GERMANY, Sister M. Elinor Grimm/mlh. There was an unexpected international encounter at Dachau Concentration Camp’s commemorative place in the roll call square around July 16th – an important date for Schoenstatt – since Father Joseph Kentenich founded the Family Work and the Institute of the Brothers of Mary on this date.
Sister M. Elinor Grimm,who volunteers as a guide in Dachau, invited Sister M. Isabel, from Brazil leader of the girls from Spanish-Portuguese countries who are participating in the “Time in Schoenstatt,” to visit the memorial, where there is a picture of the Mother Thrice Admirable Queen and Victress of Schoenstatt, the “Queen of the Concentration Camp.” Sister Elinor relates:
“A group of ladies arrived from the barracks. They were from the Diocese of Augsburg and Munich accompanied by Sister M. Linda. They had just returned from the Seminarian Hall, and they wanted to renew the presentation of the scepter to the MTA, the same one that the Apostolic League of Women had given as gift in 1992, fifty years after the founding day of the Brothers of Mary and the Family Work. We were happy about this unexpected encounter after an intense day in Dachau.”
An international group
The group that Sister M. Isabel accompanied was composed of some members of the Women’s Federation, two Sisters of Mary from Argentina, who have maintained Eucharistic Adoration in the Original Shrine for three years, and who will return to their nation within two months, and the girls of “Time in Schoenstatt”.
The day before, during the trip to Munich, they made a stop at the Basilica of Ingolstadt and in Kösching, the Parallel Shrine. The girls were very interested and receptive about the Ingolstadt-Schoenstatt parallel.
Sister Elinor continues: “They wanted to receive what Father Kentenich wrote in a telegram sent on July 21, 1968, on the occasion of the placing of the cornerstone of the Shrine: “May the original graces of parallel flow and be abundantly fruitful. J.K.”
The pilgrims from Argentina also felt the same thing when they traveled through the grounds of the Shrine of Koesching on Sunday, July 17th.
“Names, instead of numbers”
Sister Elinor says that there are always profound encounters on the guided visits in Dachau. She told about one of them: “In July I also had a beautiful international experience at the Dachau memorial. I accompanied a group of students from twelve countries. The German government recognized these youth for their outstanding work in the study of German as a foreign language; they were very receptive. The professor, who was the leader, wanted to conclude the visit at the Church of Reconciliation. In the same way as in the schedule of the seminary, there was a valuable exchange. Moreover, I could show them the Book of Remembrance, ‘Names, instead of numbers,’ that is there. I was happy to see that now the pages about Dr. Fritz Kühr are immediately after those about Father Kentenich.”
