PARAGUAY, Raquel and Nico Serrati, via Revista Tupãrenda •
On Sunday, April 24th, Family Day in Paraguay, the blessing of our entrance portico to the grounds of the future shrine in the South, near the Encarnación waterfront, was held. The conquest had been prepared before the pandemic and was put on hold for two years. To this end, during the previous week, the process was revitalized by means of a triduum of rosaries at the wayside shrine, which has already been on the grounds for some years. —
Bishop Pistilli blesses the Entrance Porch
Writing our history, we want to share with the family this beautiful moment with the words used during the blessing rite:
“Good morning, welcome everyone. On this Family Day we have gathered for the blessing of the “Portico of access to the grounds of the future shrine of Our Mother Thrice Admirable and Queen of Schoenstatt”, our entrance to the “Holy, Marian, Schoenstatt Land” in the “Nation of God”, a sign of our longing to have her in our midst.
An entrance can be a simple construction, a façade to beautify a house, or it can be loaded with meanings, for example: “entrance to a sacred place”, “a step we take to reach a goal that requires commitment and sacrifice”.
The blessing of the entrance reminds us that each one of us is called to be a living shrine, building the new society with the pillars of the Nation of God: truth, justice and love, working day by day for a Covenant Culture, a culture of attachments, of encounter with our brothers and sisters and with God, committing ourselves to form a closely united family, animated by a strong apostolic spirit, a culture of work and the common good.
This entrance indicates and points out the access to the future shrine as our home, our place of grace for the whole community.
As we cross this entrance, may we remember this day of graces and blessings and thus renew our hearts in the mission of being living shrines.
May each member of this great Schoenstatt family in our diocese feel protagonist in this founding process, with permanent witness and active participation in our church”.
We embrace the commitment to build together our longed-for Shrine
Then, Bishop Francisco Javier Pistilli Scorzara, Bishop of Encarnación, who fraternally accompanied us, solemnly blessed the Entrance, and then, together with the entire family, we went on pilgrimage to the site where the future Shrine will be built. There, around it, holding hands as links of a single strong, united, and committed chain, we embraced the commitment to build together our longed-for Shrine.
We are especially grateful to the coordinators of the work of the Diocese of the Most Holy Incarnation. How exciting to live each moment in this process of conquering the future shrine in the South as a united family! What a pleasure to meet again after so much time and so many things experienced in these last two years!
God’s timing is perfect and on this family day, Jesus was in every detail on this Sunday that the Church celebrates the Divine Mercy; there was no rain, it was a sunny and beautiful day, we saw the children running around as if they were at home, everyone sharing.
What a pleasure to be in this place, our new home! Thank you all for being living shrines in this convocation. We have just begun, and we will remain faithful to our mission.
Embracing the place of the future shrine
Original: Spanish. Translation: Maria Fischer @schoensttt.org
