mda. “It is wonderful what is happening: the pilgrimage from all the ends of the world has begun! Yesterday I sent a copy of the links to my Schoenstatt friends throughout the world and they will also communicate it. Our beloved schoenstatt.org web page DOES WORK!!! We are the instruments that the MTA needs: YES, WE ARE MODESTLY AND GENEROUSLY AT HER SERVICE! wrote Tita Andras, a Chilean, who lives in Vienna, Austria. It is true, the news of placing prayers, names, commitments, and photos in a hole left on the wall of the Original Shrine, traveled through the world and it caused emails to arrive, minute by minute, at a breathtaking rythym. On Tuesday, October 8th, at 3:00 p.m. the administrative Commission of the Original Shrine, along with the construction contractor, Mr. Arne Reich, and the foreman presented everything that had arrived. As president of said Commission, Father Heinrich Walter, presented the flashdrive with all the letters sent to the Blessed Mother through schoenstatt.org since 2011, the documents of Conference 2014, the Covenant of Solidarity with Pope Francis, and the project of the one hundred houses of solidarity 2014. Moreover, everything that came since the “extensión” was announced -32 pages printed on both sides – was added; they were wrapped in the photos of the Solidarity House 2014 of the Original Shrine. Then they sealed the wall. Father Egon Zillekens said, “there should be approximately 22,000 names”, counting eveything that was presented directly during these days.
Living stones for Schoenstatt’s second century
Let us recall the origin of this event. During the construction that is being done in the Original Shrine, the sacristan, Mr. Norber Weweler, discovered an access to the old chimney and he said: “We could place something inside”. In an exchange between Father Egon Zillekens and an editor of schoenstatt.org, the idea emerged: “Let us do it, and not only for those who live in the place; but rather, open it to the entire world!” The information was published on schoenstatt.org and it spread in the Schoenstatt neighborhood … and until a little before 3:00 p.m. schoenstatters from all the communities continued to arrive to place something that will remain here forever. Not only Tita Andras, also several other collaborators and readers of schoenstatt.org let others know through their networks, and that is how hundreds of emails with photos, prayers, commitments, and petitions arrived throughout Monday until noon Tuesday from all the Latin American countries, United States, Germany, Italy, and Australia. The amount of emails that arrived from South Africa and New Zealand was impressive. “Are we on time?” – “Could you please let me know if my email arrived?” The eagerness of not missing this unique moment could be felt. “How beautiful it is to be a LIVING STONE in our Cradle, in our House!. Excellent idea and as of now my entire family will be there!”, Juan Barbosa wrote, adding a photo of all of his family.
A simple and silent moment
The moment arrived. The members of the administrative Commission of the Original Shrine, -Father Heinrich Walter, Father Egon Zillekens, Sister Andra-Maria Lingscheid, (the Neisers could not attend) -, Mr. Arne Reich with his wife, the foreman and some “spectators of the place, who did not want to miss this moment were present. Everything was placed in the hole, then it was closed with a stone and it was sealed. A simple and silent moment, a moment of the “nothing without us” expressed by hundreds and hundreds of pilgrims, a key moment in this large pilgrimage of the covenant people toward Jubilee 2014.
For the next 100 years …
“The comment made by someone in Tuparendá impressed me very much”, Father Egon Zillekens said, referring to the news published last week that reads: “One of the men of the preparation groups for October 18th, once said: “For us, the Shrine is like a person. It is infinitely valuable, it is alive. And we would not nail even one nail on its wall to hold anything…” I shared this at the last meeting of the Commission and I remained firm, Father Egon Zillekens related. “The walls of the Original Shrine are not to hang speakers or to nail candle holders. We will find other places to place and to light candles, and also for everything else.”
Some were disillusioned because their letter for the “mailbox in the wall” arrived late. A dream…a desire remains floating in the air…Perhaps some day, there will be an opportunity to present letters, photos or medals…”forever” in the Original Shrine, just as it is possible, for example, in the Shrine of Belmonte or the one of Johannesburg.
But that will be in the futue. For now, the love and the commitment of thousands is buried in the Original Shrine, the Original Shrine that “will truly be ours, as long as we can and want to live the Covenant that sustains it in this way. Simple generosity and efficient giving of self for others” (Father José María García); the Original Shrine that reminds us that “each one of us is called to be an open Shrine to encounter the brother/sister” (Opening Rite for the Jubilee Year in Argentina).
“Thank you for the enormous gift…” wrote Pablo Ibarra, of the Boys’ Youth of Chile. “I feel more than ever that my heart belongs and remains in the Original Shrine.”
Translation: Celina Garza, San Antonio, USA
FOTOS
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| October 8, 2013 |
