News Archive
6 March 2010, Happy birthday, dear Father Jojo!
Our parish hall was Saturday-night-packed with well wishers who greeted Fr. Jojo with a rousing birthday party of fun, singing, dancing, eating, and plain enjoyment!
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
17 February 2010, Ash Wednesday
Lent - the special period of almsgiving, prayer and fasting - has begun. It is a time of deep reflection.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
22 January 2010, Happy birthday, dear Father Ely!
The Community greeted Father Ely, Asst. Chaplain, on the occasion of his 39th birthday with an evening celebration featuring homemade Filipino savoury dishes and kakanin, and a very enjoyable musical programme presented by the various religious organizations. The parish hall was filled to capacity and everyone - including special guests from the Austrian community - had a wonderful time eating, admiring, chatting, singing, clapping, dancing, Kodak-an and simply having fun. Many happy returns of the day!
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
17 January 2010, Feast of Sto. Niño
Bishop Precioso D. Cantillas, responsible for Filipino migrant communities and Bishop of Maasin, officiated at today's Community Mass celebration of the Feast of Sto. Ni ño. In his homily, he focused on how different Filipinos are, and the need to deepen our faith by submitting to the will of the Lord. The Quartet Venetto, a Filipino group based in Venice (Italy) supplemented the FGS Choir's music. Kapunongan sang mga Bisaya sa Austriahosted agape in the parish hall, and presented Sinulog 2010 in the Upper Church.
 |  |
 |  |
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
10 January 2010, Linz Community celebrates its New Year mass
Our kababayansin Linz celebrated today their first 2010 Tagalog mass at the St. Johannes parish church in Linz/Leonding. Before partaking of the traditional after-mass-agape, the community sang "If we hold on together" to honour January birthday and anniversary celebrants. The song was the theme of our Chaplaincy's 25th anniversary, celebrated in September 2008 in Vienna.
27 December 2009, Feast of the Holy Family
 |  |
We look forward to 2010, anticipating with faith and joy whatever the Lord has in store for us!
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Maligayang Pasko sa inyo at sa inyong pamilya!
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
20 December 2009, 4th Sunday in Advent
| Bishop Franz Scharl, Auxiliary Bishop of the Archdiocese of Vienna , marked the 4th Sunday of Advent with our Community by celebrating our 11 a.m. Community Mass. He joined parishioners in the parish hall for Agape afterwards, enjoying lechon, pancit luglog and some kakanin. He even lent a hand in clearing away the benches and tables! Visit the photo gallery for more pictures. |  |
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
13 December 2009, 3rd Sunday in Advent
 | At today's Community Mass, we lit the 3rd candle on the Advent Wreath. It symbolizes Joy at the soon Advent of the Christ. It marks a shift from the more solemn tone of the first two Sundays of Advent that focus on Preparation and Hope, to a more joyous atmosphere of anticipation and expectancy. The tree stands in all its glory. Our now- familiar belen has been set up in its traditional place at the altar. Colourful Filipino lanterns hang at the altar and from the choir loft, and more will be strung up along the side aisles, to focus the eye towards the altar. We are ready for Simbang Gabi, our 9-day novena preparation for Christmas. It will start in 2 days. Will you come and celebrate with us?. |
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
21 November 2009, Advent recollection
"Growing in hope, growing in joy" was the theme of this year's advent recollection, presented by Fr. Ben Jerson Canete from the Diocese of Davao. Fr. Ben's talk was based on the parable of the vineyard (Mk 12, 1-12) and the letter of St. Paul to the Philippians (Phil 4, 4-7). The whole-day event was attended by about 120 parishioners, who brought a pot luck lunch, and received the Sacrament of Confession in the late afternoon. Fr. Ben is currently studying Biblical theology at the Gregorian University in Rome.
 |  Fr. Ben Canete |
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
€5,200 for Ondoy and Peping victims
The Community's collections for the victims of tropical storms Ondoy and Peping amounted to €5,200.00 and were remitted to Caritas Philippines for appropriate distribution. Maraming salamat po sa inyong lahat!
