ECUADOR, Sister María Gracia Bambino. Among the many activities of the Girls’ Youth from Quito during the past months, the most missionary moment as such “of 2014” and “of Francis” was certainly the sending forth of a young girl as a missionary to Abu Dahabi. She is a cousin of a young lady of the Girls’ Youth from Quito, and she lives in United Arab Emirates. One afternoon of mission during the camp was also a milestone in this time marked by the crowning current with the motto “Queen, my loyalty crowns you.”
After a year of conquest with the motto, Queen, my loyalty crowns you, the Girls’ Youth from Quito crowned the Blessed Mother as Queen of perpetual loyalty. As the crowning prayer says the desire is to always be loyal: “We would like to be a pure, radical, joyful, strong, and loyal with numerous youth. Through us, may God give our nation, the Church and the entire world, the small Mary, the small crowned Queen, who knows how to be loyal.”
Approximately fifty young girls gathered around the Alangasí Shrine to participate in a journey of preparation for the crowning of the Blessed Mother. The expectations were very high; it was the first time that they offered the Blessed Mother the RTA crown as Girls’ Youth from Quito. In this way, they joined the great international current of Schoenstatt Girls’ Youth. An important characteristic of this celebration was when they were about to crown the queen; they were crowned as small Queens by Her with each one receiving a small RTA crown.
During the crowning retreat, they set the standards for their RTA lifestyle, which will help them to reflect Mary’s royalty in daily life; it is “Mary’s secret crown” that each one wears on their forehead. In order to set the standards of their RTA lifestyle, they had workshops about the symbolism of the original crown that was given to the Girls’ Youth by Father Kentenich, and that was lost on an international trip. For this reason they began with the German terms:
R (Reinheit): purity
T (Treue): loyalty
A (Adelig): noblity
And they analyzed it from four distinct aspects: in being, speaking, dress and prayer. It was very beautiful to see the profound desire that is in each young lady to reflect the royalty of Mary and also how to connect it to practical life.
They accomplished very interesting points, for example, in the R, the purity of dress:
To reflect the Blessed Mother (before going out, ask oneself if they would go to the Shrine dressed this way.)
There were other more original ones such as: To be attentive to combing oneself (to always be combed.)
Or in speaking: To refrain from the negative (if I am not going to say something good, it is better to be quiet.)
It was a beautiful experience for the young ladies; during the crowning ceremony, they loudly sang the hymn that they composed for this day.
They were all convinced that the Thrice Admirable Queen of Schoenstatt had noticed the effort of her youths, and that She would give them the grace of loyalty that they desire and that Schoenstatt needs very much. The “gift of the Original Shrine” was a response to this crowning, news that arrived a few days before this great crowning celebration.
Mantle of Mary’s Apostles was received
After a beautiful retreat close to the Shrine, thirty little girls received their symbolic mantle of Mary’s Apostles. They were so happy to the point that one little one told her mother: “I have to take a bath and be pretty because this ceremony is as important as my wedding.”
Such were the expressions of the desire that each one had to receive this little piece of Mary’s mantle that would protect them and help them every day to reflect the Queen. During the retreat, they had workshops about joy, service, and the purity of a little girl as Mary’s Apostle.
Camp of Schoenstatt allies in Quito: “Living crowns, apostles of the covenant”
In the middle of July, the allies from Quito also had a short camp close to the Shrine. The objective was:
“To inflame ourselves with jubilee joy for Schoenstatt’s 100th Anniversary, and the mission that we have as living crowns to give our lives for our Queen, announcing the Covenant of Love.”
The camp was very blessed: “since we are on the threshold of the centennial we want to announce Schoenstatt with the same strength of the first sodalists, the Schoenstatt heroes. We had the idea of looking at the ‘super heroes’ characters of the comic books. They also had a strength, a weakness and above all a mission to accomplish to save humanity,” they explained. This how the girls began to see these super heroes:
° Super strength (Hulk): Covenant of Love with the MTA.
° Fly (Wonder Woman): Reach the heights: holiness.
° Climate control (Storm): Control the change of moods.
° Light (Green Lantern): Illumine the life of others.
° Capable of recovering from any physical harm: (Wolverine): Sacrificial strength.
Then they discovered that there was a “hero” in each one of them whom the Blessed Mother needs to continue to build Schoenstatt. In the workshops, they learned about the lives of the real life heroes such as Father Kentenich, Joseph Engling, and Max Brunner…they taught them how to be Schoenstatt heroes in the small everyday things.
They spent one afternoon of the camp on mission. During these hours, they had the opportunity to meet with a family of limited resources and with a blind lady. They cleaned her house, they put it in order, and they washed the kitchen dishes…it was an enriching experience; they returned very happy.
Two moments marked this camp strongly:
° 
Each one of the participants worked on a short RTA Spiritual Schedule with which they will conquer the points of the life style that they formulated during the crowning journey.
° Among the participants, one arrived accompanied by her cousin who lives in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. The young lady was commissioned as a missionary of the Pilgrim MTA. The Blessed Mother went there to conquer the young hearts of this country.
It was truly a beautiful experience, each one returned to her family with the desire to be an authentic “Living Crown, apostle of the covenant.”
Original: Spanish – Translation Celina M. Garza San Antonio, Texas USA
