Pfarrkirche Deutsch Goritz

Our church is consecrated to the Immaculate Conception of Mary. A statue of the Mother of God of Lourdes adorns the high altar (1902), which, like all other altars, was made by Kalasantiner brother Alfons. To the left and right stand statues of Saint Joseph and Saint Anne, both patrons of the Kalasantiner religious community. In the front left is the altar of Saint Joseph Calasanz (1902, enlarged 1920), principal patron and namesake of the Kalasantiner. Joseph Calasanz founded the Piarists in 1597 and opened Europe's first free elementary school in Rome. In the middle of the church are two more side altars (1908): on the left a Sacred Heart of Jesus altar and on the right a Marian altar with the depiction of "Our Lady of the Kalasantiner," who is especially venerated as "Mary, Help of Christians" in the order's mother house in Vienna. The lively veneration of certain saints led to the placement of statues of Saint Anthony of Padua and Saint Aloysius Gonzaga (1903) as well as Saint Thérèse of Lisieux (1929). A picture of the order's founder, P. Anton Maria Schwartz, was hung in the church after his beatification in 1998. The church's stained-glass windows were donated by the local population (see inscriptions). The ceiling painting is by Br. Lukas, a Benedictine from Seckau Abbey (1934).