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
25 October 2009, Joint mass for Austrian and Philippine communities
The two communities of Maria vom Berge Karmel parish celebrated a joint mass today in the Upper Church to mark the close of the summer season. The service was held in German, English, Tagalog and Latin, with offerings made by children of both communities. After mass, the Austrian community moved its paraphernalia to the Lower Church, where it traditionally holds its winter masses.
 |  |
 |  |
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Honouring San Lorenzo Ruiz, 27 Sept. 2009
 | The Community Mass at 11 a.m. today was held in honour of San Lorenzo Ruiz de Manila, the first Filipino saint and martyr. The faithful were invited after the service to partake of a simple agape organized by the Pastoral Council. |
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Devotions in honour of Our Lady of Peñafrancia
The chaplaincy marked the 299th anniversary of the Devotions to Our Lady of Peñafrancia with a fluvial procession on Saturday, 19 Sept. to Tulln, where Holy Mass at the parish church of St. Stephan was celebrated by Msgr. Claro Caluya III of Masbate. Music was provided by the CFC-FFL Choir. Well over 600 parish faithful - including some of our kababayans from Linz - participated in the day-long festivities.
 |  |
The Community Mass at Pfarre Maria vom Berge Karmel at 11 a.m. on Sunday, 19 Sept. was followed by an Agape. The celebrations were organized by the Bikol Society in Austria, under the leadership this year of Ms. Volet Gerstl.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Happy 50th birthday, Fr. Joey!Sunday, 30 August 2009 |  |
The community honoured Father Joey on the occasion of his 50th birthday with lunch in the parish garden, and a tribute programme - with numbers from all sectors of the community, including from our kakabayans in Linz - in the church afterwards. Please visit our Photoalbum to see all the pictures.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2009 Summer pilgrimage to Stift Admont, 8 August
Our parish' summer outing took 40 pilgrims to the monastery of Admont (boasting the world's largest monastic library) in Styria, and a visit to Johnsbach in the Enn valley. Five of our sacristans and Fr. Bong joined the trip. Tes Ocfemia led the singing during Holy Mass, and Martin explained to us the wonders of the library before we had a picnic lunch on the beautiful grounds of the monastery. At Johnsbach we visited the cemetery dedicated to mountain climbers who had lost their lives in the Ennstal region, and courageously followed Fr. Joey as he led us through the Bibelweg in the woods. At the end of the day, we were tired but happy, and were grateful to listen to our sisters from the Legion of Mary who serenaded us with nostalgic songs all the way home.
 |  |
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Youth outing to Seebenstein, Thursday, 30 July 2009
Taking advantage of perfect weather conditions, Fr. Joey took the parish youth on a day's excursion to Seebenstein to visit the castle fortress, have a picnic lunch on the grounds of the convent of the Franciscan sisters and a loooong afternoon of swimming and chatting in the park. Marvin exclaimed, "Super, can we do it again?" The outing was organized by pastoral leaders Flor Oandasan, Alice Holitz and Linda Cervantes in lieu of Summer Camp, which was cancelled again this year because of low registration. Sister Claire handled local arrangements and blessed the group with her cheerful presence throughout the day.  |  |
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Lay Ministers commissioned on Feast of the Most Holy Trinity, 7 June 2009
59 Lay Ministers were commissioned for another year of service as greeters, lectors and Eucharistic Ministers at ceremonies officiated today by Fr. Ely and Fr Jojo. Holy Mass was followed by a grill lunch in the parish garden.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
LANGE NACHT DER KIRCHEN, Friday, 5 JUNE 2009
The Austrian and Filipino communities of our parish joined forces to celebrate this Viennese annual event in which churches throughout the city present special interest programmes until almost midnight. Our evening started at 5 pm with a workshop for children to construct musical instruments, then a multi-language mass at 6:30 pm followed by refreshments featuring Austrian and Filipino delicacies. The Filipino community then presented a one-hour musical song-and-dance programme including traditional, folk, popular and classical numbers. Finally, a spiritual sound-and-light show concluded the evening.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Sacrament of Confirmation officiated by Bishop Franz Scharl, 31 May 2009
4 months of preparation concluded today for 49 confirmands of our community when they were anointed with chrism by Bishop Franz Scharl at a ceremony held in the late afternoon. There were also confirmands from other English-speaking churches in Vienna, and Holy Mass was concelebrated by priests from the other communities. In his closing prayers, Bishop Scharl mentioned that the Achdiocese of Vienna is proud of the large number of the faithful in its international Catholic community.
