”
Father Augustinus
Beauty
as a
Wellspring of Strength
There are moments when no fanfare is needed — only the hush of a door that opens gently: into a museum, a library, a church, into another time — into ourselves.<
In the midst of Vienna’s bright, restless hum, favola in musica stepped through such a door—into the stillness of the Schottenstift, to the Museum im Schottenstift and into a deep and luminous conversation with Father Augustinus.
Timelessness.
And quiet.
We spoke of a museum unlike many others—“a little old-fashioned,” as Father Augustinus affectionately called it. Yet in that very quality lies its strength: untouched by fleeting trends, digital gloss, or curatorial script. Like the ancient monastery it inhabits, it breathes the rare air of timelessness.
Timelessness. And quiet.
A blessing in a world that races ever faster.
Here, the “salon-style hanging” has been preserved—a rare encounter now, amidst the sleek minimalism of modern museology. And in these gilded rooms, in this storied cloister, art reveals itself in full voice: sombre baroque paintings sing beside sacred treasures, intricate timepieces, and handcrafted furniture whose curves and carvings speak of another rhythm, another kind of life.
"Faith
seeks not to diminish us,
but to strengthen and ennoble us."
Father Augustinus | Interview in the 'Museum im Schottenstift'
A place
that invites us to linger, to behold,
to experience, and to wonder.
Alongside masterpieces of European art history, the museum is home to a crowning jewel of late Gothic painting — the Schotten Altarpiece, a milestone in Austria’s artistic heritage.
In our conversation, Father Augustinus also shares one of his most captivating favourite pieces from the collection (hear more in the interview, which is available only in German language for now) — in this place that invites us to linger, to behold, to experience, and to wonder.
“This does not mean we must shut our eyes to what is broken, flawed, or painful. On the contrary — I believe it is precisely in facing such limits, even our own, that we learn to accept and weave them into the fabric of our being.”
P. Augustinus
All shall be well.
When asked how one might navigate life in these uncertain times, Father Augustinus speaks gently yet clearly: use social media with care, trim the noise, and carve out space for real encounter — with others, with God, and with the quiet self within.
As a Benedictine, he advocates for a rhythm of the soul — for days shaped by structure, held by prayer.
Work strengthens. Beauty nourishes.
“Relationship,” he says, “is essential. We are made for it — for connection with others, with God. And in that sacred meeting, we meet ourselves.”
We speak of resilience. Of Psalm 23. Of green pastures and valleys dark as dusk. Of a God who lays a table before us, who knows our longings and our dreams — and gently leads us toward their fulfilment: He restores my soul.
And so we say, with trust: all shall be well.
What remains, perhaps, is this:
That we need places of quiet radiance — like the Museum Schottenstift.
And souls like Father Augustinus, who remind us that beauty is never mere adornment.
It is strength.
It is tenderness.
It is a flicker of the eternal, shimmering here on earth.
Und unser neues favola Team stellen wir Dir demnächst vor!
P. Augustinus Zeman OSB
is Benedictine monk, art historian, and theologian at the Schottenstift in Vienna. He is Prior of his community, parish priest of the Schottenkirche, and director of the museum.
Freyung 6, A-1010 Vienna
Access via the monastery shop Klosterladen (to the left of the main portal)
Guided tours may be booked HERE.
Every Saturday at 2:30 PM (except public holidays)
Meeting point: monastery shop
Opening Hours
Tuesday to Friday: 11:00 AM – 5:00 PM
Saturday: 11:00 AM – 4:30 PM
Closed on Sundays, Mondays, and public holidays
Image credits: All photographs by the favola team taken in the Museum at the Schottenstift © Theresa Pewal
Photographs of Dr Georg Kremnitz in the Schottenstift Abbey Library © Maria Weiss
