ROME, Mons. Dr. Peter Wolf. A trip from Germany to Rome is carried out every year; the Diocesan Institute of Schoenstatt Fathers organized it, and it was also taken this year. On Monday of the first week of Advent, they departed from Schoenstatt and Würzburg respectively in two buses. Father Stefan Keller along with Father Wolf accompanied the bus from the basin of the Rhine River; Father Armin Noppenberger accompanied the one from Liefrauenhoehe. They had a goodnight, and they arrived punctually at 9:00 a.m. on the following morning at Belmonte, where Father Georg Egle and Father Frantisek Jirasek waited for them. The group of eighty people celebrated Mass, and Father Egle prepared them well on the motto of the trip. After checking in at the hotel Tra Noi, they visited Saint Peter’s Basilica during the afternoon. This time there were also some who were visiting it for the first time.
The following morning, they attended the audience with the Holy Father in Saint Peter’s Square. Unfortunately it rained, but everyone withstood it, and they were very impressed with Pope Francis, who shared his experiences of his trip to Turkey the previous week. Father Wolf along with Father Keller greeted the Holy Father, and they expressed their gratitude for the Jubilee audience. He presented the Pope with a brochure about the unity cross, with which the Pope sent the Schoenstatt Movement forth during the Jubilee, and his book with our founder’s texts about the Covenant of Love. The Pope expressed his gratitude and asked for prayers. In this respect, he added: “I need them.”
Saint Francis
During the afternoon, the pilgrims went to Santa Croce (Holy Cross) and from there they went on pilgrimage along the length of the Aurelian wall to the Lateran Church. Father Noppenberger vividly related, how during his time, Saint Francis went on the road with his first companions to see the Pope. Close to the statue of Saint Francis, he recalled the march of the Institute of Priests, when they took their statutes to Rome for the Pope’s approval. The Eucharist was celebrated in the choir chapel of the Lateran Church.
Saint Benedict
On Thursday, they departed from the small Saint Benedict Church in Piscinula to continue the route following the footsteps of the great founders. The church was built over the dwelling that Saint Benedict occupied during his time of study in Rome. Father Keller told the pilgrims what moved Saint Benedict and how he sought a new road in the midst of the fall of the Roman Empire. The group left from here to Aventino, making a stop in Saint Anselmo, where the Benedictine life is presently concentrated in Rome. The road continued toward holy Sabina, where during the time of Saint Dominic, the Dominicans found their place. At this place, Father Keller also presented the desires and the news within the challenges of the times.
Saint Ignatius
During the afternoon, it was about following the footsteps of Ignatius of Loyola. Therefore they planned to celebrate the Eucharist at Saint Mary Major, where Saint Ignatius celebrated his first Mass after a long period of doubt. Father Wolf presented the life of the great founder Ignatius from the time he was wounded in Pamplona to his desert time in Manresa, his pilgrimage to the Virgin of Montserrat, his studies in Paris, and his search for the first companions, finally his priestly ordination in Sienna, and the road to his first Mass in Rome close to the manger in Saint Mary Major. From here the road continued to Saint Paul’s Outside-the-Walls, where they wanted to encounter the founder of the Jesuits once again in the small side chapel. Here, Saint Ignatius consecrated his vows in front of an old cross and the picture of the Virgin with his first companions, after he was chosen as general superior of the order.
The travels through the city made it possible to see and to appreciate many other of the Eternal City’s monuments. That night they passed through Navona Square, the Pantheon, and it ended with a good cup of gelato (ice cream).
The last morning took different groups to places such as the Cor Ecclesiae Shrine of the Sisters of Mary, the Saint Angelo Castle, Saint Mary of Trastevere, the Church of the Apostle Bartholomew – on the Tiberian Island – and Pallotti House, with the tomb of Saint Vincent Pallotti.
Belmonte
It was planned that the final day of the trip would be like the beginning. Father Egle, who represented the community with great enthusiasm, and who had led the pilgrims of the great Jubilee pilgrimage, the month before, took the group via the same path of stations through the large grounds, and showing them the footsteps of our founder, Father Joseph Kentenich in Rome, and of his desire to unite Schoenstatt with the Church and the Holy Father. Then, during the Eucharist, Father Stefan Keller spoke about the road of pilgrimage following the footsteps of the great founders. During this week, many experienced that the founders are a blessing for the Church, and they always help anew in seeking and giving an answer to the challenges of a new era.
Original: German – Translation – Celina M. Garza, San Antonio, TX USA
