POLAND, Violetta Wilandt. The Father Symbol, on pilgrimage throughout the world, is currently visiting the Schoenstatt Family in Spain after accompanying the 50th Anniversary of Schoenstatt in Portugal in April, which was celebrated in Fatima. At the end of May during this world pilgrimage, it is bound for its first visit to South America. This pilgrimage’s purpose is to gather and unite the Schoenstatt Family worldwide in preparation for the Centennial of the Covenant of Love. Some attentive readers of schoenstatt.de found out that there was a gap between the Father Symbol’s visit to Hungary in February and the visit to Portugal – a gap now filled by a late but still interesting article on the Father Symbol in Poland two months ago.
During March, the Father Eye visited Poland. It was a really beautiful and important time for the whole Schoenstatt Family in Poland. And we hope it was also a very fruitful time…
The Father Eye came to Poland from Hungary; there are very good relations between these two nations. The Hungarian and Polish people are like brothers. The picture of our Queen of Poland at Jasna Góra came from Hungary, and throughout this history they are close to each other.
The Father Symbol came through all the Shrines, communities, and places where the Schoenstatt Family is present. The Father Symbol visited Poland from north to south from east to west.
Pilgrimage to Jasna Góra
The meeting March 13-14, 2010 at Jasna Góra was very important for the Polish Schoenstatt Family; every year they gather to be close to their Queen of Poland and pray in common as an entire Polish Schoenstatt Family. This year they have been praying especially for the priest and all priestly communities in Schoenstatt. They also prayed for all priests one meets along the path of life, who are serving the people and leading them to God, priests from the parishes and cities where they live… They try to deepen their relationship with God the Father and our Father and Founder…
The aim of this visit to Poland was to make the relationship with Fr. Kentenich deeper and closer by fulfilling the mission of our Father in following his way of everyday sanctity, thereby keeping the mission of Schoenstatt and spreading it out into the places one lives, works, or studies.
This was also an answer to the questions raised from the Polish Schoenstatt Congress 1 in (October 2009), where are they at and what is the future way? They answered by saying their way is to come back to the basics of Schoenstatt and to carry out Fr. Kentenich’s mission in Poland and among the Polish people by being a part of big international Schoenstatt Family.
Furthermore this visit of Father Eye in Poland was also a sign of this relationship between Schoenstatt in Poland and the rest of the world.
In the prayers, they put the situation where they are now including all their projects such as the Families’ Academy, new initiatives, and their future ones… It was really a blest time…
And now some news from our Schoenstatt Shrines:
The Father Symbol in Koszalin
Days March 5-7, the symbol of Father Eye visited the Koszalin diocese. These days were special for the Schoenstatt Movement and the whole diocese. This visit took place together with the Lenten Meeting and Diocesan Symposium of Evangelization.
During the Lenten meeting of the Schoenstatt Family on March 6, around 1,000 people came, and the Father Eye visited (during the Year of the Priests) the Priests’ Seminary in Koszalin, where Father Kazimierz Klawczyński from Scheonstatt Diocesian Priests Institute said the Holy Mass. At the end of this meeting at 9 pm, they prayed the Via Crucis , the Way of the Cross, with the lights on Góra Chełmska around the Sanktuarium Foederis, they put their contributions to the Treasury of Grace.
The Father Symbol in Rokitnica
On the March 27-28, the Father Eye visited Rokitnica. On Saturday we met – the Frauen von Schoenstatt community in Poland – in the Shrine to pray together and ask the Father for blessing for our Family in Poland, for new vocations, for our next step into future – coronation MTA in the Shrine as the Queen of Unity. On Sunday the whole Schoenstatt Family met in the Shrine with the Symbol.
Father Eye in Bydgoszcz
The Father Eye visited Sanktuarium Fidentiae, the Chanel house at the Schoenstatt Sisters’ place, and the House of Queen of Unity in Kolankowo on March10-13, 2010. At the end of March, the Symbol visited pilgrims from Grudziądz on the way to Jasna Góra.
It was really blessed time for everyone – they prayed together and met in this symbol as children with God the Father and the Father and Founder. Prayers for the whole Schoenstatt Family and for everyone preparing for the 2014 Centennial Year were prayed to become children of God and children of Schoenstatt more deeply by finding out what is faith in Divine Providence? How does one follow God’s will and wishes? Can one ask Him why or what is He trying to say? Does one believe God is their Father who loves them and leads them into what is the best for them…?
After common prayer and Holy Mass, everyone had an opportunity to listen to the history of the Father Eye Symbol and also about the worldwide pilgrimage as a preparation for 2014.
