TORCH RELAY 2014, mda. “What does it mean to be a Torch Relay Runner? There’s thunder and lightning and yet we carry the intentions and keep going. Carry on when the going is difficult and never give up! It is 2.06 a.m. and we start kilometre 454 … despite the storm. “That is the Torch Relay 2014 – at this time on the heights of Pisa in Italy after a stormy and rainy night, and after a moving Torch Relay day on St Peter’s Square and in Belmonte, where all the pilgrims will go during the Roman Jubilee Week. They will have caught some of the fire of the Torch Relay and the fire of the coming century, along with the power of the covenant of love. “There are moments when you are completely exhausted and the road seems endless. But then you think of why you are here, why you are running, and that gives you the strength, and you feel as though you could run all the way to Schoenstatt …”
In many shrines in Schoenstatt, and in many home shrines, the candle with the symbol of the Torch Relay is burning. Via the TV or mobile phone friends and supports are following the Torch Relay via a home page in a number of languages. Hope page, App, Blog, Facebook and schoenstatt.org, pray, thank, catch the enthusiasm, and accompany the runners in spirit.
South African families at Valle di Pompeii, Italian Schoenstatt families on St Peter’s Square and in Belmonte accompany the runners in person. And hundreds of people are there with their intentions. … It is “the Torch Relay 2014 of all of us”.
The prayer intentions give them the strength time and again, even when they are at the end of their strength
“Very tiring, but infinitely rich in wonderful experiences”, was Alex Paul’s description of the Torch Relay. Jose Ignacio Escobar, an Argentinean, had his first run on 10 October, “It was a special day, because I ran today. Everything was so special, because it was my first day. The best thing was our arrival on St Peter’s Square where everyone was expecting us. I felt that I was a Schoenstatt Youth through and through.”
Matthias Neuwirth from Germany, “It is my first Torch Relay, and I had absolutely no idea what awaited me. I ran immediately and it was a most impressive experience.”
Mortiz from Germany, who was completely out of breath when he ended his stage, hit the nail on the head, “No matter what happens, no matter how much pain you have, a servant of Mary will never perish. The prayer intentions repeatedly give us strength, even when you are at the end of your strength.” That’s a Torch Relay!
“Hello, the whole of Latin America, I am jose Ignacio Bazzola from Mendoza, Argentina. It is incredible how I ran my first stage today; my legs were tired and my heart strengthened. Greetings to my whole family and my girl friend, whom I miss very much. On we go! Shrine strengthens life in the covenant!”
Rome – from here
In 2009 it was the goal, in 2014 it began with the blessing of the torch by Pope Francis on 8 October, with an intermediate stage on 10 October – St Peter’s Square, the square before the shrine of St Peter, as it has been called by Radio Vatican for the last for months. The group of runners were welcomed at this place, the centre of the Church, by the other runners. From here the fire of the covenant of love was sent out on 8 October into the new century. From here the fire of the covenant of love was sent out into the new century on 8 October. Reversal of the Torch Relay of 2009. Symbol of the grace 2014? For the renewal of Schoenstatt in the river of renewal of the Church by Pope Francis – in the rover of that renewal which Fr Kentenich expressed after the Second Vatican Council, and which Pope Francis is expressing today. These words begin to take shape, not least in the Synod that is taking place in a spirit of openness and freedom that causes many to hold their breath, and at the same time as the Torch Relay and Schoenstatt’s Jubilee celebrations.
That evening Holy Mass was celebrated in “the shrine of all of us” in Belmonte – the shrine that stands precisely for this Schoenstatt in the heart of the Church and its river of life. The Italian Schoenstatt Family and the Schoenstatters at Belmonte were the hosts.
Then they set off for Schoenstatt.
The Torch Relay awakens enthusiasm
“To be a Torch Rally runner and to carry the torch while running seems to be mainly a matter of physical exertion. However, that quite different challenges have to be met is shown by my stage today:
2.15 a.m. The alarm clock rings after about 1.5 hours of sleep. Tired, but full of expectation, I manage to get out of bed fairly easily. I wake the running group and we begin to load the runner’s bus with all that we need. Everything goes according to plan.
2.55 a.m. Shock! The runner’s bus won’t start and we have to leave in 5 minutes. So: Push! After about 10 minutes the bus started and we were warmed up for running.
3.20 a.m. The runner’s bus stopped at the roadside to film the runner. Suddenly a police car stopped next to us and two policemen came over. Our adrenalin shot up! What do they want? We don’t know yet, because the language barrier is pretty high. Anyway they let us go.
4 a.m. The GPS told us to turn left. Where to? Oh yes, along the farm road. We tried it and obeyed our Navi. Runners and bikes behind us. It’s dark, fog descends and the road becomes less and less of a road and more and more of a ghost road. Suddenly a couple of eyes appeared out of nowhere. Our lights picked up a wild dog. One wild dog? No, at least twenty! (That isn’t meant as a joke, and it isn’t an exaggeration, just hard reality.) Angry barking broke out in front of us and we thought feverishly what we could do. Hide? With the torch a bit difficult. Run away? No hope. Fight? Counterproductive. Only one solution remained: The runner and the cyclists would have to get into the bus. The first preparations for the rescue began. Then a miracle happened. The torch runner had no intention of giving up. Uplifted by his prayer intention her ran on and on, the dogs gave way and the danger was averted.
7.15 a.m. We hand over the torch and everything else to the next group of runners and set off completely exhausted, but happy, on our way to the next accommodation.
10 a.m. At long last in bed.
4 p.m. In the meantime most of the group had arrived and taken over the accommodation. A small snack was followed by a trip to the sea.
9 p.m. We meet for evening prayer in the chapel. I again recalled the events of the day and am grateful that we are here healthy and satisfied, and ready to close the evening.
11 p.m. Tasks, for example, writing this text has just been completed. One day in the life of a Torch Relay runner is super, but it is anything but normal.
(David Braendle)
Going in
A post at the blog of the Fackellauf, in the middle of the night, October 12:
Four hours on the road
One broken bike
Eight runners happy
We go on … the torch burns…
Original: German. Translation: Mary Cole, Manchester, England
