BRAZIL, Marcos and Cassiane Weisemann. The Pilgrim Shrine, a replica of the Schoenstatt Shrine built of wood, was inaugurated on July 18th, by Monsignor Orani Tempesta, Archbishop of Río de Janeiro. Since then, some days of open doors have passed to welcome the pilgrims of World Youth Day and all those who want to encounter the Blessed Mother, who is well placed in the heart of the “Marvelous City” that welcomes World Youth Day.
World Youth Day officially begins on July 23rd, but it has already begun for Schoenstatt! In addition to the encounters of the Girls Youth in Atibaia, Sao Paulo (“Cor Unum”) and the Boys’ Youth in Niteroi, Río de Janeiro, (“Ignis”), the Pilgrim Shrine is fully operational. People appear from throughout Brazil to visit the Blessed Mother’s Shrine that is located between Botafoga and Copacabana.
During these days, we have already seen people from the five areas of the country; from near and far: from parishioners of Saint Theresa Parish, from Botafogo, when the Pilgrim Shrine is located, to people from Pará, in the north, or from Río Grande do Sul, at the two extremes of the country.
There are people from throughout the world
And there are beautiful things:
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a small Argentinean, who literally drags his parents inside the Pilgrim Shrine;
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a Dutch family: the parents and their three children are pilgrims of World Youth Day
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an Argentinean lady, who was touched when we manifested our joy of welcoming the Pope’s compatriots;
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a group of catechism children, who sit on the floor of the Shrine to pray and to be with the Blessed Mother;
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a group of more than twenty youth from Sao Paulo and Mexico, who belong to a church movement, accompanied by a priest who gives a testimony about the Schoenstatt Founder: “we need to learn so much from Father Kentenich”;
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a group of seven Schoenstatt youths from Argentina and Mexico, embrace; pray together inside the Shrine and say: “When we saw the Shrine and the statue of the Father and Founder, we got off the bus at the first stop and immediately returned. One of them, happily said, “I very much needed to encounter the Blessed Mother during the journey”
The joy of living this wonderful experience grows with each pilgrim that we welcome.
World Youth Day will begin shortly, but it is already happening in the Pilgrim Shrine!
Spanish/English Celina M. Garza San Antonio, TX USA
