He has arrived very well in his new parish: Pastor Clemens Voss.
And now there was something very special to celebrate.
Au
- The celebration of Pastor Clemens Voss' 40th anniversary as a priest in the Au parish church of St. Vitus on Sunday made it clear: the 65-year-old priest has fully arrived in the hop country ten months and four days after taking up his duties.
This arrival became very obvious at the anniversary service with an impressive sermon by cathedral canon Johann Ammer, the combined singing formation of the church choirs of Au and Osterwaal as accompanying music and at the subsequent parish festival on the Au market square.
It all started at 9:30 a.m., when 26 altar servers with three celebrants moved in – together with the cathedral canon as the highest-ranking priest, “jubilant pastor” Clemens Voss and his older brother, pastor Benedikt Voss from Regensburg.
In impressive words, canon Johann Ammer summarized his previous encounters with his brother Clemens, whom he has known for years and appreciates because of his "enigmatic sense of humour".
balancing act between administration and pastoral care
He was always impressed by Voss' talent for mastering the balancing act between administration and pastoral care, which was a great challenge at his former place of work in Bodenkirchen with around 60 employees in a nursing home for the disabled, kindergarten and parish under church care.
"You are someone who pushes things forward and thinks ahead," said the canon.
He was surprised that after 33 years in Bodenkirchen, "at a slightly advanced age as a priest", Voss decided to start over in Au: "But you have 40 years of experience in activity," says Ammer.
But the 65-year-old is someone who "looks ahead, always has new ideas and never remains static out of laziness," said the canon, which certainly also explains the way to the hop country.
A fresh start in Au and Osterwaal went very well
Pastor Clemens Voss made it clear at the end of the service that he has not yet regretted this step.
"The new beginning in Au and Osterwaal was made easy for me." The togetherness is right, for which he included the church institutions, associations, altar boys and even the sacristan Melanie Geppert in his thanks.
Not to forget pastoral assistant Veronika Lausser, whose support he particularly emphasized.
(By the way: everything from the region is now also available in our regular Freising newsletter.)
Voss was also delighted by the joint choir of the parishes of St. Vitus from Au and St. Bartholomäus from Osterwaal, which had been formed especially for the priestly jubilee under choirmaster Jakob Münsterer and his son Lukas on the organ.
"I'd like to do it more often," said Voss, who could imagine "growing closer together" between the two parishes in the future.
This had already happened when the gift was chosen for the jubilant pastor.
Au church curator Thomas Ernst and parish council spokespersons Resi Grünberger (Au) and Josefine Huber (Osterwaal) presented a hand-embroidered stole from the Franciscan monastery in Aiterhofen.
With the Blessed Mother based on the pilgrimage site "Maria-Hilf" and hop umbels, this stole even has a connection to his "new home" in which he should feel comfortable for a long time to come.
Mayor Hans Sailer congratulated the political community with a cup with the market coat of arms and an envelope.
The pastor was then able to find out that there are also big celebrations in Au when all the faithful cheered him on at the parish festival on the market square.
BY MARTIN HELLERBRAND
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