ARGENTINA, Ramón Sandoval •
On Sunday, May 2nd, 2021, on the 19th anniversary of the first dawn in Argentina, we prayed for the first time in the future Tierra de Maria (Marys’ Land) Shrine, in the city of Corrientes. —
The Madrugadores in this city in the northeast of Argentina have been meeting for 5 years, every other Sunday at 8:00 a.m. to pray the Holy Rosary.
It is a community of about 50 men, of whom 15 to 20 meet to pray regularly, the rest are “swallows”, as we call them, because they come and go.
We begin our prayer with the morning consecration of the book Heavenwards, then we sing a song, start praying the Holy Rosary and end with the prayer for men’s vocations and the consecration to the Blessed Mother.
Then we have a small meeting where information about the local Schoenstatt Family, activities, Masses, and once a month we share breakfast with all the madrugadores.
For many men, it is the doorway to the Schoenstatt men’s communities
The Madrugadores are like the “kindergarten” to join the Schoenstatt world. Then, as they discover a new way of living the faith, each one of them chooses whether to join a men’s branch or a federation, or simply stay in the popular and pilgrim movement as a Madrugador.
The Madrugadores are part of the Schoenstatt Men’s Column, integrated in Corrientes by the Boys’ Youth, the Madrugadores, the Men’s Branch and the Men’s Federation.
Once a year we go out to the communities to make ourselves known and invite new men to participate in the madrugadas (dawns) in Tierra de María.
A shrine is born…
Original: Spanish 2021-05-02. Translated by: María Aragón, Monterrey, México
