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Dachau pilgrims
from six nations, and three continents: the roses stand for the experience
of heaven touching the earth - then, and in each Dachau situation
today
Dachaupilger aus sechs Ländern und drei Kontinenten:
die Rosen stehen für die Erfahrung, dass der Himmel die Erde
berührt - damals und in jeder Dachausituation heute |
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"As if Mary
wanted to say: here, in this place of horrror, I am present as mother...
I want to wlak the streets of Dachau with you!"
"Als wollte Maria saggen: auch hier, an diesem Ort des Schreckens,
bin ich als Mutter da...Ich gehe mit euch durch Dachau!" |
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By the admissions
block, where Father Kentenich spent the first months of his stay in
Dachau
Am Zugangsblock, wo Pater Kentenich die ersten Monate seiner
Gefangenschaft in Dachau verbrachte |
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On the way
back home: visit to Ennabeuren, where Fr. Kentenich in the post-war
weeks waited to get a chance to return to Schoenstatt
Auf dem Heimweg: Besuch in Ennabeuren, wo Pater Kentenich
in den Nachkriegswochen auf eine Möglichkeit zur Rückkehr
nach Schönstatt wartete |
More Pictures:
Más Fotos:
Mehr Fotos: |
Fotos: POS
Fischer © 2002 |
SCHOENSTATT, Gabriele Sudermann/Alexa Clemens/mkf. The 28 women from
six countries in three continents, from four branches, covering an age
span of over 50 years, on pilgrimage to Dachau where Father Kentenich
was imprisoned from 1942 through 1945, experienced a profound Father and
Family experience. As they walked the streets of Dachau joyfully carrying
an International Auxiliary Pilgrim Mother and various symbols of childlike
attachment to her, to Father Kentenich, to the Shrine, and to each other,
they placed their own smaller and bigger Dachau experiences and those
of hundreds of persons who they spiritually took along into the Dachau
of Father Kentenich. "What we took home," one of the Single Women said,
"is the joy in and the co-responsibility of being Family of the Father,
as children of one loving Father called to bring Mary and the Covenant
of Love into each Dachau situation."
For a moment at the beginning of the pilgrimage through Dachau, while
all were getting their things arranged, the Auxiliary stood alone by the
entrance, "as if she wanted to say: Here, in this place of horror, I also
reign and will always reign, as the Father experienced and proclaimed.
There is no place, no reality, no matter how tremendous it may be where
I am not present as Mother. In the year of the 60th anniversary of Father
Kentenich's decision of January 20, 1942, to freely go to Dachau, and
offer his freedom and life as Father for his family, this pilgrimage was
not meant to provide a growth in knowledge about German or Schoenstatt
history but to provide a prayerful and personal experience of the Covenant
of Love being stronger than the hatred and injustice of each Dachau.
Family Experience - Simple, Uncomplicated, Joyful
Friday, June 14, 10:20 AM: the international group most of them saw
each other for the first time while boarding the bus, many couldn't speak
the others' language is setting out for Dachau: nine Single Women from
Northern Germany – this group had organized and prepared the pilgrimage
-, two Single Women from Ecuador, five Schoenstatt Sisters of Mary from
Brazil, and one from USA (two of them volunteered for the bus cafeteria!),
Donna from the USA (Girls' Youth), six Union Mothers from South Africa
and Zimbabwe with Sr. Marian. "We quickly had such a good atmosphere on
the bus, the conversation started simply and went on," Alexa mentioned.
"It was the first time for me to be with such an international group,
and it was fascinating – the language barrier was no barrier! We were
all so much filled with anticipation and wanted to get to know each other,
it just worked!" – "Maybe it was the presence of the Auxiliary in her
place of honor on the front seat, a special atmosphere was created – also,
when one after the other symbol and treasure appeared there, and suddenly
one of the women even brought roses," one of the South African mothers
said.
In Weiskirchen, in the Shrine of Everyday Sanctity, Father Balthasar
Blumers celebrated Holy Mass with the group; three American Military Women
with their children had been invited and joined the Mass – pretty much
astonished to see several pictures of the Pilgrim Mother in the Shrine!
