Posted On 2013-10-08 In Original Shrine

Ultimately, we know that we did not obtain the gift of the Original Shrine

ARGENTINA, Sister Clara María Bercetche. The profound joy that overwhelmed hearts since May 22nd, culminated on Sunday, September 22nd, when the Schoenstatt Family gathered in a solemn Holy Mass of thanksgiving in new Schoenstatt, Argentina. The wide naves of the Church of God the Father were filled with pilgrims and members of the different Schoenstatt branches and groups. Radiant faces: from right to left.

The celebration began with the entrance procession, led by the multi-colored flags and banners that escorted the Auxiliary MTA Shrine from the Diocese of Quilmes to which the National Shrine belongs. Father Alberto Eronti captivated the attention of the large as well as heterogeneous public by summarizing the history of most of the past 100 year-old Original Shrine, and he invited everyone to consider this historic moment as a new eruption of the divine. He noted that when a place is greatly loved, and for different reasons, we cannot reach it, or we have to ask for much permission, it hurts us. It is for this reason that we have the great joy of knowing that as of today, the words of 1914 have come to life: “The house is ours…”

Beloved Mother of the Lord and our Mother…

After the celebration, everyone congregated in the esplanade of the Shrine to greet and to express gratitude to the Mother and Queen. There, they prayed the Pilgrimage Pray for Jubilee 2014 as Father’s Family, and they renewed the Covenant of Love.

On behalf of everyone, the scriptwriter expressed, among other things, this prayer: “Beloved Mother, you know the profound joy that overcomes our hearts. During decades we have waited for this moment. We prayed, we sacrificed, we trusted…but ultimately, we know that we did not obtain the gift of the Original Shrine; it was You, who prepared this gift for us. You planned everything exactly so that a few days before the jubilee year, we could take possession of our Shrine…”

New trees for a new Schoenstatt century

After the final blessing it was the time for which we had also been convoked: the planting of the new pines that guard Father’s Shrine.

The seven novices of the Sisters’ Community, who had consecrated themselves to Mary that day, spread the dirt taken from area close to the Original Shrine in the holes that had already been dug in the ground. It was a gesture with which the current of graces that flow from the Original Shrine unite with our National Shrine. Then the new pines were planted and everyone who desired to could add “their shovel” in the planting. Some of the missionary Sisters, who seventy years ago had planted the old pines that had to be removed, the pilgrims, who had arrived from different places to celebrate the feast day of the Apostles of Mary, the Girls’ Youth, families and a large number of children, did it. The new little pines are a symbol of a promising and fruitful future.

Translation: Celina M. Garza San Antonio, Texas USA

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