Frank Blumers. It wasn’t an April Fool’s joke. On the 1 April 2012 the Original Shrine was freely at the disposal of its Movement for the first time. Fr Michael Marmann, is the first Schoenstatt Rector. We made use of this occasion to upload him into our digital MTA mosaic.
The huge MTA mosaic for 2014 grows day by day. You can follow it online at www.mta-schoenstatt.de. What are we talking about? A huge MTA mosaic is being created in Schoenstatt and Rome to be completed by 2014 – cf. the mosaic of John Paul II at the World Youth Day in Cologne in 2005. Joining in means showing one’s true face for Schoenstatt, entering spiritually into the preparations for 2014, and in the process doing a good deed to support the festivities in 2014 and the International Schoenstatt Centre in Belmonte, Rome. Together with Fr Joseph Kentenich we ask the Blessed Mother, “Let us resemble you …”, and she responds, “Give me your face!” Through the MTA mosaic we want to make our covenant of love visible and practical.
In this series we are uploading important people into the huge MTA mosaic on their behalf. Is that possible? Of course, we can dedicate people to the Blessed Mother and ask her to be a mother to them – as she was to the young Joseph Kentenich, or, as we did when we entered into the covenant of love for the youth of the world.
Upload Marmann
The first person in our series was our Holy Father, Benedict XVI, on the occasion of his visit to Mexico and Cuba. The next person to follow him is Fr Michael Johannes Marmann, a Schoenstatt Father. On 1 April he takes up his new task as Rector of the Original Shrine. That is something very special for Schoenstatt, because it means that for the first time the Original Shrine is at the free disposal of its Movement through the provisional user contract. We have used this occasion to upload Fr Michael Marmann into the digital MTA mosaic. As Rector of the Original Shrine he gives his face to Schoenstatt and the Original Shrine at a decisive place, and hence sets his stamp in a special way on the face of our MTA.
Our Series: From Benedict to Marmann – by no means far-fetched
Who is Fr Michael Marmann? Until 2003 Fr Marmann was the Superior General of the Schoenstatt Fathers. Most recently he has been responsible for the formation of the students of the Fathers. And besides, the step from Benedict to Marmann is not so far-fetched: Fr Marmann did his doctorate under a certain Profess Joseph Ratzinger and has remained a member of the so-called group of “Ratzinger Students”. When we asked Fr Marmann if we could upload his face, he replied briefly and to the point, “I agree.” This incisiveness is one of his characteristics, so is his openness for the spiritual currents and God’s voice in our times (for example, “Together for Europe”, collaboration with the spiritual communities).
The Original Shrine and Schoenstatt – on the way to 2014
The Original Shrine, as the spiritual centre of the international Schoenstatt Family, is now at the free disposal of its Movement. This is surely a reason for great joy and gratitude. The 1 April 2012 has become a special day for Schoenstatt on the way to its jubilee in 2014. Recently in an interview Fr Marmann described what was happening around the Original Shrine as the “icing on the cake” of the Shrine Year. Among other things he said, “Seen in the light of faith in Divine Providence, it seems to me to be a sign of how interested God and the Blessed Mother are in the whole process of preparing for the Jubilee, so that 2012, Schoenstatt’s centenary celebrations, and hence the centenary celebrations of this Original Shrine, will become a great event of grace that will influence the Church and the whole world.”
A face for the Blessed Mother
As we upload his picture into the digital MTA mosaic, we wish Fr Marmann many blessings and the strength for his new task. At the same time we ask the Blessed Mother to place him under her special protection for the important task entrusted to him of caring for the Original Shrine of our Mother Thrice Admirable.
In the First Founding Document of 1914, Fr Kentenich had this to say about the mission of the shrine, “Would it not be possible for our Sodality Chapel to become our Tabor where Mary reveals her glories? There is no doubt that we cannot carry out a greater apostolic deed, or leave our successors a more precious legacy, than to move our Queen and Sovereign to set up her throne here in a special way, to distribute her treasures and work miracles of grace. You can guess what I am aiming at: I would like to make this place a place a pilgrimage, a place of grace, for our house and the whole German Province, perhaps even further afield. All who come here to pray should experience Mary’s glories and confess: It is good to be here. We want to build tents here, this shall become our favourite spot.”
Translation: Mary Cole, Manchester, England
MTA mosaic – Give me your Face! Join us in creating a huge MTA mosaic! Also in facebook: http://www.facebook.com/schoenstatt.mta.
Heavenly hosannas and hallelujahs accompanying the transfiguring streams of grace!
Deo gratias!