ROME/ARGENTINA, Rosita Ciola. At last, the long awaited day had arrived; the cornerstone of the Shrine of Belmonte was going to be laid. As soon as I received the news, I arranged my work schedule so that I could participate in this great event and there I went…!! On December 8, 2003, I departed by train from Trento and then a taxi took me to the hotel where the pilgrims who came from the different points of Italy and Europe were staying. A bus was waiting for us there that would take us to Belmonte.
I did not know the place and I was very eager to know how this “beautiful place” would be. Upon arriving, I was impressed to see the very beautiful grounds that the Blessed mother had chosen to establish herself.
A hundred people met that afternoon where the cold froze our bones, but our hearts were on fire for love of the Mater Ter Admirabilis. This great inner fire also helped us to resist the low temperature. In this way we could happily participate of that great moment.
The International Schoenstatt Family was gathered to offer the Blessed Mother that land so that She could transform it into a “sunlit meadow…” where She would soon establish her Throne of Graces.
I looked up and I saw Her on the stage
The General Presidency to the representatives of all the branches addressed some words to the Blessed Mother, expressing the joy, gratitude and the fervent desire that She would have her Shrine here. Curiously, there was no representative of the Rosary Campaign, who would manifest our missionary sense, or any of the pilgrims? I felt very sad and I thought: how is it possible that no one represents us at such an historic moment? Suddenly, I looked up toward the stage and I saw Her, in Her Auxiliary Shrine for the Blind, presiding over the ceremony. It should be made clear that I took this picture from Argentina (where this modality emerged) to Italy, for the purpose that it go on mission in Europe. This day it was in Belmonte to share in the ceremony along with other Pilgrim MTAs, as it usually happens, in our countries, during these celebrations. Then we saw the possibility that someone could take it to Schoenstatt. What is certain is that this picture was the only one that was there and the organizers had placed it on the stage, precisely in the place where She wanted to be.
My heart began to beat rapidly and I felt that I was mistaken: there was no one better than our Mother, the Great Missionary, to represent the missionaries and the pilgrims. The emotion was so great that I could not contain the tears. I began to thank her once and again for this great detail of love. And at this moment I remember that I told her: “Blessed Mother, always remain with us! I implore you to give the Campaign the grace of filling this Shrine”.
This experience mobilized me very much and a few moments later, I could share it with Monsignor Peter Wolf, who manifested his great joy that all of us could be present on that occasion and very kindly…he accepted to take the Auxiliary Shrine of the Blind to the Original Shrine!!! Thanks to the help that Father Ángel Strada gave us.
Ten years later, the Blessed Mother continues to work
More than ten years have passed since that unforgettable day. And I “coincidentally” received an article through the Dreamteam of schoenstattorg, more precisely from our beloved María Fischer; the article came from Italy and it was to be translated to Spanish and it precisely made reference to the Shrine of Belmonte that was preparing for the visit of John Pozzobon, the grandson of the initiator of the Rosary Campaign. They were inviting all the people who wanted to participate, asking for pilgrimages to register for better organization. This is really wonderful.
How exciting!! Almost thirty-five years since John Pozzobon arrived to Rome with the Original Pilgrim MTA, his grandson arrives for a visit.
So many things passed through my mind. I could see God’s steps throughout these one hundred years and I also saw how the Blessed Mother is arranging the pieces of this great puzzle so that She can carry out her mission. She attaches, moves hearts, convokes, encourages, opens doors, untangles situations, and makes impossible things in the eyes of men a reality.
The Blessed Mother is working again. She displayed such ingenuity, how many strings has she pulled so that John (the grandson_ would arrive from Brazil to Barcelona and from there to Belmonte, to give testimony about his beloved his grandfather. The young John brought a strong presence of John Pozzobon to Belmonte and along with him the grandiose Campaign of the Pilgrim Virgin also arrives!!
So many people came to Belmonte on Saturday, the 11th, to meet John, this wonderful, humble, sensible and great hearted youth, who was born the same year that his grandfather returned to the House of the Father. He is a witness of the light that John Pozzobon left in his family and in the great missionary work that he began one day in Santa Maria, Brazil and with time, arrived to the five continents. The young John has surely left Belmonte the living memory and the heart of our beloved John Pozzobon forever.
The fire that gives impetus to continue the mission
Belmonte will no longer be the same. The fire of that simple, kind, restless family man, who knew perfectly how to capture the Schoenstatt spirit and who was a mad lover of the Blessed Mother, whom he took in his heart and on his shoulders for the length of 140,000 kilometers from 1950 to the end of his life in 1985, has inflamed many hearts, that as of now, want to continue his mission.
He used to say that the Campaign would travel by jet and it happened. Today, Belmonte gathers the missionaries at the beginning of this jubilee year, a special year of graces and also of new challenges. Many, many more people will arrive to this Shrine throughout the entire year; perhaps some will continue their trip to the Original Shrine to celebrate the first one hundred years of the Covenant of Love there. Some will do it on the return trip, when they arrive to Rome to participate in the Audience with Holy Father Francis. There the Schoenstatt Family will place itself once more at the disposal of the Church, offering it our charism. No one will resist the temptation to fly by Belmonte, to the “Shrine of All” to visit, even if it is for a little while, the Blessed Mother will be waiting there to give her children the jubilee blessings and to the ones who are on fire for the mission, She will give the apostolic and missionary blessing.
The Holy Rosary Campaign of the Pilgrim Virgin has come to Belmonte to stay and to fill that sunlit meadow with pilgrims. Once again, the Blessed Mother is making a missionary petition a reality:
Mother Thrice Admirable,
let us always be your instruments,
lovingly giving ourselves in your service
today and forever.
Use us it please God,
entirely for your Schoenstatt world.
(Hymn of Instruments, Heavenwards, p. 162)
Original Spanish – Translation: Celina M. Garza San Antonio, TX USA
