PORTUGAL, José Vilarinho. The Portuguese Schoenstatt Family pilgrimages toward 2014 together with the International Schoenstatt Family, thus the star of the Covenant culture guides their commitment with “Together for Europe”. A group of men from the Shrine in Aveiro is making a totally original contribution in the sense of the steps of the pilgrimage. With the motto- anyone can run or fly- they are pedaling the 2,500 miles separating them from the Original Shrine, on a pilgrimage of cyclists to and from the Shrines, chapels, wayside shrines and other Marian shrines. The Pilgrim Mother of the Cyclists for 2014 is always with them!
They share: As part of our journey towards the Original Shrine and 2014, January 22nd was the day set aside to create another link in the network. Thirteen cyclists arrived at the Schoenstatt Shrine in the Tabor Centre, Aveiro Diocese, at 07:00 with the temperature sitting about 7?C, for Morning Prayer and beginning our journey. At 08:00, we caught the boat to São Jacinto. The sun rose as we were on the water, hailing the start of a marvelous day. The calm of the river in the early morning, and the reflection of the sun exuded peace and tranquility, making us feel the protecting hand of our dear MTA there to protect and guard us throughout our journey.
Having made our crossing, we began our journey to the Canidelo Shrine, where we expected to arrive at about midday.
The number of Our Lady’s cyclists climbed to thirteen, and on this day, two new members joined us for the first time — Hugo Riço (representing the Boys’ Youth) and Joana Santos (the only Girls’ Youth representative).
A view of the sea that stretched to infinity
The hours went by, and we were going at a steady pace, and always had lots of company, because we came across many groups of cyclists throughout the ride.
The road that took us through Furadouro and Espinho led us to where we stopped for a small break and some sustenance. We continued once again to Miramar, there we stopped to visit the Senhor da Pedra (the Lord of the Stone) Chapel.
Here, we met up with some Family members who accompanied us by car, our official reporter, Paulo Teixeira, and his wife, Fami, who always join us. On behalf of all of Our Lady’s cyclists, thank you so much!
We were anxious to reach our destination, and so we carried on for the rest of the way, joined by lots of sun and a view of the sea that stretched to infinity.
The journey towards 2014 continues
Upon our arrival, Sr. Lúcia was waiting for us, and she kindly welcomed us all. Since Fr. Carlos Alberto could not be there to celebrate a Thanksgiving Mass, we prayed together with family and friends, giving thanks for yet another link in our network and asking for the strength to continue, for the journey is long.
The shared lunch was very cheerful and even though a “light” lunch was recommended, it was anything but “LIGHT.” Thank you to all the grannies, which prepared the treats!
Lunch was followed by a visit to the new Father Joseph Kentenich Room and at about 14:30, we were ready to make our way back. The return journey went well and by 19:00 we were already in Gafanha de Nazaré. Congratulations to the new cyclists who did not give up and completed the 140km.
The Journey to 2014 continues. There is a still a long way to go to complete the 2,500km that connect our Tabor Shrine to the Mother Shrine. For this reason, it was with great joy that we were asking: “When is the next ride?” even before we arrived in Aveiro.
We completed the fourth link in our NETWORK and have traveled a total of 631km. We have a plan to connect our Tabor with the Shrine of our Lady of Health in Vale de Cambra in February. This will be 55km in each direction.
We will have more news once everything has been planned!
UNITED IN THE COVENANT ON THE WAY TO 2014
Source http://schoenstatt50aveiro.blogspot.com
Translation: Sarah-Leah Pimentel, Pretoria, South-Africa
