SOUTH AFRICA, Sarah-Leah Pimentel. The excited chatter and the volley of questions made it very clear: now we are definitely on our way to the Jubilee 2014 celebrations! On 9 March 2014, the South African pilgrims who will attend the Jubilee celebrations in Schoenstatt and Rome gathered at the Shrine in Constantia, Cape Town, to receive their airline tickets directly from Our Lady’s hand. The pilgrims who live in Johannesburg, George and Port Elizabeth were represented by the members of the South African Pilgrimage Coordination Team.
The journey begins at home
On 14 October 2014, 38 pilgrims from South Africa will fly to Germany and Rome where they will meet with the rest of the International Schoenstatt Family. But that journey begins at home. In the shrine. And it is only fitting that the very first part of the physical journey — receiving the airline tickets — should begin in the shrine.
The tickets were already in the Shrine waiting for the pilgrims as they arrived for a time of reflection on the meaning of this pilgrimage. As everyone knelt in prayer before the open tabernacle, they realized that this pilgrimage is not just any religious pilgrimage or holiday. The Jubilee celebrations in October in Schoenstatt and Rome will be an encounter with the Blessed Mother and a unique opportunity to renew our covenant of love, to renew our commitment to our Schoenstatt mission as we head into a new century.
A pilgrimage to reconquer our spiritual heritage – our Covenant of Love
As everyone knelt before the altar, they prayed: “May we be ever mindful of the purpose of this pilgrimage which is to reconquer our spiritual heritage – to deepen our Covenant of Love with the Triune God and with our Blessed Mother.”
Many of the pilgrims have made enormous sacrifices to be present on this pilgrimage, and many still have several hurdles to cross before they leave in October. This is why they called on our Blessed Mother to help in some of the practical planning for this pilgrimage: “On this journey we also implore our Mother Thrice Admirable to take perfect care of each and every one of us. May she truly be the Mother who cares perfectly in all our needs. Nothing without you – nothing without us!”
“There’s no going back now!”
They concluded their prayer asking Mary to “fill us with a new zeal for our great Schoenstatt mission. May we become a pilgrim group filled with our mission to form new personalities in our new times; to become firm, free apostles aglow with a fiery zeal to draw more and more people into the covenant of love.”
Each pilgrim then went up to the altar to collect his or her ticket, directly from Our Lady’s hands, so to speak. One lady even paused before the MTA and showed her the ticket in a gesture of thanksgiving. As everyone stepped out into the sunlight on their way to the meeting room to discuss some of the more practical aspects of the pilgrimage, one lady commented: “There’s no going back now!”
A pilgrimage that began with Conference 2014 and the Triennium
She is right, this is a journey that the International Schoenstatt Family began in 2009 with Conference 2014 and then in 2010 with the triennium in preparation for this Jubilee. We are now well into our Jubilee year, and there is a growing sense of excitement that the celebrations and the encounters in Germany and Rome will transform us, and we will not return home unchanged.
Welcome to Schoenstatt in october.
We have read with a great joy your article.
United in the covenant of Love.
we pray for many graces of your pilgrimage and hope to see you in Schoenstatt.
Yours Gertrud and Hans Zier