Today being the last Sunday in May, our church was also very richly decorated with multi-colored floral offerings to Our Blessed Lady.
 |  |
------------------------------------------------------------------
Commissioning of Sacristans, 3 May 2009
Those of our sacristans who could attend were commissioned on Good Shepherd Sunday, 3 May 2009 during the regular community mass, and celebrated the occasion with a barbecue lunch in the garden afterwards.
--------------------------------------------------------------------
Divine Mercy celebration and First Communion Mass
 | Franz Josef AGUERO, Brian Benedikt ARTUS, Jeff Martin CABALLA, Jhaecel Abbygail CRUZ, Aubrey DEUNIDA, Gladycell ENRIQUEZ, Sarah Mae GENOVE, Shania Denise ORENSE, Franchezka Mae POSADAS, and Samantha Joy QUILLON received the sacrament of Holy Communion for the first time at our celebration of the Feast of the Divine Mercy on Sunday, 19 April. They were prepared for this grace by Nicole Savet, Marizel Aguirre and Lito Ramos at formation classes held during the four preceeding Sundays. For this occasion, the Divine Mercy devotees of the parish led by Christy Aguirre acquired a new image (photo at left) that will be used henceforth in their regular prayer meetings. Fr. Ely DALANON presided over the celebrations. |
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Jesus Time
Parents are invited to avail of this new Sunday School program for 5-7 year olds. It will be held in the sacristy every second Sunday of the month during the community mass at Our Lady of Mount Carmel church on Stefan Fadingerplatz. Kakay Santayana and her team will teach the children the Gospel and the catechism of our faith in a manner appropriate for their age. 'Jesus time' will be held 15 March, 12 April, 10 May, 14 June, 12 July, 9 August, 13 September, 11 October, 8 November and 13 December 2009.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
A very happy Easter to everyone!
from Fr. Ely DALANON and Fr. Jojo VILLAREAL
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Special Easter greetings from Fr. Joey DEMOY in the Philippines!
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Messages from Fr. Joey in the Holy Land
Dear All,
My three weeks of priestly renewal finished yesterday. I am sad that I will be leaving the Holy Land; like Peter on Mt. Tabor I want to say "It's so nice to be here." There is a kind of feeling that I cannot explain. But as the Lord said to Peter, this is not the place where I should stay. This is not where I belong, or where I am called to go. With a heavy heart I will be leaving Jerusalem tomorrow. But that's just one side of how I feel. I am also happy that after three weeks of spiritual exercises (which included a retreat that I have needed for several years but only now had the chance to pursue, and the different talks on spirituality), talks from competent speakers (like the Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem, an Imam, a rabbi who is a papal awardee, and the permanent delegate of Caritas International to the UN who gave us more or less a good grasp of the what and how of Israel) and the visits to the various biblical places, I feel refreshed and renewed in my vocation.
I hope and pray that the experience here in in the Holy Land will really help to give me a new outlook in my ministry as a priest. Anyway, I attended this course not just for my own personal gain, but also because of YOU, because I would like to be the servant that God wants me to be. Because of the experience, I am now determined to encourage and bring more pilgrims to the Holy Land. I tell you, the experience is really extraordinary. As my American colleagues have been exclaiming, "It is really awesome! Isn't it wonderful? It's really magnificent!"
