ORIGINAL SHRINE, Maria Fischer •
My photo for Covenant Day in February – as usual, I used one of the real stories published since the 18th of the previous month, with an apostolic touch – had already been sent when I received one from the Original Shrine, specifically from the afternoon Mass in Spanish – a Mass that was so connected to the missionary initiative of solidarity of the then Rector at the beginning of the pandemic, by offering Masses in the Shrine day after day with live transmission. —
I sent this photo to the staff of schoenstatt.org with the comment: “Did you notice anything?” Many did not notice anything, because the photo of Father José Luis Correa celebrating Mass is spontaneously associated with what can be seen in almost all the Schoenstatt Shrines around the world, something so natural that it does not attract attention, except for the eyes of “experts”, as Claudio Ardissone, from Spain, commented.
“The first Mass in Spanish in the Original Shrine, coram populo,” said the celebrant of this Sunday, Father José Luis Correa.
Not so much, because from the beginning of the live broadcast of the Masses, an auxiliary table was placed in front of the altar where the Mass was celebrated, facing the people: the people in the Shrine and the people in front of the screens. It was something improvised, from a pastoral point of view. The pandemic ended, the broadcasts continued…but the table did not.
Why? In the end, in this month of February, 2024, the altar of the Original Shrine was prepared with great care so that it could be “forwarded” for the celebration of Mass, as is the case in most Shrines.
Thank you, dear little table, and thank you to the former rector for leading the way in opening our Original Shrine to the great people of God throughout the world.
Original: Spanish. Translation: Maria Fischer @schoenstatt.org
