COSTA RICA / EL SALVADOR, Patricia Fernández de Perera •
On Thursday, 22 February, a group of women from San Salvador visited a Schoenstatt Shrine in San José, Costa Rica for the first time. But why was the visit of these pilgrims so important? —
They will be a part of a new group of women, the second one beginning their training in San Salvador, where the El Salvador Schoenstatt mission began in September 2017, as part of Schoenstatt reaching out and echoing our founder’s mission.
From soccer to the Shrine
The organized Movement in San Salvador is growing with them, where there are already two groups of recently married couples. Another couple’s group will be formed soon and a group of young professionals, besides the Pilgrim Mother missionaries and the Madrugadores.
Everything developed last January during Fr. José Luis Correa and two other Costa Rican-Family Federation couples’ visit, Anelena Hueda and José Martínez, and Patricia Fernández (who wrote this article) and Isidro Perera, where they had the first encounter with them.
During this meeting, the women commented to Fr. José Luis, that they would make a trip to Costa Rica in February with their sons’ soccer team. Fr. José Luis immediately suggested and invited them to visit the Family of Hope Shrine in San José.
The beauty of the place and the warmth of the welcome
The day arrived; everything was prepared with great affection in the Shrine. They arrived by the end of the afternoon, and a group of women from the Family Branch and the leader of the Costa Rican Schoenstatt Women’s Branch welcomed them. They were given a brochure with which they will begin their training in San Salvador.
The beauty of the place was their first impression, and the warmth, the impression and the affection with which they were welcomed. They immediately began sharing photos of the inside and outside of the Shrine and comments about the place’s beauty on a chat that they created for the group.
“We were fascinated by our visit to the Shrine, all the people who welcomed us were so loving,” Verónica Dada relates. They felt loved at every moment, isn’t that what we have always called the Blessed Mother’s sheltering?
Original: Spanish. 5 March 2018. Translation: Celina M. Garza, San Antonio, TX USA. Edited: Melissa Peña-Janknegt, Elgin, TX USA