The women are missionaries in a nearby American base. The Mass was in
English, with songs being contributed by the Sisters from Brazil, and
songs sung simultaneously in English and German. "It was a great experience,
beginning with this Holy Mass: each group contributed in a very uncomplicated,
simple way," Alexa Clemens said. "We asked Sr. Simone whether she wants
to sing a song in Portuguese, and she answered: 'Of course, and I know
which one, and we can also sing more!' There was nothing of a polite hesitance
that makes life often so complicated. The Sisters, the mothers, we were
all just members of one family!" The uncomplicated way of addressing each
other as members of the same family - characteristic feature of the Open
Shrine - was "extended" to the American women and their children as well
as to Father Blumers who got a crash course in how to carry the Auxiliary
as Don Joao Pozzobon did it!
Rosary in Five Languages
To prepare for the day in Dachau, and to ask for many graces for those
28 actually traveling on the bus, and the many who were present with their
prayers, their thoughts, their longing, and their prayer intentions, the
group prayed the rosary together – in five languages, one language per
decade: German, English, Spanish, Portuguese, Latin. Each group also chose
a song for 'their' decade, and often the others just sang with, either
in their own language or guessing through the unknown sounds! Alexa: "Everybody
wanted this pilgrimage to be beautiful and did her share to make it possible,
I think that is the secret of the uncomplicated way of traveling with
people of four or five languages. Moreover, the Father, of course, who
was just present and uniting us. One Father, one family!"
A videotaped testimony of Father Heinz Dresbach, who as a young priest
had gotten to know Father Kentenich in Dachau, was an ideal introduction
for the pilgrimage to Dachau; in the evening of this Friday, when the
group had arrived in Kösching and settled in, most of them (except
for the mothers from South Africa who were too tired!) got together to
take in the experiences of someone who in view of his time with Father
Kentenich could say: It was worth while to go to Dachau only for this
experience.
On the way to Dachau, early on the other morning, the Morning Prayer
from Heavenwards was prayed simultaneously in four languages. "It was
only on this morning that I understood the value of Heavenwards," one
of the South African pilgrims said. "We could not talk with each other
but we prayed the same prayers, our Father's prayers, our family prayers.
At this moment I felt part of one wonderful family!" After the morning
prayer, for the whole hour of the bus ride, the pilgrims spontaneously
took the microphone and shared what had impressed them most from the testimony
of Father Dresbach: the visible and tangible reality of Divine Providence,
the Father experience, the hope and joy …"It's this hope that makes us
going," said Marlene Peter from Zimbabwe. "We need to spread this hope
in our Zimbabwe Dachau of violence, impoverishment, injustice, death."
Walking the Streets of Dachau with Mary
One of the experiences that Marlene Peter, Sr. Marian, and some mothers
from Johannesburg had shared about Father Esteban's visit to Johannesburg
and Zimbabwe with the Auxiliary had a major effect. "You can't put the
Blessed Mother in the trunk, Sister! She deserves a seat in the car!"
– Eagerly and enthusiastically the pilgrims took turns carrying the Auxiliary
from place to place – more sensing than realizing the impact of this simple
doing. "In the other years, when we made the pilgrimage to Dachau, we
carried roses - and we experienced that one single rose in the gray desert
of the concentration camp makes a difference," one of the Single Women
said. "This year, we carried the Blessed Mother. We were walking the streets
of Dachau with Mary. I did not think much about it, I only know that I
will never forget the sight of the Auxiliary in the barracks, and on the
blocks…"
Along with the Auxiliary from Argentina, the Single Women carried the
Father Eye symbol for the Dachau Shrine to Dachau; a picture of the Father
statue with a bouquet of roses, and macramé rosaries from Argentina.
The three Brazilian Adoration Sisters carried the crown from the Old House,
their precious treasure; they, and Mónica Cadena from Ecuador also
brought a Pilgrim MTA, and the Mothers joined their treasures and symbols:
small South African, and Zimbabwean flags, a piece of wood from the Original
Shrine.
