Sancta Crux
Sancta Crux - the magazine of the Heiligenkreuz Abbey is the yearbook of the Cistercian Abbey of Heiligenkreuz that has been published since 1926 .
The Sancta Crux was founded in 1926 as an initiative of a group of young Heiligenkreuz confreres. At first it appeared sporadically, with up to four eighteen-page issues a year. Father Karl Braunstorfer was responsible for the editing, the printing was handled by the junior council of Heiligenkreuz Abbey. The magazine consisted of reports from life in the monastery, articles on the history of the house, news from the overall order, monastic hagiography , poems, mood pictures, experiences and even puzzles. The tone of the contributions is very youthful and student-oriented in the beginning. However, the seriousness of the employees is shown again and again, for example in the graphic design of the title graphic in 1929, in which a Star of David is shown above the Christ monogram as a roof pattern on the collegiate church. The Star of David appears on many subsequent editions, most recently in 1933.
The years 1926–1933 are only preserved in the Heiligenkreuzer Stiftsarchiv; they never made it into the bookstore. They contain valuable information about what happened in the monastery (especially boys' convent and clergy), in the Archdiocese of Vienna and in the Cistercian order. Last but not least, they document a pronounced interest of the monastery youth in the interwar period for Monastica and Sancrucensia, which can be traced back to the support of Abbot Gregor Pöck and novice master P. Karl Braunstorfer.
During the war years 1939–1949, the magazine was not published. When it was launched again, the magazine had a slightly different profile; after all, the editor of the early days had meanwhile become abbot . Abbot Karl Braunstorfer had three readership in mind that he wanted to serve over long-term subscribers. Monastica was to shape young confreres according to the ideals of the Cistercian order. Reports from the incorporated parishes of the monastery promoted solidarity between confreres in the parishes and those in the monastery. Third, the magazine should be a regular spiritual inspiration for the prayer community of Friends of the Holy Cross. All three groups were of course interested in articles on the history of the house, which appear regularly in the magazine's pages.
Viewed in its entirety to date, the magazine is one of the most valuable publications on the history of the monastery. It provides articles on all epochs of the history of the house and offers the only literature on the history of Heiligenkreuz Abbey on many issues.