Let Us Pray and Live the RosaryOn the eve of October 18th: Rosary in the Original Shrine and in the Adoration Church |
SCHOENSTATT, mfk: Closing of the Year of the Rosary in Schoenstatt. On the eve of October 18th, at the same time when thousands of pilgrims started (at 5pm (17 hrs.) on the 17th) their "People’s Pilgrimage" from the wayside shrine of Hasenkamp to the Shrine in La Loma, Parana, in Schoenstatt it was time to pray the universal prayer so dear to the Pope as well as to Father Kentenich: the Holy Rosary. At 9:45 (21:45) in the night’s darkness, about 100 candles shone inside and around the Original Shrine during the "Rosary for human dignity", while in the Adoration Church, a crown of light grew for Jesus and Mary, a crown made of pain, happiness, mission, victory and family unity. About 100 persons, with candles in their hands, joined together in the cold night around the Original Shrine to meditate and pray the "Rosary of Human Dignity", a meditation of the Rosary in the light of the dignity of each human being, motivating us to guard human dignity in each situation. It was prepared by the team of the Sisters of Mary working with the "Pilgrim Shrine Project"... "Beyond the borders..." "To Christ with Mary, root of our hope" "In the Shrine you will arrive..." The reason for these pilgrimage songs "from the wayside shrine to the Shrine of La Loma", was explained to the 500 participants of the October Week who came to the Rosary in the Adoration Church. It was the time of the night when the pilgrims started their walk, the 90 km and for 26 hours, towards the Shrine as a present for the Capital of Grace. It was not just a time coincidence; the illuminated Rosary of the missionaries of the Professionals’ Branch offered that night was born in Argentina, after a lecture of Fr. Kentenich in Villa Ballester, in 1949, about the Rosary resembling a crown of live roses and through the initiative of the Rosary Campaign in Argentina. At this moment it was a way to bond as a Schoenstatt Family on the eve of October 18th, not only praying as an international family, but also as the Father’s family, in that flow of blessings, of life and of prayer which gushes out from the Shrine and comes back with each covenant, with each contribution to the capital of grace, with each celebration of October 18th this year. The 3rd International Auxiliary led the Illuminated Rosary as a tie with the prayer of the Rosary in Shrines and wayside shrines of Schoenstatt at this moment. Together as an international familyThe Professionals, at the beginning of the Rosary mentioned one of the central events of this October 18th and invited us to join:
"Never thought there was so much pain..."On incorporating the Illuminated Rosary in Germany, the missionaries (of the Professionals Branch) modified it to fit the German situation where many times the personal needs and worries don’t get to be expressed in the prayers and liturgy and where the personal contact with the person of God and the person of the Virgin is for many, something unknown. No one told them how to do it... Thus, in the Illuminated Rosary all are invited to pray their ‘Ave Maria’ with a personal intention or request. Then while they place their rose and light the candle, the rest pray "Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us..." for the intention expressed. That is how the Rosary was prayed that night, with the participation of 500 of the 650 delegates of the German Schoenstatt Movement. "I never thought there was so much pain." was the comment of one of the priests the next day. "I wanted to pray to give thanks for the return to the church of a 70 year old friend," said Annemarie Lanske, "but I couldn’t. For me it was a great happiness, but after seeing so many people coming to pray and sensing the pain of their loved ones, their friends, their colleagues, who came to the Rosary with requests, I couldn’t do it. I had to allow them the grace of many people praying for their intention. I stayed in the chapel praying a bit longer even if it was close to midnight when finally going back home," she added. After the rosary, people remained kneeling or in front of the crown of lights and roses on the steps of the altar praying. Marriages breaking up, unemployed youth, young lives destroyed by drugs, young mothers with cancer, death of a friend, father, children, for a mother who that same morning killed her own son running him over with the car... not for the problems of "the world and society", but of daily life. "It is the first time that I pray in such a personal way in Schoenstatt,’ said a young woman. "It is the first time that 500 people pray for a friend of mine with terminal cancer... 500 members of my Schoenstatt family." When Martine Rasch prayed the 11th ‘Ave Maria’ of the last decade of the rosary (maybe this is how the 1000 Hail Mary started???) for "the petitions we carry in our hearts and have not been expressed", all knelt spontaneously. For the Pope and for BoliviaEven if most were petitions for the close personal circle, there was also a wider scope, we obviously prayed also for the Pope and for the Schoenstatt events mentioned above, for the people and the Schoenstatt Family in Bolivia. Was it a coincidence that the president’s resignation announced on October 18th put an end to violence? More than 10 priests together blessed the Illuminated Rosary, the people present – or represented by a rose or a candle. Many of the participants left with a rosary made of macramé, made in Argentina, giving a donation for the Casa del Niño in Villa Ballester. "It was worth the sacrifice." said Gabriele Sudermann. Like Martina Rasch and Inge Cleven, she came to Schoenstatt straight from work, a three hour drive to pray the rosary. Martina Rasch said, "It was a great gift to be able to offer this rosary to the delegates of the Movement. Yes, it was a gift for me." Translation: Carmen Barruel, Belgium/ Paula Dugeon, USA |
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28.10.2003
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