Not only 28 participants entered the concentration camp with these treasures:
in came also hundreds (at least) of persons who were spiritually present
or represented during the following hours in heat and burning sun. Gabriele:
"With the Auxiliary we carried the Blessed Mother to Dachau, and that
meant to bring her into each Dachau situation. Solemnly, we placed her
at each station, and with her all our signs of attachment to her, to our
Father, to each other, to the Schoenstatt movement in Argentina, and to
all those who are welcome in the Open Shrine of Schoenstatt!"
Father, our Heart in Your Heart…
The meditative walk through Dachau, from place to place, stood under
the central theme of the Covenant with Father Kentenich: Father, Our heart
in your heart, Our thinking in your thinking, our hand in your hand, our
life in your life. Yes, Father, your mission is our mission. At each of
the chosen places (six planned, due to heat-related delays some had to
be combined), the pilgrims looked on Father Kentenich and his Dachau experiences;
testimonies from life showed how the different aspects of the Covenant
with Father Kentenich become a reality in life. "I still think of the
man who traveled several hundred kilometer to place his hands in the hands
of Father Kentenich, as this encounter with him in the statue had changed
his friend's life", one of the women shared. The confidence of a mother
from Argentina who "got Father Kentenich to work for being canonized"
when learning about a bad accident of her daughter, the faithfulness of
a couple to the Covenant of Love after deep disappointments and slander
– these were stories from real life, stories that left a deep impression.
"It was just through these concrete testimonies that we understood what
the Covenant with our Father and the Dachau Shrine really mean," Gabriele
said. She always added an application to the Dachau of today and how,
with Father Kentenich's support and following his example, this Dachau
can be transformed into a Shrine: our Dachau in your Dachau, a Covenant
and hope!
Illumined Rosary on Block 26
After a short lunch on the little parking lot by the Carmelites' Monastery,
most of the pilgrims silently returned to the site of the concentration
camp for a time of personal prayer and meditation. When at 2:30 PM all
came to block 26, they were "greeted" by 400 roses in plastic buckets
(carried on the bus from Schoenstatt), candles arranged in the form of
a rosary around the Auxiliary, and the many signs of covenant love. The
idea of this rosary was to pray for all those who had entrusted themselves
or their loved ones to one of the pilgrims or the community, and all those
who "are part of the family of God, our Father", and to get them in touch
with the special graces of a place where a Father had offered his all
for his family, and where the covenant of love had been put to the test
of life, of an extremely hard life. To make it short – to bring them into
the Dachau Shrine. Five spheres of life were applied to the five decades
of the rosary: the persons whom we meet each day; the international Schoenstatt;
the world events; the own Schoenstatt communities; the situations when
God touches our life. All stood around the rosary of candles, and took
turns to pray one Hail Mary, mentioning the person or intention for that
this Hail Mary was to be prayed. While then all joined in the prayer,
she went ahead, offered a rose, and lit the candle. Hail Mary by Hail
Mary, rose by rose, light by light, name by name, a rosary of lights and
rosaries was created. The other visitors of the site took photos, some
stood for a while… "This is praying from our heart," Gabriele said. "It
is uncomplicated, because suddenly it is only important to say the intentions,
to bring your people here – and nobody worries about perfect formulation!"
All participated, each one named the persons and intentions in her language
and also lead the Ave Maria in her language; lucky those who understood
all languages, but also for the others it became obvious that really a
world of love, sorrows, and most of all of hope and confidence was present
in these roses and candles. Of course one rosary was not enough for all
those who should have been mentioned, but neither time nor heat allowed
to add another rosary! So the last three Hail Mary were offered for all
those who had only been mentioned in the silence of the hearts.
