Posted On 2013-09-29 In Covenant solidarity

Our Jewel, Damaged

PARAGUAY, mda. On Saturday, September 21st, a powerful storm caused severe damage in many areas of Paraguay. “It has been unusual. My generation has not experienced a deluge that lasted so long. Each hailstone was larger than an orange. An enormous number of roof tiles were broken in a very populated area of Paraguay,” commented Father Antonio. The National Schoenstatt Shrine in Paraguay suffered severe damage.


Father Antonio Cosp wrote to the Schoenstatt Family of Paraguay:

 

Dear brothers and sisters,
The deluge on Saturday night affected the shrine strongly. It occurred exactly on the day in which Father Kentenich saw Paraguayan land and one day before the gift of the Original Shrine. All of the fibrocement (asbestos) tiles will have to be replaced. A good portion of the roof tiles of the Iglesia Santa María de la Trinidad (Church of Holy Mary of the Trinity) were also broken and almost the entire roof of the pilgrims hall as well. The great canopy, a gift from the Schoenstatt Sisters of Mary, was rendered useless.

Thanks to good organization, water was never lacking and the electricity was repaired. All was ready for the 9 AM Mass on Sunday and for the annual pilgrimage of 2,000 youths from the San Lorenzo Diocese. They had adequate audio for the music at their Youth Mass. The forty youths who were camping lost their tents and had to bunch-up in the Boys’ Youth house.

The retreat house suffered the deluge and the strong winds, but very few roof tiles were broken. The families, who were on retreat in preparation for the erection of their Home Shrines, suffered damage and broken windows in their vehicles.

Itaugua-Ypacarai were the hardest hit areas. Thus our personnel have also suffered severe losses. Tuparenda grows; they experienced a Sunday with many youths and much life. It seems that the devil is not too happy with us.

“We are ready for the struggle to fix-up and make our treasure more beautiful.”

In solidarity

“Seriously, the storm was a tragedy since the losses were very expensive,” comments Fabián Daniel López Cuevas. “But for that, we must stress the solidarity of the Schoenstatt Family from Paraguay. Everyone has contributed for the immediate reconstruction of the facilities for October 18th, a special date for the entire International Schoenstatt Family…”

 

Translation: Carlos Cantú, Schoenstatt Family Federation, La Feria, Texas USA 09272013

1 Responses

  1. Ann Dentice says:

    Sorry to hear of all your storm damage! It seems clear that our Schoenstatt family there is ready and willing to repair and rebuild what was damaged. United in our Covenant Ann- Milwaukee

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