ORIGINAL SHRINE, by Msgr Peter Wolf DD •
Picture of the floods at the Original Shrine have made their rounds of the social media since Monday evening. Msgr Peter Wolf tells us what happened and why he got wet feet, while the Original Shrine remained relatively dry.
When I returned from an outside engagement towards 6 p.m. I saw at the crossroads to the Original Shrine that brown water was shooting up from a drain through which the Wambach brook normally flows and making its way to the Original Shrine. The road to the Original Shrine had been turned into a muddy river!
As a result of the heavy downpour there were no people on the street at the Original Shrine. So I could do nothing else than take off my shoes and roll up my trousers, and attempt to divert the dirty water from the Original Shrine.
With benches and sandbags to fight the flood
Using the benches for the pilgrims I tried to divert the water away from the shrine. After some time the sacristan, Mr Weveler, arrived at the shrine. He knew there were three bags of sand behind the outside candle stand, and we placed them in front of the door to the shrine (the door of mercy).
As the flood grew worse I phoned the fire brigade for help, and they soon arrived with a number of vehicles. The water was pouring over the parking area before the shrine and rushing down the road towards the Pallottine Youth Centre and into the garden and dining room of the Marienau.
Thanks to the voluntary fire brigade
The men of the Vallendar and Urbar fire brigades needed more than an hour to clear the drain and cope with the damage. I went up to Mount Moriah to fetch two crates of beer. The commandant said it wasn’t necessary, but I could see that the crews enjoyed their beer.
Video (Heinrich Brehm, schoenstatt.de)
Photos: Dr. Peter Wolf, Weweler
Original: German. Translation: Mary Cole, Manchester, UK
