ORIGINAL SHRINE, Father Pablo Pol, Rector of the Original Shrine •
A few weeks ago, something very special happened. The jar that contains the letters, petitions, offerings, in short, the entire Capital of Grace of the Original Shrine, was broken. As you can see in the photos, the letters that arrived with petitions to the Blessed Mother from all over the world were placed with great enthusiasm and the jar could not withstand it…it simply broke. —
From the outside, one might think that it is simply a mistake and that we just must replace it by buying another jug. This thought is certainly the temptation of our rationalized world.
However, our founder taught us to see the hand of God behind every sign and event and to interpret it with practical faith.
At this Christmas time I would like to invite you to let yourself be filled with the sign for a few moments: That the Capital of Grace is overflowing in the Shrine! What a great joy for the Blessed Mother that her children throughout the world take seriously the request of the Founding Document: “Bring me diligently contributions to the Capital of Grace? (18.10.1914)
This abundance of grace reminds us of the fact of Christmas: God sends his Son to us as a concrete sign of his presence.
But we cannot ignore the fact that Christmas means nothing to many people, let alone that God becomes a fragile child and thus shares our weakness.
Therefore, we must continue to flood our shrine with the Capital of Grace. We must use gentle violence so that Mary attracts all men and women who with a sincere heart seek and cannot find the presence of God in their lives. The Shrine offers us security as one of his special graces.
This Christmas I invite you to ask the Blessed Mother to protect the whole world with the Shrine, as she did with Jesus in Bethlehem. We will be instruments to this with our “overflowing” Capital of Grace.
May God bless each of us this Christmas and may he always make us discover the gift of God’s tenderness in the Child of Bethlehem!
In this spirit I wish you a blessed Christmas and God’s guidance for the New Year 2020.
Your
Fr. Pablo Pol
Christmas, 25.12.2019: There is now (for the time being?) our good old Krug again, also this one with some cracks, but still “in shape”. The more than 700 letters that have come via schoenstatt.org have been put in a bag next to it as a precaution. Photo: Fischer
Original: German 27.12.2019. Translation: Lindsay Burger, Ohio, USA
