FOOTNOTES:
Footnote 1: Himmelsschlüssel--keys of Heaven--is the pretty German name.
Footnote 2: The Adige lower down.
Footnote 3: In German the corpse-owl.
Footnote 4: The translator is indebted for these verses to the kindness of a friend.
The Hour Will Come: A Tale of an Alpine Cloister. Volumes I and II
About This Book
The narrative opens with a winter rescue on a high moor where cloistered brothers recover a snowbound woman and her newborn, then moves into life at an alpine hospice and its surrounding community. It portrays daily routines, internal tensions, and moral dilemmas within a mountain cloister, showing how devotion and human frailty shape choices and destinies. The harsh landscape functions as both setting and moral pressure, while episodes alternate between dramatic emergencies and quiet communal ritual. Central concerns are the balance of spiritual duty and earthly compassion and the ways communal bonds respond to private suffering.