Let's continue praying for one another. God bless you. Praise the Lord!" Received per email on 2009.02.09
"Pagbati sa inyong lahat mula dito sa Tierra Santa. The Triduum was so memorable: we were filled with the grace of the Holy Spirit, full of new realizations, and emotions. Aside from visiting the actual places (according to tradition) of Christ's suffering we also had different liturgical and devotional services in some of them. There are conferences and testimonials in the evening to summarize, clarify and deepen experiences. The most memorable ones were the Eucharistic Hour with renewal of priestly promises at the Church of All Nations in Gethsemane, the Mass at Church of St. Peter in Galicantu and the early morning Mass at the Chapel of the Crucifixion at the Church of the Holy Sepulchre. The experience was really purifying, and the inputs helped me a lot to recollect and clarify so many things in my priestly life. Of course we also have plenty of time to pray and meditate. You are always in my prayers. God bless!" Received per SMS on 2009.02.03
"Today we will start our Paschal Triduum. Pilgrimage to Dominus Flevit, Church of Mary Magdalene, tomb of Mary, Gethsemane. We will be tracing the Passion of Christ and will accompany Him to the places where He suffered for our salvation. Let's continue praying for one another. God bless!" Received per SMS on 2009.01.29
"We are now in Magdala. We had Mass (said in Latin) in a boat on the Sea of Galilee this morning. Then we had baptismal renewal on the mountain where Peter proclaimed Jesus as the Son of God, and where there is a spring that flows to the river Jordan. I prayed for the communities this evening at the Church of the Beatitudes. May the spirit of the beatitudes prevail. Greetings to everyone! God bless!" Received per SMS on 2009.01.27
"We spent the night in Nazareth. My room was just across the street from the door of the Church of the Annunciation. We are visiting, exploring and celebrating Mass in different places everyday. It's wonderful and we are having a great time. Regards and God bless!" Received per SMS on 2009.01.25
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Feast of the Sto. Nino (Sinulog), Sunday, 18 January 2009
The parish celebrated today the Feast of the Sto. Nino, with the Community Mass being concelebrated by Fr. Ely Dalanon, Fr. Cyril Villareal, Fr. Joey Demoy, Fr. Castor Goliama and Fr. Leitenbauer. Parishioners brought their images of the Christ Child to be blessed after the Holy Mass, and participated in the procession of their images in the church. Kapunongan sa mga Bisaya sa Austria (KBA) organized agape in the parish hall, before presenting their annual very colourful SINULOG programme in the Upper Church. (Please visit the Photo Gallery to see some photos.)
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Let us continue in 2009 to serve the Lord by serving our families and community! Let us bear our responsibility with joy!
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Nag-umpisa na ang Simbang-Gabi, malapit nang dumating ang ating Jesus!
 |  |  |
| Belen in Upper Church | Christmas tree in Upper Church | Christmas tree in Lower Church |
(Posted 2008.12.16)
Can you pack an egg so that it doesn't break when dropped from a 10-foot ladder?
You can! Francis Reyes' group successfully proved the theory at the Communications Workshop held Sunday afternoon, 16 November at the Parish Hall. 28 of our parishioners (youth and parents) participated in games, role-playing and group discussions under the guidance of Mag. Angie Simek-Hall. The non-confrontational approach to the serious topic of communication between teenagers and parents raised awareness about how "the other side" thinks, without becoming personal. The workshop was considered by all to be a success, and it is hoped that other families will have the time to attend a repeat workshop in 2009.
(Posted on 2008.11.16)
MUSIC IN MISSION Concert of KHP Coro Techniuv, 22 Oct. 2008
The 12-member KHP Coro Techniuv choir under Steve Abad Callado gave its Vienna concert at the Mariahilf Church in Vienna's 6th district after the novena service to Our Lady of Perpetual Help. The group is on a one-month tour to Russia, Sweden, Norway, Italy, Spain, France, Austria and Germany to raise funds for the Pastoral Center of the Kristong Hari-Quasi Parish in Dasmarinas, Cavite, Philippines. They won the Grand Prix at the Russian Interfolk Choral & Folklore Festival held in St Petersburg, 1-5 October 2008. Enthralled parishioners contibuted over Euro500.00 for the choir's coffers.
KHP Coro Tecnhiuv at the altar |
Posing with Father Joey after the concert |
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Our week-long 25th anniversary celebrations were concluded today 28 September 2008 with a procession and pontifical mass concelebrated by Archbishop of Manila Gaudencio Cardinal Rosales, Bishop Luis Antonio Tagle of Imus, Bishop Pedro Arigo of Puerto Princesa, Father Peter Bsteh of the Archdiocese of Vienna and other visiting Viennese and Filipino clergy. In the homily, Cardinal Rosales stressed the importance of unity in the community and the need to be aware of how much each of us can do to help our less fortunate brothers in the Philippines.
