Encuentro de adviento en Frohlinde: Ya sea que me encuentre tapada de ropa para planchar o pueda contemplar durante horas mi corona de Adviento, sé que Jesús nacerá en mi hospital en Waldniel, en mi departamento, en mi parroquia y en mi corazón". Advent meeting in Frohlinde: "Whether I am fighting with the pile of laundry to be ironed or sit for hours contemplating my advent wreath - I know for sure that Jesus will be born in my hospital, in my apartment, in my parish, and in my heart. Adventtreffen in Frohlinde: "Egal, ob ich in der Bügelwäsche "ersticke" oder in meinen Adventkranz, den ich noch gar nicht habe, schaue – ich weiß jetzt, dass der Heiland auf alle Fälle geboren werden wird…"

Búsqueda de huellas Seeking sign in small groups Spurensuche in kleinen Gruppen

Un día, esto será un calendario de adviento... One day this will be an advent calendar... Eines Tages wird das ein Adventkalender...

Rosario iluminado: un Ave María, una vela, una rosa para un chico en Perú... Illumined rosary: a hail Mary, a candle, a rose for a sick little boy in Peru... Lichter-Rosenkranz: ein Ave Maria, ein Licht, eine Rose für ein krankes Kind in Peru..

"Querido Santo Padre, queremos compartir con usted la alegría que experimentamos al saber que había proclamado un Año del Rosario..." "Dear Holy Father,we want to share with you our joy that you proclaimed the Year of the Rosary..." "Lieber Heiliger Vater, wir Wir möchten Sie gerne an unserer Freude teilhaben lassen, die wir empfanden, als wir hörten, dass Sie das Jahr 2003 als "Jahr des Rosenkranzes" ausgerufen haben..."

Una rosa como simbolo de la alianza de amor: María Teresa desde México A rose as symbol of the Covenant of Love: María Teresa, from Mexico Eine Rose als Zeichen des Liebesbündnisses: María Teresa aus Mexiko

Alegría en el encuentro: Isabel, Ecuador; María Teresa, Alemania/México; María Mercedes, Argentina Joy in the encounter: Isabel, Ecuador; María Teresa, Germany/Mexico; María Mercedes, Argentina Freude, sich kennen zu lernen: Isabel, Ecuador; María Teresa, Deutschland/Mexiko; María Mercedes, Argentinien

Fotos: POS, Fischer © 2002

GERMANY, Frohlinde, mkf. Illumined rosary, prayed in Polish, Spanish, and German, a Covenant of Love sealed in Spanish, "Seeking Signs" in two languages, sharing about advent and Christmas customs in Ecuador, Poland, Argentina, Northern and Southern Germany, a letter to the Pope to thank him for the year of the rosary, and the commitment to support a day care center for poorest children in Argentina, children in a children's home in Germany, the work of a shelter for homeless persons, and to be answer prayer requests from Peru, and Senegal: the 23 participants of the Professional Women's Advent Meeting on November 30 – December 1, 2002, in Frohlinde, experienced and created the "Open Shrine" in any respect – preparing thus for Christmas, for Christ to be born anew, requiring only the openness of seeing more: of seeing God the Father in the work and demands of every day life, and to see God in the persons who cross one's paths.

"We got so many great inspirations, that I feel relaxed, joyful and simply fine," Alexa Clemens sums up her experiences. "Whether I am buried in my laundry yet to be ironed or can look at my advent wreath for hours ­ I know that Jesus will for sure be born in my hospital in Waldniel, and in my apartment, my parish, and in my heart." The rooms, dining room, and hall decorated with loving care - advent wreath, firs, candles, roses, homemade cookies, and a display with reports from schoenstatt.de… - made for a special feel of being expected and valued and opened for

An advent wreath just for me

"We think 'white Christmas' being the 'real Christmas' although we know that the normal German Christmas weather is rainy and dreary as November," Gabriele Sudermann, leader of the branch, said in the opening meditation in the Shrine. "We know that this is an unrealistic concept of Christmas – but maybe there are other unrealistic concepts, too: like advent as silent, quiet time without work and distraction as ideal; and then the bad feeling when our advent is marked by the search for Christmas gifts and more work at work." The idea of the meeting was to share ways how to focus on the essential of advent and Christmas – that Christ may be born in many hearts - without falling prey to the pressure of unrealistic 'ideal advent' clichés. An exchange of experience followed about personal advent customs, "musts" of advent and Christmas. As the majority of the Professional Women are single and live in their own apartments, and many have extremely demanding jobs, the issue of some personal advent or Christmas customs is crucial, they found. "So far I always thought that my Christmas is sharing Holy Night with the homeless in the shelter where I work," Elke Lehnen said. "This still is my Christmas, but after hearing about the others decorating their apartment with an advent wreath, or singing in their home shrine, I will try and also have a very personal Christmas moment at home." An interesting aspect was added by Isabel from Ecuador, and María Mercedes from Argentina sharing about advent and Christmas in summer. "This really made it clear to me – 'my advent' does not depend on certain stereotypes of setting, weather, peace and quiet, but that I prepare in my advent for my savior to be born in my heart – and in my work place, family, parish, and world!"

