ECUADOR, Verito Patiño. With this motto, about ninety Girls from Guayaquil and Samborondón gathered from January 23rd to the 28th to experience the adventure of a new camp in Cuenca. They began with a Mass in the shadow of the Shrine to be sent forth from this place of grace. At first many of the girls did not know each other because they are from different schools; that is normal. After the Mass, this reality began to change because while some were still registering, others were going to the bus to get the best seats, since it was going to be a long trip. There they began to make new friends.
During the trip, there were songs, jokes, and photos. When they arrived at Monai house, where they would stay, the girls did not wait for one second to get off the bus, gather their things, and go to find their rooms. The house was simple, there was some remodeling that caused some complaints, but after a few days these were transformed into offerings to the capital of grace. This was reflected in the capital of grace that increased with each day. All of this encouraged the girls to continue to make sacrifices, to complain less, and to discover that you can be happy with less.
To create a Covenant Culture for Ecuador
The theme of the camp was making a trip; it was a trip toward 2014 with layovers in Cuenca, in Madrid for World Youth Day with the final destination- Germany. They wanted to begin the jubilee triennium as Girls holding Father’s hand discovering how to live the Covenant of Love in daily life, and in this way, creating a COVENANT CULTURE in the country and in the Church. For this reason as in every trip, each girl was given a passport; they were asked a question to determine if they could receive a German visa. They also received a travel bag and a claim ticket for their luggage, so they would not lose it. As on every flight, there were stewardesses who reviewed the rules for the trip. They taught them about the oxygen mask to protect them offensive words, how the emergency lights are used for a safe trip to arrive at the heart of Jesus through the Blessed Mother, that the life jacket would save us from drowning in superfluous thoughts. This was how the camp opening the way toward the great Jubilee began. They boarded Schoenstatt Airlines, and the objective was to “transform the world” creating this new culture, the Covenant Culture.
The decorations of the place also situated them in Original Schoenstatt. There were four special places where the passports were stamped when you went through them: the Original Shrine, Father’s tomb, the tombs of the heroes, and the Adoration Church. At Father’s tomb, there was even a “Schoenstatt DHL” that included stamps so that they could write letters to Father to ensure that they would arrive as soon as possible.
To live the Founding Document
During the first days, they studied two main themes: The Covenant and the Founding Father. The subject was always introduced with a short drama or video followed by testimonies, and then they did work-groups delving deeper into the subject. The first day was about the Covenant of Love, where they began by determining what it meant to create a culture. A video was shown about different kinds of cultures: Chinese, African, Disney, American, and then we concentrated on “the Covenant”. What is creating a culture? It means living like Mary: what she would do and from the heart of Mary to be “living crowns” and small Queens at this time and to reflect that royalty in each and every act- to always be a Queen. In order to do this one should learn to live in the practice of this Covenant and to make it concrete to the demands that the Blessed Mother presents us in the Founding Document. We did not go into depth on all of them, but the following were selected:
1. “Prove to me first with deeds that you truly love me.” Here Joseph Engling taught them how to educate themselves and that self-education is a concrete way of proving to the Blessed Mother that you love her.
2. “Fulfilling your duties faithfully and conscientiously.” Julio Steinkaul taught them how to be faithful to their studies, to chores at home, and in extra-curricular activities.
3. “An ardent life of prayer.” Barbara Kast taught them how to pray, attaching themselves to the Shrine, and the importance of praying for others not only for oneself.
4. “Diligently bring me contributions to the capital of grace.” Enrique Schäffer helped them to be aware that the capital of grace helps others, without it Schoenstatt could not be fruitful.
To deepen in the life of Father Kentenich
Since 2011 is his year, the second day was dedicated to Father Kentenich. In him they saw his spirit of sacrifice, his faith in Divine Providence, his being profoundly rooted in the Blessed Mother, how he lived his Covenant of Love, his humility and his joy. The thing that impressed the Girls most was his humility and joy. They could not understand how Father always maintained a smile on his face after the suffering he endured, or how Father decided to go freely to Dachau when he had the opportunity not to go. This is what they liked the best about his life, and for this reason, they also decided to go deeper into his life.
The last day they had a short experience that went with the subject. The experience of the Covenant was based on the different writings of Barbara Kast in respect to the consecration. They learned how she profoundly felt as a daughter. How she entrusted her eyes, her ears, her tongue, and her heart to the Blessed Mother. After this each one received a little covenant medal representing that they had sealed their Covenant again. The experience with Father Kentenich began with a narrative about his life. It was a short biography that summarized the most important points of his life: from his birth until the day he returned to the eternal Schoenstatt, covering the four milestones. At the end, the girls were encouraged to write Father a letter expressing their gratitude for each gift they had received and asking him to give them one of his qualities that they wanted to embody. The day ended with a bonfire, where they ate marshmallows and burned the letters while they sang.
Praying for the families that would receive the missions
Next the mission days followed. They dedicated two days of going on a mission, where they divided into two large groups. The younger ones went to a school in the area, and the older ones went on door-to-door missions. The younger ones played with the school children, they taught them songs, and they presented workshops. The older ones went with their picture of the Blessed Mother to each family, and they had time for prayer with them. Then they invited the people to tell them their petitions, so that they could be presented to Jesus during adoration, which was held every night. During this time, they prayed for the families that were visited by saying the names out loud.
Missions began early in the morning, and everyone was back in time for lunch. The girls returned very tired but happy. When they returned home, they spoke enthusiastically about their experiences, and the beautiful thing was that each girl had something important to contribute. They were impressed by the cases of the people they visited, and it was there that they realized how privileged they were.
This was the Girls 2011camp, they truly felt that Father Joseph (as they called the Founding Father) had taken them by his hand, and he opened their hearts to the treasure of the Covenant and the treasure of his own life. Together they discovered the joy of being a part of this large Schoenstatt Family, and they returned to their homes to create an authentic Covenant Culture as Schoenstatt Girls and in this way paving a way to promptly canonize Father Kentenich. “With you Father, your Covenant, our Mission.”
Translation: Celina Garza, Melissa Janknegt, USA
