Sr. Marianna Kulakowska. On February 11, 2012, the Holy Mass toward 2014 will be celebrated in the Original Shrine “in covenant with Russia”. The surface area of this country is 17,075,200 km2; it is the largest of the entire world. The surface area of the land is 16,995,800 km2 and the area covered by water is 79,440 Km2. Russia is located between Europe and the Pacific Ocean. There is still discussion as to which continent it belongs. Some see it as part of Europe, others see as part of Asia. It is twice the surface area of the United States. Its borders are 20k 095.5 km, and it has borders with many countries because of its size and its location.
There are approximately 750,000 Catholics in Russia, more or less than 0.5% of the total population. The Catholics of the Latin rite have four suffragan dioceses of one archdiocese and one apostolic prefecture.
Schoenstatt in Russia
At Fatima, the Holy Virgin said: “If my request is heeded, Russia will be converted and there will be peace; if not Russia will spread her errors throughout the world, causing wars and persecution of the Church. The good will be martyred, the Holy Father will have much to suffer; many nations will be annihilated. In the end, my Immaculate Heart will triumph.” (7-13-1917) Father Joseph Kentenich firmly believed that these promises would be fulfilled. On 5-7-1950, during the presentation of the Eastern Cross in the Original shrine, he said:
Based on these or similar reflections, I think I am qualified to believe that for now, the Lord intends that the Russian people will be our scourge, but later He will use them as an instrument to, sooner or later, form a new world to place at the feet of Christ.
There is a great desire for a Schoenstatt Shrine to be built in Moscow at some point in time. The Eastern Cross will be placed in many Schoenstatt Shrines, and on Thursdays for this intention, as a sign that prayers are necessary for the Catholics of this region.
The first Sisters of Mary arrived in Moscow on October 13,1991. For twenty years they have accompanied the people who are seeking God, and they help them to develop their faith through catechesis. They present the needs and problems of these people to God in prayer. They give testimony of the Covenant of Love with Mary through their Christian life and they transmit a good climate. In spite of building new churches, interior renewal “in Christ, through Mary” is always present. This is a great mission for the young Church in Russia. Each contribution to the capital of grace is important.
Presently, the Sisters also work in Saint Petersburg, Moscow and Kaliningrad.
In any case, the Mother Thrice Admirable of Schoenstatt had arrived in Russia already during the communist era. Some German pilgrims continually went to Russia, and they left some MTA medals there. In 1987, Zenona Arciuk de Zabczuk, an Argentinean missionary of Russian ancestry, took the Pilgrim MTA to Russia, where Deacon Stanislaw Mosheiko became her missionary.
The small communities gather around the Pilgrim MTA
The small Schoenstatt Family is composed of people who received the Mother Thrice Admirable Queen and Victress of Schoenstatt, Pilgrim MTA in their homes. As apostles of the MTA, they cultivate a religious life in the small community. In many cities, there are no churches. For this reason, the faithful gather in their homes to celebrate the Eucharist.
In many parishes, the priest goes once a month. The distance between the churches are not counted by tens, but rather by hundreds of kilometers, and no one is surprised or indignant if they have to travel 500 km to meet with a prayer group or to participate in spiritual exercises. Some of the Pilgrim MTA missionaries have to make a trip of one thousand kilometers during three or four days to participate in the summer spiritual exercises.
The small Schoenstatt Family from Russia depends on prayers so that the Pilgrim MTA will take many people to God.
Celina M. Garza: Spanish/English translation Melissa Peña-Janknegt: English edit