Roses for Parents, Husbands, Course Sisters, Co-Workers, and the Victims
of the Suicide Bombing in Jerusalem
Then, roses were offered to the Blessed Mother and Father Kentenich –
for all those who beforehand had asked to be represented in a rose, and
all those, who the pilgrims wanted to be present in these moments. After
a hesitant beginning, the grace of the moment "took over": It seemed as
if each person named was a reminder of other persons, and at the end,
when the buckets became more and more empty and the sea of roses by the
visible "Dachau Shrine" grew, the pilgrims became ever more eager to not
miss on the rose for their people. Sisters, mothers, Single Women, Girls
– all participated in the same way. "It was fascinating to think who was
all getting together on this afternoon on block 26", said Gabriele: the
older generation of the Women's League, the Schoenstatt Movement of Argentina,
Ecuador, Germany, Paraguay, the USA, and Brazil, João Pozzobon,
Father Esteban Uriburu, the Schoenstatt Rosary Campaign of the Pilgrim
MTA, many Schoenstatt Fathers and Sisters, Mr. Arendes, the pilgrims from
Trier, husbands, bosses, coworkers, children, grandchildren, the victims
of the suicide attack in Jerusalem, a little boy from Goya who would soon
have surgery of a brain tumor, and the mother of a group member of one
of the pilgrims who was sick with cancer – and who died an hour later,
totally in peace, while the Dachau pilgrims had their Holy Mass in the
Carmelite Chapel.
Easter Eucharist in the Carmelite Chapel
The day in Dachau closed with an Easter Eucharist in the Carmelite Chapel,
uniting the pain and the hope of the Dachau then and the Dachaus today
with the crucified and risen Lord. Father Maurer came from Kösching
to celebrate this Mass, and interpreted the experience of Dachau in the
light of Easter.
For the petition, a representative of each group or country present came
ahead with a symbol and said a prayer of thanks and confidence. Marcia
from Ecuador had the Father Eye and prayed that all people on earth may
experience the merciful love of the Father. Alexa had a rosary from Argentina
and thanked in the name of the Single Women from Germany for the discovery
of the rosary; Lena had the picture of Father Kentenich, and asked that
the Covenant with Father Kentenich would become fruitful for Schoenstatt;
Petra spoke for those who on January 20 – the 20th anniversary
of Father Kentenich's decision – had their implantation into the Mariengarten;
Sr. Rosana brought the crown from the Old House, the precious treasure
of the Adoration Sisters of the Original Shrine, and prayed for all those
who entrust their needs to the Blessed Mother there; Marlene Peter had
the Auxiliary and thanked for the spread of the Schoenstatt Pilgrim Mother
Campaign to Africa, and to the whole world, and prayed that the Pilgrim
Mother continues to bring the graces from the Shrine to many.
Focus on the Essential
Pretty much tired, all went back to Kösching – and many later that
night joined in a get-together with typical candies, sharing, and exchanging
of gifts.
On Sunday, after another Mass with translated sermon, and readings and
songs in different languages, the 28 pilgrims boarded the bus to return
to Schoenstatt and from there home to the Dachaus of every day. They made
a stop in Ennabeuren, the small village in the Swabian Alb where Father
Kentenich spent four weeks between his release from Dachau and his return
to Schoenstatt. The small room where Father Kentenich lived during this
time was for the pilgrims a place for silent prayer and meditation. When
John Pozzobon was offered to spend a night in this room, he did not touch
the bed, and spent the whole night on his knees, praying. "When the others
went to visit the church I just stayed in this room and prayed", Gabriele
said. It's a message of focusing on the essential, not to miss the central
impressions to a load of not so important but maybe loud experiences.
On the way back to Schoenstatt, a review of the pilgrimage in testimonies
took place. The testimonies well showed how "Dachau" had become "my Dachau"
for many. The gratitude for the father and family experience, the uncomplicated
participation of all, and the good and deep community spirit despite language
barriers were prevalent. The Adoration Sisters promised to pray during
their hours of adoration in the Original Shrine in the intentions of all
who had been included in the rosary. A mother from Cape Town who works
with abused women said: "I will bring home the message that justice begins
with your own rights, that you have to be aware of your own rights and
go the extra mile to preserve them. When I was in the barracks and heard
that Father Kentenich got up earlier each morning to be alone on the mass
bathroom, it was like a clear light: Justice begins with your own rights."
"We really experienced family, a family united in the Covenant with Mary,
a family inspired by a Father," said Gabriele. "During our last pilgrimage
to Dachau, we discovered the "Open Shrine", this time we experienced it!"
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