Cardinal Rosales delivering the homily |  Our Father, who art in heaven .... |
Our Lady of Mount Carmel Church was filled to overflowing for the mass. Afterward, we partook of a buffet lunch in the parish garden and enjoyed an entertainment programme presented by members of the parish. The celebration has been an invigorating experience, and we all close the week with a strong resolve to carry out our mission of actively living our faith in our home away from home. Our journey is far from over - we continue with deep faith and pray for the Lord's blessings!
Remarks of H.E. Amb. Linglingay F. Lacanlale (click to download)
Please visit the Photo Gallery in a few days to view the complete photo documentation. The 25. anniversary page contains details of our week-long celebrations.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The week-long celebration of the 25th anniversary of the Filipino Catholic Community has begun! The festivities were opened with Holy Mass on Sunday 21 September officiated by Bishop Jose Luis Tagle of the Diocese of Imus, Cavite, and concelebrated with Father Peter Bsteh of the Archdiocese of Vienna, current and former chaplains of the Filipino Catholic Community, and visiting clergy from Nice and Barcelona.
Please visit our Photo Gallery to share the happy memories of the starting event. As the week unfolds, there are other activities planned to help us remember the history of our Community and encourage us to look forward to a future with renewed faith in the Lord and stronger Christian ties within the community.
Bishop Tagle with all Chaplains (past and present) of the Filipino Catholic Community
Bishop Tagle celebrating the mass with the Community
Prior to the week's celebrations, we heard mass every Friday starting on August 5 at the churches that our Community formerly used. At each mass, pioneer parishioners shared stories with the congregation about Community life in those early days.
 Auferstehung Christi am Tabor on 22 August |  St Johann Nepomuk on 29 August |
 SMZO Pflegeheim Chapel on 5 September |  |
Fiesta Natin was celebrated on 31 August 2008 in the parish garden.
See Photo Gallery for more photos.
Some members of the community surprised Father Joey, our Chaplain, with a humble party on 30 August 2008 to celebrate his birthday.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Welcome to the Las Piñas Boys Choir, 6 July 2008, 6 a.m.
20 members of the choir, accompanied by founder Leo Renier and managers Msgr. Venus & Fr. Molina, arrived today and proceeded to Graz where they will compete among 441 choirs from 93 countries in 28 categories in the 5th World Choir Games. The Las Pinas Boys Choir is being hosted in Vienna by our community, and will give a concert at 7 p.m. on Monday 14 July 2008 at Our Lady of Mount Carmel Church, before returning to Manila on 15 July. Let us pray for their success at the Choir Games!
Summer vacation starts with a grill party, 29 June 2008
Thanks to prevailing good weather, the Community's traditional end-of-school grill party was a success today with more than 200 parishioners enjoying barbecue dishes and a variety of home-made Filipino desserts. The food stands very quickly ran out of goods to sell, and the Pastoral Council's Finance Committee reports very good proceeds to help cover the expenses for our 25th anniversary celebrations in September.
Philippine Women's University Chorale at Community mass, 1 June 2008
16 members of the PWU chorale under the baton of Ms. Elietess Mayor-Carino enlivened the Community Mass today with their award-winning style to the delight of the congregation. The group is on a 6-day visit to Vienna after winning 2 prizes at the recently concluded Mundus Cantat competition in Sopot, Poland: silver certificate in folklore and bronze certificate in sacred music. They are giving a concert on 4 June 2008 at 19:30h at Mariahilf Church on Barnabitengass, before proceeding to Rome.
