ARGENTINA, org. After frequently reading on the International Schoenstatt website about life around the 200 Shrines and thousands of wayside shrines, Mónica Beatriz Ale decided to send an email to those in charge of this site, because the site not only serves to receive the stories of others; but, it also shares and enriches the great stream of life of its own: “I would like for you to know us. We are from a humble chapel dedicated to the ‘Holy Spirit’ where we have prayed more than 1,000 Hail Marys in adoration on every 18th of the month since 1989…” It is in a place such as the simple wayside shrine in Ingeniero White that the capital of grace is nourished…and where the destinies of Schoenstatt, the destinies of the Original Shrine, and the fruitfulness of great projects and many lives are decided…
“There are about sixty missionaries ‘at the service of our kind Mother,'” Mónica wrote and she stressed that “we are advocates of John Pozzobon’s beatification; he was a loyal pupil of Father Kentenich and the Blessed Mother’s little donkey.” They happily sent photos of the “Holy Spirit” Chapel that has a “Wayside Shrine” in its interior, where the Blessed Mother is enthroned.
If we had to do it again, we would do it again without thinking twice
How did the Schoenstatt Rosary Campaign begin in Igeniero White? Since it couldn’t have happened in any other way, it began through Father Esteban Uriburu. Mónica Beatriz relates: “In 1993 Father Esteban Uriburu blessed the community of Ingeniero White during his last visit to Bahía Blanca. The first Pilgrim MTA was received on June 18, 1989, and in September of the same year, we began the One Thousand Hail Marys in adoration under precarious conditions. In 1991we moved to the Little Chapel without doors or windows, in cold, heat, rain, and wind, but with great love and commitment. Those were our beginnings here, and if we had to do it again, we would do it in the same way without thinking twice.”
A concrete response to life
There is a great deal of life around the shrine, and the Campaign responds, like everywhere, to the concrete needs of daily life. In one of the photos that was sent, the Pilgrim MTA for expectant mothers was covered with souvenirs with the names of the children who were born through Her; this Pilgrim MTA has been on pilgrimage since 1991.
Many children who attend catechism receive the Pilgrim MTA for children.
On October 18, 2011, at the conclusion of the Year of the Father, they enthroned the Father Symbol in the wayside shrine.
“Some crowns that were made with great love will go on pilgrimage for three years among the consecrated missionaries, because Providentially the missionaries of the Campaign will celebrate twenty years in this blessed place,” they shared.“Unas coronas hechas con mucho amor van a peregrinar durante 3 años entre los misioneros consagrados, porque la Providencia hizo que entre septiembre y octubre de 2014 cumplirán 25 años como misioneros de la Campaña en este bendecido lugar”, comparten.
Just like every year, they will pray an Illuminated Rosary in December as a gift to Mary for completing another year of the apostolate.
PHOTOS
Celina M. Garza: Spanish/English translation – Melissa Peña-Janknegt: English edit
