ECUADOR, Sister María Gracia. Heroes of Fire-Golden Family marching towards 2014: This motto illuminated the traditional Joseph Engling Vigil that the Boys’ and Girls’ Youth from Guayaquil celebrate and which “providentially” this year was united with the celebration of the Holy Mass for Ecuador in the Original Shrine.
“As an Ecuadorian Family – consecrated on the paten – we unite around the Original Shrine and we commit to give ourselves for it and for the salvation of our nation, like Joseph Engling did. He is the hero who showed us the way towards 2014,” was the special statement prepared for this unique experience on November 5th and 6th, 2010.
A heart of gold
“With the jubilee impulse that we received during the celebration of 50th Anniversary of Schoenstatt in Ecuador, we enter the triennium as a Family of Gold – that has a golden heart – like Joseph Engling had. This heart of gold is a ‘five star’ heart, which embodies this covenant culture within itself, expressed in the Founding Document and in the guiding stars of our pedagogy.
The following quote from the Father and Founder about Joseph Engling illuminated this night in which they gave themselves to the Shrine:
“In the life of Joseph Engling, we find what Grignion de Montfort said about the Marian apostles of the latter times. Joseph Engling is one ‘of the great men who will come, whom Mary will form and prepare for a command from the one on High to extend his kingdom over the atheists, the idolaters, and the Mohammedans’. This about men who should be considered as sharpened arrows in the hands of Mary…who purified by the fire of great tribulations and intimately united with God, carry in their heart the gold of love, the incense of prayer in their spirit, and the myrrh of mortification in their body” (Father Kentenich about Joseph Engling. Text taken from Father Kentenich’s greeting to the Schoenstatt Family from Essen for the 82nd Congress of German Catholics on September 7, 1968.)
Vigil in Guayaquil and Quito
About 250 youth and 100 members from the different Branches, Institutes and Federations of our Schoenstatt Work in Ecuador began arriving at 8:00 p.m., to unite in prayer around the Original Shrine. The Family from Quito also joined this moment from the Joseph Engling School of that city.
The vigil began at 8:30 p.m. around the Guayaquil Shrine with impressive motivational videos about the life of Joseph Engling as our Hero of Fire. Then those gathered had a beautiful experience called the “route of fire” in which they traveled through different stations of the Joseph Engling’s life that showed the application of the guiding stars of the Schoenstatt pedagogy related with a part of the Founding Document.
The night was filled with youthful joy, enthusiasm, and with an immense desire to enter our Original Shrine as an Ecuadorian Family. This vigil was prepared with great awareness to detail of this historic moment for this nation that was entering the triennium by going through the door of the Shrine in Schoenstatt. It was a gift to be able to do it by having Joseph Engling present who gave himself completely to his Little Mother in the Shrine. Like him, everyone wanted to be loyal to the inheritance they received from the first ones.
A Family attached to the Original Shrine
At midnight they prepared for the Mass with a beautiful time of adoration of the Blessed Sacrament, in which they expressed their gratitude for the Schoenstatt presence in their nation. And at 1:15 a.m., they celebrated the Eucharist united to the Original Shrine through the direct transmission. It was a great gift that Father Ángel Strada presided at the Eucharist; he had had been in Ecuador a few months ago to celebrate the Golden Anniversary of the arrival of Schoenstatt. Everything grew closer; it was also special to see members of of the Ecuadorian Family who live in German giving the readings, guiding the prayers of the faithful, and singing. The atmosphere that surrounded the Shrine during those moments was holy. It was one of profound silence and piety allowing all to experience that they had entered the Original Shrine. Everything was perfectly synchronized; Father Patricio, who celebrated the Mass in Guayaquil, translated what Father Ángel was saying in German. Care was taken to have ten Eucharistic Ministers so that they would not fall behind Germany at that time, since there were 500 people.
Do you want to give yourselves for the Original Shrine like Joseph Engling?
After the Eucharist, a loyalty ring was formed around the Shrine as an expression of their giving of self for the Original Shrine. The chain was enormous, everyone held hands and with lighted candles they carried out their commitment. It was then that Father Patricio asked the question in the name of the Father and Founder: “Father’s Family, consecrated on the paten: Do you want to give yourself for the Original Shrine like Joseph Engling?” Everyone responded: “Yes Father, united on the paten, we commit ourselves: Your Covenant, our mission.” To seal this unforgettable moment in their souls, they sang: “Lord attach me to your Shrine with unbreakable bonds.”
After this there was an atmosphere of incredible joy. Everyone truly felt as one Family around the Father and Founder. With him they experienced this moment in the Original Shrine through the hand of Joseph Engling.
Beginning at 2:30, the Boys’ and Girls’ Youth continued with the vigil activities: dynamics, workshops, and the traditional concert with which they saw the sunrise.
It was truly a heavenly moment, unforgettable…the general comment was: “We were truly in the Original Shrine,” that is what everyone experienced, that is how they lived it from their nation. And now they feel that they are sent to bring to life the covenant culture in daily life like Joseph Engling, our Older Brother did.
Translation: Celina Garza, San Antonio, USA/Melissa Janknegt, Elgin, USA
