CHILE, mda. Beginning this March, VINCULO, the magazine of the Chilean Schoenstatt Family will offer a type of timeline that will be published month by month about the events of 1914; it will be drafted by Sister M. Jimena Alliende. There will be events in Schoenstatt, in Germany, in Chile, and throughout the world for which the year, 1914, was marked by the beginning of World War I, and remembered in 2014 with a multitude of publications, presentations, movies and conferences; it was the worst war of any other war of history. More people died in it, and more damage was done than ever before in an international conflict. The causalities of the entire war totaled more than 20,000,000. In the centenary year in which one only wants to celebrate with a “never again”, Schoenstatt dares to celebrate its Jubilee, a Jubilee of a covenant of love born in the midst of war, a covenant of love that continues to generate covenants…
September 1914
IN SCHOENSTATT
Joseph Engling’s interests. Joseph was not present on the 18th of October, but Father called him “the lived Founding Document.” Joseph is Schoenstatt lived. The charism was inherent in him. His zeal for holiness was not defined to a detailed work in his self-education. He had entered the Pallottines to go to Africa and for this reason – paraphrasing Saint Paul – he wrote in his personal tablet, “Our field of action is the entire world!” He was not a theoretical of the apostolate. He was very concrete, and he formulated in his personal ideal: “To become all things for all men, and Mary’s very own.” (Fr. Alex Menningen, Joseph Engling, p.90) He assumed ‘this all for all’…departing from a talk Father gave in June – about “the giving of self to others”… one has to get into the situation, the feelings and the mood of the other, who one wants to serve; one must place oneself in the other’s place and treat each one according to his talents, abilities and needs and in this way win him for Christ” (J.K. 29th of June 1914).
IN EUROPE
September. Trenches on the borders. Invasion of the adjoining countries, all out defense, advances, and retreats. The situation in France hit the headlines of the press.
2nd of September. England. Committed literature. The English Government gathered twenty-six of the country’s best writers to inform them that the Propaganda War Office requests that they use their pens to write about subjects that would inflame patriotism and to encourage victory. Those who accept promote the idea receive money for their contribution to the cause. They did it for the following four years.
3rd of September. A new Pope Benedict XV. Perceptive and efficient. He was an apostle of peace, promoter of communion and reconciliation during the military conflict. He wrote to the Kaiser and the Sultan, to Francisco José and Lenin. His Holiness Benedict XV wanted to be a father, a brother in solidarity, a coherent Christian for everyone. And certainly, there were many demonstrations of his affective and effective solidarity; he organized humanitarian aid for civilians and prisoners. For this, Pope Benedict XV has been characterized as the Good Samaritan of humanity.
6th of September. In Switzerland the Red Cross opened an information center about the wounded.
19th of September. The press communicated that United States is doing everything possible so that Japan will not get involved in the war.
22nd of September. A German submarine sunk three Royal Navy warships as they were patrolling the coast of Denmark. 1,450 people died. Women’s religious communities made themselves available to military hospitals.
IN CHILE
3rd of September 1914. Esteban Gumucio was born, he was ordained as a Sacred Heart priest in 1938, and he died in 2001. Prayerful, apostolic, friendly. Teacher of novices, pastor, spiritual director. He expanded his pastoral work in the parishes south of Santiago. He was a preacher who convoked; he guided the Marriage Encounter Movement. He wrote texts in prose and poetry of great quality, filled with his love for Jesus, for the poor, for all human beings, also in an angry tone for injustices. Liturgies and religious ceremonies show the lyrics of very beautiful songs. His radical love of Christ never ran parallel with his love of the poor. Upon the celebration of his one-hundredth birthday the process of his canonization advanced. In November 2011, the Congregation for the Cause of Saints in Rome officially opened the process that leads to the official recognition of his exemplary and holy life.
5th of September. Nicanor Parra Sandoval was born, he was a first class poet, but he was also a mathematician and physicist. He won the Nobel Prize for Literature 2013. He is considered as the creator of anti-poetry. He is the eldest of the Parra family, which produces noted artists and musicians of the Chilean culture.
18th and 19th of September. The news about the European war does not stop the massive patriotic celebrations in Parque Cousiño (O’Higgins Park since 1972). The press related that at this time “the wealthy classes socialize with the lower classes in the small restaurants and bars that rise in that place.” Everyone comes with a picnic. There are bicycle races, fireworks, and at nine o’clock in the morning, there were free ‘biografo’ games outdoors. Meanwhile, the authorities carried out visits to the hospital and homes of abandoned children. The Te Deum was celebrated on the 19th. The indigenous people have their own parallel celebration at Saint Paul Street with their typical games and rituals. In 1915, the “Day of the Glories of the Army” and the Military Parade were established before the authorities.
We are grateful to the editors of Vinculo for offering this material in solidarity and we invite the readers of our web page to extend it (via comments).
Original: Spanish – Translation: Celina M. Garza, San Antonio, TX USA
