ORIGINAL SHRINE, Maria Fischer •
First of all: It wasn’t us! When Father Pablo Pol’s message was spread about the letters sent to the Blessed Mother in the Original Shrine that broke the jar, many said to themselves, “But the last time we delivered letters via Schoenstatt.org the jar was still in perfect condition! This Christmas, just in case, we put the more than 750 letters in a paper bag, which was placed next to the old jar, which for the moment replaces the one that was broken. —
It is always a gift and a mission to be the bearer of the capital of grace of so many people, and even more so at Christmas. These letters are sent digitally not only from the countries where there are more Schoenstatters – Argentina, Chile, Brazil, Germany, Paraguay, Ecuador, United States, Mexico, Costa Rica, Spain – but also from Venezuela, Honduras, Sri Lanka, Russia, Croatia, Switzerland, Scotland, Lebanon, Northern Ireland, Colombia, India, El Salvador, Australia, Philippines, Guatemala, Indonesia, Ireland, Italy, Dominican Republic, Nigeria, France, Uganda. Of course, these letters are not read, everything remains confidential, only the Blessed Mother knows what do people entrust, thank, ask and offer.
On December 25th, Christmas Day, the Original Shrine was decorated with all the Christmas splendor typical of Germany, in gold, green and red, with two mangers: a small one at the side with all the figures and a large one with only the child in front of the altar, typical flowers, a Christmas tree, candles, and with the Blessed Sacrament exposed for adoration.
A moment of adoration during Christmas, with the letters of so many people in one hand and the cell phone with the contacts of all the collaborators of Schoenstatt.org in the other. We must use technology, we must baptize this digital world, once said Fr. Tilmann Beller more than 20 years ago, when we began with what is now Schoenstatt.org. So, I “use” my WhatsApp to hand her over each one of my contacts to the Blessed Mother this Christmas, and to hand her back our Schoenstatt.org, each one of the real life stories, each one of the visitors.
Mother, along with your Child, give us today a deep and intimate love for Him. Bless everyone, each branch and each child of the Family. Bless all our family, so that our small shrine may faithfully resemble the manger in Bethlehem, so that the representatives of the people and nations may go on pilgrimage to this Bethlehem and so that a stream of blessings may flow from it to the world, leading it back to the Father, back to God, to the little King of the Manger, amen”.
Fr. Joseph Kentenich 1928
Original: Spanish 31. 12. 2019 Translation by: Maria Aragón, Monterrey, México
