mda. Whether on Mount Moriah, Haus Regina or on the street outside the Marienau; whether Germans, Chileans, Indians or Spaniards: No matter who oe where you met on 12 September, they said: Tonight I am going to the Original Shrine, the crown is returning … It was the feast of the Holy Name of Mary, which has been removed from the Roman calendar because it duplicates Mary’s birthday, but it has been retained in the German language area. That evening – of course, they meant “at the evening blessing”, “the best discovery since the Original Shrine has existed”, as Rector Egon M. Zillekens put it with a twinkle in his eye. The place which has become so spread out over mountains and houses has suddenly acquired a central focus at the evening blessing at the Original Shrine. That is where people meet without having to plan it, they got to hear interesting news, and this is where the crown will return.
The crown on the frame of the MTA picture will be set a little further down in order to make way for the Father Symbol, which will come into the shrine at the Jubilee.
Right up to the walls of the Old House
The people filled the area right up to the walls of the Old House that evening; this time all could see the Original Shrine, because there is no longer a hedge or high trees to prevent it. The action in the Original Shrine was broadcast onto a provisional screen to the right of the shrine. All could see, but suddenly there was no sound, because the many mobile phones interfered with the public address system. So, for the first time, the request was broadcast that evening asking people to turn off their phones until the end of the evening blessing.
From hand to hand
A young woman brought the crown forward on a red velvet cushion. Her T-shirt was inscribed with the word “calma”, quiet – and for about 20 minutes she calmly carried the crown Fr Kentenich had put up in the shrine in 1939 as she passed between the people. They could look at the crown from close by, touch it or hold it, and take photographs. Each one made contact in a very personal way – old and young, priests and Sisters of Mary … The Sisters had prepared this celebration and had come in great numbers. “It was a wonderful atmosphere and a really moving moment,” Rector Zillekens commented. “I have experienced this in Latin America. It does one good.”
At its new position
All prayed Fr Kentenich’s prayer of 10 December 1939, then Fr Antonio Bracht, the Rector of the Original Shrine, placed the crown in its new position – in the evening of her feastday and the vigil of the blessing of the newest Schoenstatt Shrine in Austin, Texas.
Original: German – Translation: M. Cole, UK
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| September 12, 2014 |