Corpus Christi Procession, 22 May 2008
The Austrian and Filipino communities jointly celebrated the Feast of Corpus Christi with a bilingual mass and a procession in the residential area immediately adjacent to the parish church. As the procession wound its way through the quiet streets of the neighborhood, it stopped at three stations for gospel readings, reflections on the Holy Word and prayers of the faithful. The community afterwards congregated in the Parish Hall for a light lunch organized by the Frauenrunde and the Filipino Legion of Mary.
 |  |
Pilgrimage to Our Lady of Lourdes, 30 April - 3 May 2008
The pilgrims experienced a wonderful visit to the sanctuary of Our Lady in Lourdes. It was a trip filled with many adventures that had everybody guessing what would happen next. Arriving shortly after 10 pm at our hotel, the pilgrims wasted no time in visiting Our Lady.And they were rewarded for the effort: the grotto was almost empty and each one had time to reflect on the journey and for prayer. There were activities for our spiritual enrichment on each day of the visit, and we all came home to Vienna physically tired but spiritually energized.
Please visit the gallery for more pictures....
Lay Ministers Recollection, 18-19 April 2008
The Chaplaincy's Lay Ministers held their annual recollection under the guidance of Fr. Joey at the Canisiumheim in Horn in Lower Austria. After discussions based on Bible readings about the active practice of faith, the Lay Ministers offered their written intent to continue serving the Chaplaincy for another year. They will be installed during the Whitsun community mass on 11 May 2008.
Patrician group discusses sacraments, 05 April 2008
joint project of the Austrian and Filipino communities was started on 5 April with a discussion session under the Patrician Group of the Legion of Mary. The theme was "Wozu Sakramente"; Fr Joey provided replies to the participants' many questions. However, there was not enough time to address the topic fully, so the group decided to schedule additional sessions - to which everyone is invited - in the near future.
Easter celebrations, 23 March 2008
This year's Easter celebration was highlighted by First Holy Communion received by 12 of our parish children. The mass was followed by a Pancit Party held in the Parish Hall, where parishioners sampled more than 12 kinds of pancit, and a variety of native desserts. Afterwards, the 2008 Confirmation candidates showed off their dancing and singing skills at a musical programme, also participated in by the Legion of Mary and the FCC Choir. Photos are posted in the GALLERY.
FCC-Linz hosts lunch on Good Friday, 21 March 2008
Parishioners from FCC-Vienna, accompanied by Fr. Ely and Fr. Jojo, travelled to Linz on Good Friday, 21 March for the Way of the Cross service on Pöstlingberg. After being in the cold outdoors (it snowed all throughout the service), everyone looked forward to and enjoyed the warm seafood lunch prepared by our kababayans in the Linz community.
"Experience the transforming power of the cross"
Fr. John A. Gadon led 120 parishioners in a whole-day Lenten recollection held Saturday, 15 March 2008 in the community hall. After discussing the main topics (how we see Jesus, how we forgive, law and love, our priorities, and how we see ourselves) Fr. John expounded on the sacrament of confession and reconciliation.
Bible Study resumes
After the winter break, Fr. Ely announces the resumption of Bible Study on Fridays at 19:30h in the Gruppenraum and cordially invites all parishioners to attend.
Sinulog 2008, 20 January 2008
Parishioners and their guests filled the Upper Church this afternoon to enjoy the thrilling Sinulog programme presented according to tradition by the Kasamahan ng mga Bisaya sa Austria, after the Community Mass and lunch. To the cries of "Pit Senor" and the urgent beating of drums, groups of colourfully costumed children, teenagers, young and not-so-young adults rendered their respective versions of the traditional dance, and were enthusiastically applauded by the appreciative audience. The dancing capped the celebration of the Feast of the Sto. Nino, held every 3rd Sunday in January by permission of the Vatican in recognition of the long history of devotions in our country.
 |  |
Article about our Youth Group in "Der Standard", 8 Jan. 2008
Ian Aldover, Jenny Holl and Ayron Caraan were interviewed during the Christmas party of the FCC Youth Group by Sara Mansour Fallah. The resulting article Mit HipHop durch die Sonntagsandacht was published on 8 January 2008 in Der Standard, a leading Austrian daily newspaper. Read the article.
"I love you, I love you, I love you!"
This was Vincent Bueno's triumphal outburst on being declared winner on 11 January 2008 of Austrian TV's search for Austria's musical star after the gruelling 8-week competition aired Fridays on "Musical! Die Show" since December 2007. During the interview shortly thereafter on Zeit im Bild 24(midnight TV news report) Vincent declared that the sentiment was directed to Him, who gave Vincent his talents. Congratulations, Vincent! Praise the Lord, indeed!
