The Blessed Mother was enthroned on the pinnacle of the Andes…with the blessing of Holy Father Francis

MARY’S CRUSADE, mda. “Today we experienced an historic day, a day of grace. The Crusaders arrived to its highest point after climbing the hillside of the Andes…and there we found ourselves on the pinnacle with Christ the Redeemer! What an exciting moment for everyone!” Father José María Uturrería wrote to the editors of schoenstatt.org. The Wayside Shrine of the Blessed Mother in the Andes was blessed with a Mass and the great surprise of receiving a greeting and blessing from Holy Father Francis. Its foundation gathers the contributions of the youths and of the hundreds of “Crusaders of solidarity” throughout the world. “We are so happy and excited!” the Crusaders said, meanwhile the oldest “Crusader of solidarity”, who is eighty-eight years old commented: “One can imagine being high up there sitting, praying and saying: I will stay here with you, my Mother.

Father José María Iturrería: “The ascent was not easy, but we all arrived together and we walked the final meters with songs until we found ourselves with Christ. We surrounded Him with a large embrace and we prayed together to the Lord for our peoples

The long awaited moment for which we had prepared arrived: we celebrated the Holy Mass and we enthroned the MTA on the pinnacle of the Andes! The ceramic picture of the Blessed Mother, which we had carried with us for the two hundred kilometers to Christ the Redeemer, was placed in the Wayside Shrine.

Mario Hiriart’s dream became a reality! Mary already has her dwelling in the Andes close to the Redeemer.

We were accompanied by a large delegation of the Schoenstatt Family from Mendoza and Chile, as well as several priests, among them Father Carlos Cox. More than two hundred people were present at noon and we were not alone, because we knew we were accompanied by all the Schoenstatters from the entire world, who were praying for us.

We placed the picture of the MTA, the stones that each country had brought to the Crusade, as well as the personal symbols of every Crusader

At the conclusion of the celebration, at the foot of the Wayside Shrine, we signed the commitment to be bearers of the Covenant fire and to take it as missionaries to the future generations.”

A birthday gift

On precisely January 24^th, it was Father Claudio Martínez Cohen’s birthday; he founded Mary’s Crusade and he blessed the Blessed Mother’s Wayside Shrine. That is Providence and the Blessed Mother sensitivity!

The Shrine of All” is present

The stone from Paraguay is still lacking (we already have the ones from Argentina, Germany, Uruguay, Mexico, Chile and Brazil). It seemed that it would not arrive, because they made it at the last moment. On the 24^th, it arrived with Father Dario Gatti, who came from Rosario, and who also brought a stone on behalf of the Shrine of Belmonte. The Blessed Mother helped us even in this detail.

Prayers are said daily for Mary’s Crusade in the Shrine of All in Belmonte, the “Shrine of Francis’ Church.

The Holy Father greets Mary’s Crusade

Two days before the blessing of the Wayside Shrine, the Crusaders sent an email to Monsignor Guillermo Karcher, the Argentinean secretary of Holy Father Francis, advising him about Mary’s Crusade and asking him for his blessing. A few hours before the blessing of the wayside shrine, with pride and amazement, we received the response: Pope Francis sent us his blessing and is happy about our pilgrimage! It is great that the Pope remembers us! What joy and pride for the Crusaders!

The email read:

“Holy Father Francis is profoundly happy to know that you are taking the picture of the Virgin Mary to the feet of her Son on the border between Argentina and Chile.
May the communitarian gesture that you are carrying out be a sign of true brotherhood.
May the pilgrimage on the Andes be filled with faith and enthusiasm and may it also be a living testimony of the love that becomes a Covenant of Peace, as our Mother of Schoenstatt invites us.
The Pope greets you, blesses you and assures you of his prayers. At the same time he asks that you pray for him from the peaks of the mountain range.
Cordially
Monsignor Guillermo Karcher”.

A video for Francis

After the blessing, the Crusaders sent an email in reply:

We are very grateful and very excited to receive Pope Francis’ blessing and greeting! Thank you very much for keeping us close.
We are experiencing a beautiful time of international community close to Christ the Redeemer and here in the Andes we blessed the Virgin’s Wayside Shrine close to Him. Now we are in Chile and we continue our pilgrimage to Santiago, with the awareness of being missionaries of Christ and Mary.
I am sending some photos and A VIDEO THAT WE MADE FOR THE POPE yesterday, in which we want to greet him personally and to express our gratitude for his words, committing ourselves to pray for him. I hope that he will be able to see it during a rest period…it lasts approximately one minute, but is sent with much affection.
Here is the link for: YouTube: http://youtu.be/ftQqqcx1KO4
and the photos.
From the Andes, our prayers and gratitude!

Now they are descending to Chile and walking with a clear mission: “To reach Bellavista carrying the flame of the Covenant of Love that we want to give the Church and the world”.

Video for Francis

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