"Base your life entirely on my presence"

In the afternoon, the focus was on being open for God's fatherly "everyday presence" – as one of the participants said: "We don't need to work hard to 'make' him present, he is present, waiting for me to see and meet him. He only needs my openness." Picking up the inspiration from the October Week, they broke into small groups for an hour of "Seeking Signs"– four German, and one Spanish group sharing experiences of finding God around the corner, in small events of every day life. A line from a song that one of the members of the group wrote, afterwards became the guideline for the "focus on God in my every day life": "Base your life entirely on my presence, you'll never be alone…" The crucial point was to be set free of the pressure of having to set aside the usual advent work of searching gifts, writing greetings cards, doing extra hours at work…, and freeing of the pressure of "Christmas according to performance of silent hours, meditation, and candle light idyll". Jesus is born whenever I revolve around anything but myself – around God, Mary, my friends, family, community. Jesus is born when I am searching for a Christmas gift, when I rush to the post office to get the letter out on time, when I put the extra gold star on a gift wrapping… and of course also when I take the time for a silent hour with the advent wreath of for a song in my home shrine. The joy that fills my heart is the joy of the shepherds who found Jesus. And by the way – Jesus was born in the stable at Bethlehem, and this stable had not gotten a general cleaning before!

The day ended with a candle light procession to the Shrine and Holy Mass for the opening of Advent.

Illumined Rosary - highlight of the Meeting

"Dear Holy Father, we want to share with you the joy that we experienced when we heard that you proclaimed a Year of the Rosary! Indeed, this is what we experienced: a profound, sincere joy, and that is why we want to write to you!" The letter to the Holy Father, signed by all of the participants, also included a photo of the Illumined Rosary that the Professional Women of Northern Germany love to pray and started to spread in parishes, with other Schoenstatt groups, with friends. "I gave one of the macramé rosaries from Argentina to a pastoral worker. He commented something in view of old-fashioned and so. I told him about the illumined rosary, with each Hail Mary prayed for one person. He did it with his family… and the other day asked me for a rosary for his wife, and for each of his children!" – "One and a half year ago we discovered the rosary," the letter to the Holy Father reads. "We adopted the "Illumined Rosary" from the Schoenstatt Rosary Campaign of the Pilgrim Mother in Argentina and modified it a bit by offering each 'Hail Mary' for a special person or intention. The lit candles symbolize the love with that Jesus and Mary lived their mysteries of the rosary in order to illumine our lives, the rose symbolizes our efforts to live our joyful and sorrowful mysteries, following the model of Jesus and Mary. We don't have any meeting without praying the rosary in this way, and each time one candle is lit especially for you. Our enthusiasm urged us to spread this rosary where ever we can, especially in our parishes – so far with only positive results. In gratitude for the gift of the Year of the Rosary we want to give to you our promise to pray, live and spread the rosary. We also want to give you a rosary that was made and prayed in Argentina, in the special friendship that unites us with the Rosary Campaign there. It is one of more than 500 rosaries of this kind that we gave to others in few months…" – María Mercedes Pertino added a little note when she signed the letter: "Holy Father, I brought your rosary from Argentina to Schoenstatt…"

Sunday morning, December 1, began with the Illumined Rosary prayed in the conference hall – with the Hail Mary prayed in Polish and Spanish several times, too. "Rosary is something I always pray in my language, in Polish," Alice said. Hail Mary for Hail Mary, light for light, rose for rose, a big rosary grew, and with the growing rosary, a prayerful atmosphere. "What can I say about the Illumined rosary," Alexa said, "I would have liked to stay for eternities just looking at the roses, the candles, thinking of all those who are present through our prayers for them…."

Christmas in August or: Jesus is born when we share and care from person to person

With the "illumined rosary" in the center of the room, after having prayed for so many persons, the participants then focused on what they called "the Christmas process" of giving from person to person like God came to us in person, in Jesus. They did so by sharing about three concrete projects. "We had Christmas in August", one of the members of the group who works in a home for children and youth, said. "I had sent a mail to some of our community, sharing that I would need some items to equip the apartment of one of the girls who had to move out. I really thought of some items…but got a whole carload of bed linen, towels, vases… Unpacking these gifts was our Christmas in August, a miracle of the Holy Night." A joy "bouncing back" to the givers.

"We have another home for children," Gabriele Sudermann commented, and shared about the day care center for poorest children in Villa Ballester, Argentina, `María de Nazaret' – a name and project with Christmas connotation. "Our economical situation in Germany is sure worse than a couple of years ago, but theirs is a lot worse than ours." A generous donation helped that the Schoenstatt family that is running this home got a strong support in this task. "And we got friends and got so many prayers."

"I fell in love with a macramé rosary that I saw during our retreat. It came from Argentina, and after I said that I would like one, others also wanted one. That was the beginning… I always pack ten rosaries in a little bag and give them to parish priests, to pastoral workers, nurses, friends. Each rosary was prayed by our friends in La Plata, personally prayed while they made it, for the person who would receive it. They used to give these rosaries for hospitals, jails… Elke, would you think that the homeless persons would like one???" They would… and specially some of those who will spend Christmas in prison, Elke said. The last available rosary went with Elke for one person who had asked for a rosary. "That will make his day, when I tell him that someone prayed this rosary for him!" – As soon as the next package will arrive from Argentina, Elke will receive 100 rosaries for the homeless…

Covenant of Love

At 3:00 PM, all gathered in the Shrine for the Holy Mass with renewal of the Covenant of Love. Maria Teresa from Mexico who lives in Germany since a couple of years sealed her covenant of love, radiant with joy. Father Christoph Fechtelpeter, like the night before, succeeded to create a warm, deep, religious climate with his introductory words and the sermon, linking the hour of the Covenant to the annunciation. – He invited all to think of their "hour of annunciation" , their yes to the call to join Schoenstatt, and seal the Covenant of Love with Mary, and he also invited to remember their "Gabriel", who brought the message. "Thank you, my Gabriel, where ever you may be now…". Offering a rose as sign of their new readiness for the Covenant, each one then in her way renewed her Covenant of Love. "It is a special gift to begin Advent like this," Ursel Bauer said. "I got so many inspirations, new insights, I feel a strong longing now to share this…and I know that Jesus will be born when I share!"