GERMANY, mkf. The first blessing that the Church gives a small human being is the one he/she receives in the womb of his mother. For several years, the Mothers’ Branch of the Schoenstatt Movement has made it possible for mothers to be to receive God’s blessing for their child, and they show them that they are welcomed by the Church with open arms – through the initiative – Parent’s Blessing. This blessing was carried out for the fourth time on the last Sunday of February in the Cathedral of Saint Paul in Münster, and for the first time it was organized as a joint work between the pastoral department of the episcopate of Münster and the Mothers’ Branch.
At approximately 5:00 p.m. almost all the colored booties that had been knitted with great care had been distributed. At the beginning of the blessing ceremony, these booties occupied the entire communion rail of the Cathedral of Saint Paul: they were colorful and vibrant like the fountains with primroses around the altar, resplendent blots of color in the gray of the cathedral. “My baby, someday I will tell you about it,” said a future mother who took a long time choosing the booties that she wanted. “Someday I will tell him/her that someone had made something for them when they had not yet come to this world.” She blinked to hold back the tears before going to the ladies, who had greeted her so affectionately at the door of the Cathedral: “Thank you, thank you for everything”.
Someone is awaiting you, little one…
Announcements had been placed at the kindergartens, parishes, and on the bulletin boards of the entire diocese, and many fliers had been distributed…But even so, there was nervousness before the ceremony: How many mothers and families would actually come? It rained constantly since morning, and it was disagreeably cold…then the first ones arrived! Some were radiant, others were aloof, some were in an advanced stage of pregnancy, others were at the beginning of those very special nine moths, many came with their spouses, children, friends, parents, grandparents…No one was sure of an exact number, but surely there were fifty pregnant women who came: some came from far, even from the Lower Rhine. “It is worthwhile to do it even for one future mother, for one child,” said a lady from the Branch who greeted them at the door of the church. “But it is very beautiful when there are many.” Here one will receive a smile, free of cost, read an announcement at a cafe in front of the church, this also applied to the Cathedral.
Many came. Shortly before four o’clock the large Cathedral of Saint Paul was already full of young life. And the colorful booties on the communion rail awaited the babies that will be born within one, two, three or nine months. Someone awaits you, little one…if you were not born, someone would have knitted those booties in vain. Someone awaits you, little one, someone who wants to give you much more than these booties.
Welcome life
Punctually at 4:00 p.m. accompanied by the organ, the Auxiliary Bishop, Monsignor Ostermann entered the Cathedral with Elisabeth Helmich and the other ladies of the Branch. The psalms, hymns, meditations, and prayers expressed in different words a single message: life is precious, life is unique, to welcome life is an experience of the complete closeness of God, it is the experience of Mary… My God, I am grateful that I am your miracle. The choir from the Parish of Holy Cross from Heek led by Christian Hubert pleasantly accompanied and animated the ceremony with appropriate songs. Bishop Ostermann spoke of the miracle each mother and father holds when a child is born, and he invited the parents to place all their fears and insecurities in the hands of God.
The petitions covered the most diverse situations and frame of mind related to the pregnancy: an uncontainable joy for the child, vague fears, worry whether the child would be completely healthy, fear of an unplanned birth or perhaps unwanted child…A gaze at the group showed shiny eyes or blinking back tears, one hand searching for another. One way or another, the feeling was: yes, this is what we are. This is how we feel. This is why we are here.
The blessing
The parents prayed asking for the blessing for their child. Bishop Ostermann blessed everyone together, but at a given moment, as always, it was an individual blessing, each mother, each father, or the entire family. It was good that Sister Maria Jeannette and Elsabeth Helmich included the fathers and the children in the Bishop’s invitation to the mothers to come forward to receive the personal blessing.
Bishop Ostermann asked the Canon, Monsignor Kart Schulte, to help with the personal blessings, and he did it with visible joy and personal attention. Contrary to the usual practice, all the parents went to the communion rail together instead of one in front of the other, but at that very personal moment the blessing was the same. It is interesting…after the prayer and final song, the couples sat very close to one another in the pews…
A personal gift for each child
At the end they had to go to the communion rail once again to choose a pair of booties and a beautiful prayer prepared by the ladies of the Branch gave it a special touch. There they took their time in choosing the booties, and they were happy. “Why are these booties on the communion rail?” asked a young woman. She had just arrived at the Cathedral. “Was there a ceremony?” “Yes, a blessing for expectant mothers,” someone answered. “Oh, too bad that I did not know about it! May I…because I am…good, I would gladly…” They understood. And why shouldn’t the booties that were at the blessing receive a blessing?
Für alle, die den Segen im Paulus-Dom verpasst haben: Es gibt ihn dieses Jahr noch an 139 Orten in Deutschland.
For those who did not know about the blessing at the Cathedral of Saint Paul this year you can receive it at 139 places in Germany.
Video
Photalbum
Video (Christian Hubert)
Translation: Celina Garza, San Antonio, USA
