This is how 100 years of the Covenant were celebrated…in Quarten

SWITZERLAND, Ángela Koester. Barely 600 Km. away, thousands of pilgrims from all the continents were concentrated in Schoenstatt, Germany to celebrate the one hundred years of the Covenant of Love, while more than a thousand people participated in the varied and touching celebrations at the Swiss Schoenstatt National Shrine in Quarten.

The participants, who are all Swiss residents, came from more than fifty countries, and they became attached to Schoenstatt thanks to the Pilgrim MTA, which they knew in their countries of origin. The day began with a solemn Holy Mass celebrated by the Auxiliary Bishop, Marian Eleganti, representative of the Swiss Episcopal Conference. Then they had the opportunity to address subjects about Schoenstatt spirituality and daily life in the different workshops.

Access to other worlds

Close to the recently inaugurated “Place of sacrament” they could speak about the new work with the director of the project: Hubert Hämmerle, with the artist Beat Oetterli and with Father Fleischlin; they could also speak about the reality of the seven sacraments. Bishop Marian Eleganti spoke and responded to present day questions: How do you find the way when thoughts and feelings are tangled? What does God want of me and how can I recognize His voice?

The workshop “Called by your name…also today?” by Sister Joseline Becchio touched the soul. The visitors were taken back to the year 2011, through a touching movie of the investiture of Sister Florence, age 24 at Quarten. This is the term – the mysterious world of the convents – that is used for the celebration in which the young girls receive the dress of the Sisters of Mary. The pictures led to many questions that Sister Joseline answered. Her sincere and friendly manner was impressive, and she left a clear main ideal of the Schoenstatt Movement: Christians should grow and decide freely.

United by the Pilgrim MTA

The Schoenstatt Rosary Campaign that began in Brazil in 1950 arrived in Switzerland a few years ago. Beginning only few years ago, and under the name: On the road to your project, approximately 700 Schoenstatt Pilgrim MTAs visited many Swiss people as well as those of other nationalities. In the afternoon, there was a nice procession to the church with the Pilgrim MTAs, and there was a Covenant of Love celebration. During the procession, the fifty countries present in Switzerland were named in a hymn.

A fire burns

Then the celebration of the Covenant of Love at the Original Schoenstatt was followed live in the parish and in different halls. The time had come for the renewal of the Covenant of Love and the outbreak of a new century.

To conclude the celebration in Quarten, slips of paper that were deposited in the jar for the capital of grace were burned in a large bonfire, while the “Sarganserländer Musikanten” accompanied everyone with their music. The celebrations in Quarten ended with these words: “Id y encended el mundo…” (“Go and set the world on fire.”)

A few days later, a group of approximately one hundred people departed from Switzerland to Rome, to participate in the second part of the Jubilee celebration with the sending forth by Pope Francis.

With material from Sister Monja Schnider and Melanie Romer

Original: German – Translation: Celina M. Garza, San Antonio, TX USA