BRAZIL, Ruy Kaercher, Maria Fischer • “You gather what I am aiming at: I would like to make this place a place of pilgrimage, a place of grace for our house and for the whole German province, and perhaps even further afield. All those who come here to pray shall experience the glory of Mary and confess: “It is good for us to be here. Here we will build our tents, here our favorite place.” Words from the first Founding Document that we Schoenstatters know almost by heart. Words that
Read More BRAZIL, Ruy Kaercher/ Maria Fischer • “And we finally arrived at 1977, the year of the construction and inauguration of the Shrine of Santa Cruz, the sixth shrine in Brazil, the diocesan shrine of this land. We began this year with new enthusiasm and great conviction that this would be the year marked by heaven for special graces to be worked in this land.” Father’s footsteps generate life. “Precisely three days before the 30th anniversary of the Founding Father’s visit to Santa Cruz, construction work began on the shrine. The
Read More BRAZIL, Maria Fischer • “What builds and maintains a Schoenstatt Shrine? I answer: hearts in Covenant with the Blessed Mother. That is the raw material of a Schoenstatt Shrine, abundant in today’s Chapel, or rather, in the always Shrine.” — Comment made by Luis Ventorini to the article about life around the Shrine in Santa Cruz do Sul that was published a few days ago. Hearts in Covenant with the Blessed Mother gathered once again on the afternoon of Covenant Day, November 18, 2022, as has always happened before and
Read More BRAZIL, Ruy Kaercher • The activities of the Apostolic Movement, linked to the “Mother of God Chapel”, continue. Last 08/11/2022 we had the prayer of the Food Rosary; each participant brings non-perishable food that is later distributed to people in socially fragile conditions. — On the floor you can see the Rosary drawn, and on which the food that each participant brings is placed. After the Rosary, we gave part of what was collected to the Mãe de Deus day care center, which serves ninety-five children and operates next to
Read More PORTUGAL, Lena Castro Valente • Since last August there is a shrine (once a shrine, always a shrine) with a glass door and windows in Brazil. Since the old stained glass windows were removed, we can say that the current ones are simply made of glass. — To know what is happening in the life of the Schoenstatt Movement throughout the world is a necessity and a grace. To be able to feel the beating of the heart of the life that springs from the more than 200 shrines that
Read More BRAZIL, Ruy Kaercher, Maria Fischer • For two years, since that overnight action in which the Sisters of Mary removed the altar and other elements from the Shrine of Santa Cruz do Sul, there have been about eight hundred mentions of this Shrine in the local press, including articles, press releases, letters to the editor, and statements by prominent citizens. This makes this shrine, of which only the walls and the great love of its pilgrims remain, the one with the greatest media attention worldwide. To all this, a few
Read More BRAZIL, Maria Fischer • “What if we launched a large international campaign seeking contributions to the Capital of Grace to help our brothers and sisters in Santa Cruz do Sul to reconquer and rebuild their shrine? Let us create a great current of support and accompaniment for them and show them that there is also community in Schoenstatt. It is an idea…” An idea that Claudio Ardissone from Assunción suggested to his international team members at schoenstatt.org when he saw the pictures of the interior of the shrine, with its
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