Posted On 2016-07-27 In Campaign, Missions

Our Lady of Victory Parish became a “Giant Pilgrim Mother”

PARAGUAY, Family Missions 2016, by Roberto Galeano Monti

Sunday, July 1-7, 2016– Our Lady of Victory Parish, Villa Hayes

9:40 a.m. – Blessing of a wayside shrine near the street in honor of Schoenstatt’s MTA closing the cycle of Family Missions. The church is on the other side. A group of youths set up a rosary made of balloons filled with helium in the midst of the people.

9: 44 a.m. – The youths launched the balloon rosary into the air. Everyone expected to watch how it rose to heaven, until we could no longer see it because it was too high…but that did not happen.

Seconds later, about twenty-five meters up, this rosary literally enveloped the church’s main cross. After a few minutes, the rosary had surrounded the cross completely.

She wanted to remain in this place

This happened several days ago, and I still think about how powerful this moment was…

Roughly 300 people observed this gift of God; it was a positive manifestation that she wanted to stay there united to her Son’s cross by means of the rosary.

Just like the rosaries on the Rosary Campaign’s Pilgrim Mothers

Today I continue to reflect on this, and I recognized that Our Lady of Victory Parish became like a “Gigantic Pilgrim Mother!” The balloon rosary rose until it directly surrounded the cross, just like the rosaries on the Rosary Campaign Pilgrim Mothers’ pictures.

At that time, we had two Auxiliary MTAs near the wayside shrine witnessing the Blessed Mother’s caress for all the people of Villa Hayes and for the more than 200 missionaries in attendance. When this happened, a woman, her eyes filled with tears, approached the parish priest to ask him: “What does God want to tell us with this?” I preferred not to hear the priest’s answer; I want to continue to seek it personally…

Every wayside shrine “is like an antenna”

João Luiz Pozzobon, who initiated the Rosary Campaign in 1950, promoted the building of wayside shrines. He said that every wayside shrine “is like an antenna that attracts the strength and the divine gift of the Holy Spirit from on high in this gigantic Campaign.” The same thing happened on that day; we had that antenna in the form of the cross attracting out attention, attracting our emotion, attracting our passion to continue to go on mission by the strength of the Holy Spirit, taking the Blessed Mother so that the people could encounter her Son…

Lastly, João also mentioned the following: “I see a little bit of heaven every day.” The missionaries also use this expression to try to explain what we experienced and conquered during the Family Missions’ week. Unlike other years, this time we too saw a “little piece of heaven” in a clear and real way…there on the parish tower at Villa Hayes. We saw it; we felt it in our hearts.

“She is the Great Missionary, she will work miracles.”
“Fire of my Nation, your Mission in my heart.”

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Original: Spanish. Translation: Celina M. Garza, San Antonio, TX USA – Edited: Melissa Peña-Janknegt, Elgin, TX USA

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