Churches and Cathedrals of Prague and Vienna

Loreto Sanctuary is a nice side trip before or after visiting Prague Castle. We took the tram to Loreto Sanctuary from our hotel right after breakfast as we wanted Loreto to be our first stop. Google Maps made it easy to plan our itinerary which included bus and tram rides and lots of walking.

This is a replica of the Holy House (Santa Casa) in Loreto, Italy. There the original is enshrined within the Basilica della Santa Casa; here the replica is outdoors, surrounded by cloisters and chapels. The carillon is played live every hour, and you can watch the monks on live video in one of the displays. There is also a large collection of liturgical objects in the museum.

Find out more on their website.

St. George’s Basilica is found within the Prague Castle grounds, so you have to pay for admission to get in. Get tickets here (not an affiliate link, just sharing info). We got Circuit B because we weren’t really interested in everything, mainly the two churches. I have to say St. George’s was a big disappointment. Not only were the people manning the entrance unfriendly, at first we weren’t allowed to enter because “there’s a service going on”; we asked if it was a Catholic Mass and they said yes. When we said we were Catholic they said it didn’t matter because we wouldn’t understand the language. We finally were allowed in an hour later. Turns out there’s not even a proper altar inside, no tabernacle, and it sure wasn’t treated differently from a museum. People milling about, talking loudly; no one was praying.  I only found out after our trip that it really isn’t used as a church anymore, so I don’t even know what kind of Mass the “guards” were talking about.

One can still hear Mass at St. Vitus, but the general atmosphere when we went there saddened me greatly. Like St. George’s, the place is treated more like a museum and not much else. A procession began while we were inside and we were hopeful that it was a Eucharistic procession, but no. Though it was, apparently, in honor of some saint. Still, it was worth the trip to see these places of worship even though these days they’re not treated with the reverence they deserve. 

The main reason we picked Prague as a destination this year. Here indeed the people still worship and pray. We didn’t make it to Mass but were happy to be able to pray here for family and friends’ intentions. It wasn’t as crowded as we thought it would be, but we did see other Filipinos on pilgrimage. 

Link to their website.

This church is rather small inside but so beautiful. It’s used for both Masses and concerts. There’s an organ here that both Mozart and Dvorak played. Official Website

The Church of St. Salvator is one of the two churches in the Klementinum, which houses a magnificent library… which we didn’t get to visit from lack of time. But at least we got to pray here and at St. Francis of Assisi. I hope the non-believers who visit these stunning places of worship get drawn into Christ’s heart via the beauty that they feast their eyes on. 

Another beautiful church in the heart of Old Prague. We didn’t mean to visit this church but were wandering around and saw that this was nearby so we walked in. 

Official site

We had the hardest time finding the entrance to this church, which was hidden within a little alleyway in between shops and restaurants. We had to go around the block twice and almost gave up, but kept at it because the GPS said it was RIGHT THERE! The whole area is so quaint and elegant though that we didn’t mind. I love that this church actually has rules for visitors unlike many of the other churches where people can just come and go as they please. Also my pictures just don’t do these churches justice so I’m sharing some of the pics that I took, but there is so much more. 

This was another accidental find. We were tired from walking all day but wanted to attend the afternoon Mass because we had to take the train the next morning and going to Mass would have been difficult. So we planned to walk another mile and a half to go to Mass, but on the way there we saw what looked like a church door, but it was locked. A sign said there was Mass in 15 minutes, so we walked into door a couple of meters past hoping to ask where the entrance is. That WAS the entrance — to a hallway, which had another door into the church. There were probably 15 or so of us at Mass including an American couple who walked in about the same time we did, but our hearts were full. The congregation and service were solemn and just what we needed at the end of a long day. Receiving Jesus even though we hardly understood a word of the readings and the homily just brought home for us the universality of the Catholic Church. Ah, the Real Presence. 

Church of St. Ursula website

Compared to Prague, the churches and cathedrals of Vienna seem more prepared to handle non-believers. They’re more careful about reserving an area of the church and making it inaccessible to the public, for the purpose of worship. There were also more signs reminding people to be silent so others could pray. 

Official Site

The outside is rather plain, but the inside is majestic and a must see. We didn’t go to the crypt, but FYI it’s there, if you’d like to visit.

Official Site

Love this public display of devotion to St. Joseph. Located on the Graben. 

Graben 22, 1010 Wien, Austria

A Holy Trinity column which is also a memorial to the Great Vienna Plague (17th century). More from Wikipedia.

A tidbit: recently found on the wall of the Cathedral shop is a mural by Albrecht Dürer. Very cool. A pity it wasn’t known before we visited. 

Official Site

My bad. I thought when I saw “Capuchin Crypt” that this place would be similar to the Capuchin crypt in Rome, but no. This is where the Habsburgs are buried. So, interesting for the amateur historian in me, but I was disappointed. Should have done my research beforehand. 

This church really made an impression on me. Prayed for all those fighting or struggling with pornography and everyone affected by this scourge.

Official Site

Got to join Rosary prayers here. 

Official Site

We didn’t mean to come here. For some reason I had missed adding it to our itinerary, but as we were walking around getting lost after brunch at Cafe Central, there it was! So we thought, might as well walk in and pray! It was one of our favorite stops. 

Official Site

Farther away than the others, we had to take the subway to get here. It’s massive and overlooks the Danube. We couldn’t find the entrance right away (it’s on the right side). Looks like they have a good Filipino contingent as there were a handful of Pinays who showed up when we were there, and there’s also a side altar for Our Lady of Penafrancia. I feel like the exterior sets you up for a bit of a disappointment, but hey, Jesus was there and that’s what matters.

Google Maps Link

This was definitely a favorite out of all the churches we visited. On the one hand it looked like the visitors here were most reverent. On the other hand they had a sign outside talking about climate change that definitely sounded anti-people. 

Official Site

This was the last church we prayed at before our journey home, so seeing the picture again is rather poignant for me. So many churches, so little time.

Google Maps Listing