(pictures from ORF musical site) More of his story from Musical at ORF
Tapos na ang Simbang-Gabi (15-23 Disyembre), darating na si Jesus!
Photos taken at the agape after the 9th-day novena service at the Maria vom Berge Karmel parish. We're now ready for Christmas! 
Christmas decorations, 17 December 2007
As the 3rd candle on the Advent wreath is lit, we have put up our Christmas tree (donated by Vangie Wolf and decorated by the Legion of Mary) and our creche (decorated by the Youth Group). We're waiting for photos of our very own parols, which grace the church entrance. 
Legion of Mary 2007 Conference - 7&8 December 2007
It's the season to be jolly - Christmas celebrations in the Parish
Youth Group - Friday, 28 December
Followers of the Good Shepherd - Sunday, 9 December
Legion of Mary - Monday, 3 December
Adventmarkt - 2&3 December 2007In the Filipino community's outreach efforts, we participated for the first time in the annual Adventmarkt of the Austrian community of Pfarre Maria vom Berge Karmel. We ran a booth selling Christmas decorations. The absolute hit were gossamer butterflies, that Fr. Joey found in Divisoria during his recent home visit. 
Advent Recollection - Saturday, 24 November 2007
Fr. Glen Ruiz led the Parish' traditional advent recollection this year. The whole-day event was attended by 120 parishioners, who enjoyed a pot-luck lunch between the spiritual-nourishment sessions.
50th anniversary of Rector Bsteh, 3 November 2007
Rector Petrus Bsteh, head of the Archdiocese of Vienna's Office for World Religions, celebrated the 50th anniversary of his ordainment with a mass on Saturday morning 3 November 2007, followed by a buffet lunch in the parish hall. The mass was con-celebrated by priests from the Afro-Asian Institute. Father Peter, as he is so fondly called, laid the groundwork and now provides guidance for the international Catholic communities in Vienna.
Hallowe'en Yugyugan, 2 November 2007
100 members of our Parish - including some very young ones - enjoyed the ballroom dancing evening hosted by the Followers of the Good Shepherd at the Penta Hotel on Friday, 2 November 2007. The event was organized to raise funds for the FGS' depleted coffers - to enable them to continue their strong support of our Parish' various charity activities.
Pilgrimage to Medjugorje, 25-28 October 2007
Our pilgrims returned safely at 5 a.m. on Sunday, 28 October after their three-day journey that was marked by inclement weather. However, the skies cleared and there was warm sunshine as the pilgrims approached the summit of Apparition Hill.
On the occasion of World Mission Sunday, communities from Latin America, the Near East and Asia were invited to participate in the 10:15 a.m. mass held at Stephansdom and led by Weihbischof Scharl. One of the three FCC choirs had the honour of singing the opening, Gloria and closing hymns. Our sacristans Ariane & Ayron Caraan and Almar Rosimo assisted at, and Fr. Jojo con-celebrated the mass. It is so exciting to be a part of the World Church in Vienna!
The 33-member choir under the baton of Ms. Kveta Safarova gave a concert of classical music ("wow, pang Stephansdom talaga..." according to our parishioners) during the Community mass. After enjoying a light Filipino lunch, courtesy of our Parish Council, the choir visited the Franziskanerkirche, the Peterskirche and Schönbrunn Palace before returning in the late afternoon to their hometown, 230 km from Vienna.
Fr. Edward Daniel of the Dechanat-Favoriten led the celebration of the 70th anniversary of the Pfarre Maria vom Berge Karmel. The Patrozinium mass at 10 a.m. was concelebrated with Fr Felix of the Carmelite order, who preceded Fr Joey as Chaplain of the parish. Members of both the Austrian and Filipino parishes, as well as the parish boy scouts, filled the church and enjoyed Agape in the parish hall afterwards.
The feast of St. Lorenzo Ruiz was marked with a joint celebration between Fr. Ron and Fr. Joey who, together with members of the community, expressed their hope of having another such celebration in the future, saying "sana maulit muli..."
Nag-umpisa na ang Simbang-Gabi, malapit nang dumating ang ating Jesus!