CHILE, Fr. Claudio Martínez Felmer •
We had a wholesome pride since the day we knew that our Blessed Mother would be present in the procession of the Virgen del Carmen and would travel through the streets of the center of Santiago with the Carmelita.
So on Sunday, 25 September, on Chile’s Day of Prayer with the motto “Protect us with your Mantle,” many members of the Schoenstatt Family gathered along with the entire Church in front of the Metropolitan Cathedral to pay tribute to the Blessed Mother, ninety years after being crowned as Patroness of Chile and the Armed Forces and of Order.
Different pictures of the Blessed Motherthat have been important throughout Chile’s history, the MTA among them, were hanging on the Cathedral’s façade. A brief narrative of the history of their titles was presented as they were uncovered at the beginning of the ceremony. These pictures then accompanied the Virgen del Carmen in procession, under the attentive gaze of thousands of the faithful that greeted them waving little flags or handkerchiefs as they passed.
The Mother Thrice Admirable, Queen and Victress of Schoenstatt, which was on a simple platform, but very well decorated with flowers, traveled the streets of Santiago carried on the shoulders of the Boys’ Youth from Bellavista and the Schoenstatt Fathers’ postulants.
The procession began in front of the Cathedral and ended in Plaza Bulnes , facing the Palacio de la Moneda while looking toward the government headquarters, where in an emotional moment a large Bicenntenial flag was raised while the national anthem was sung.
There the Cardinal, Archbishop of Santiago, Ricardo Ezzati presented the following homily:
“Today, from here, we want to tell Mary that we want to receive her in the nation, in the home of our life. Ninety years ago, as people from Chile, we wanted to place the crown on the head of the Mother and Queen of Chile. Today, Virgen del Carmen, we want to tell you, you are our Mother, we receive you with love, and we ask that you bless our people, bless Santiago, and in a very special way you bless the poor, the afflicted, the sick, and those deprived of their freedom, those who do not have hope in their heart. Be the Mother of Mercy for everyone, protect us with your mantle, a wide mantle in which you want to shelter everyone, to show us your love, to show us that you Mother and Queen of this our nation. On this afternoon beloved brothers and sisters, what a beautiful testimony of faith, a testimony of faith that each one of you has contributed so that it be a shout of love and trust in our Mother, the Virgen del Carmen! Thank you for being here, thank you for bringing you children, so many children who learn about her heart from father, mother, grandparents who can always look upwards, because Mary is Mother, and she is not one who stays far away. She is a Mother who has come to walk with her children and that the only thing she wants is that we open the door of our homes, so that in her, she can build peace, love, unity, forgiveness, where there is need for forgiveness. Virgen del Carmen, Mother and Queen of Chile make our hearts more like your every day, so that by imitating you, in love for your Son, we can also grow as a nation of faith, that recognizes your Son is the only one who has the words of eternal life.”
Devotion to the Virgen del Carmen
The Procession of the Virgen del Carmen is the oldest celebration of the Church of Santiago. Its origin goes back to the 17th century, an era in which every 16 July there was a procession from the Alameda to the Plaza de Armas. It was transferred to October because of the weather, since it was held in the midst of winter.
Then in 1971, the bishops of the country decided to schedule it for the last Sunday of September, with the aim of adhering it to the celebrations of the Month of the Nation, declaring that date as the “Day of Prayer for Chile.”
The devotion to the Virgen del Carmen is related to the beginnings of the nation, after General Bernard O’Higgins named her “Protector of Chile.” During the last century, the devotion to the Virgen de Carmen was rooted even more in the Chilean people, a situation that motivated Pope Pius XI to name her as Patroness of Chile, in 1923.
The public proclamation as Patroness of Chile took place on 8 December 1923 and was sealed in 1926, by the Papal legate, Bishop Aloisi Marsella, who officially crowned the picture of the Virgin del Carmen on behalf of Pope Pius XI.
Source: Vinculo, Chile
Original: Spanish. Translation: Celina M. Garza, San Antonio, TX USA. Edited: Melissa Peña-Janknegt, Elgin, TX USA
