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 published: 2003-10-21

From the Wayside Shrine to the Shrine: A Walk of Faith

October 18th in Parana, Argentina: 40,000 pilgrims walk to the Shrine

Peregrinación de los pueblos: Hasenkamp - La Loma, con 40.000 peregrinos

Pilgrimage Hasenkamp - La Loma, 40,000 pilgrims on the way to the Shrine

Fußwallfahrt Hasenkamp - La Loma, 40.000 Pilger unterwegs zum Heiligtum

 
 

Tapa del Diario "Diario de Paraná", 18 de octubre: Otra conmovedora demostración de fe

Cover of the newspaper "Diario de Paraná", October 18: "Another moving demonstation of faith"

Titelseite der Zeitung "Diario de Paraná", 18. Oktober: "Wiederum eine bewegende Glaubensdemonstration"

 
 

Una fila humana de siete kilometros

A human line of seven kilometers

Eine Menschenschlange von sieben Kilometern

 
 

Caminando en la fe, con una sensación térmica de 34° C

Walking in faith - with temperatures of 34° C

Im Glauben auf dem weg - bei Temperaturen von 34°C

 

Salida en Hasenkamp, 17 de octubre

Departure in Hasenkamp, October 17

Aufbruch in Hasenkamp, 17. Oktober

Fotos: El Diario de Paraná © 2003

 

 

 

ARGENTINA, "El Diario de Parana". Almost 40,000 people walking in a 4.5 mile compact human line, arrived on the 18th of October at the Shrine of La Loma. It was a 26 hour walk, covering 56 miles in the largest pilgrimage recorded in the province of Entre Rios. This is a longer distance than the annual pilgrimage to the Lujan Basilica in the province of Buenos Aires which is 52 miles long. The majority of the 40,000 pilgrims were young men and women who started walking on October 7th . It was a very hot day, with temperatures reaching 93° F. The archbishop of Parana told them that "the expression of faith shown by this pilgrimage is a gift of God to our homeland when there are dark clouds over it."

The organizers estimated that close to 40,000 people formed a compact human line of over 4.5 miles, which made this 21st edition of the Hasenkamp – Parana Pilgrimage the largest in South America; a walk covering 56 miles in about 26 hours. They left at 5 p.m. on the 17th of October from Hasenkamp and reached their final goal, the Shrine of La Loma in the capital of the province, around 6:20 in the evening the next day, with raised arms, singing praises to Our Lady of Schoenstatt, the MTA, but also exhausted. They started with extreme hot weather, with menacing storms and rains that did not materialize and on Saturday they made the last stage under similar conditions.

Over a day’s walk motivated by faith

On an exhausting journey with temperatures reaching 93° F, the pilgrim’s column - from Parana, Cerrito, Maria Grande, La Picada, El Pingo, Santa Elena, La Paz, among others – started forming on the access to the city of Hasenkamp, in front of the wayside shrine of Our Lady of Schoenstatt. At the time of the departure they were all ready to begin this special endeavor: to walk for over a day motivated by faith, for the particular intentions of each one or to give thanks for the blessings received.

With the appropriate caps, hats and walking canes, and with evident fervor, the pilgrims started the walk following a band that gave them encouragement playing religious chants from a mobile sound system, disregarding the menacing weather. The expectation of the majority was to reach the final goal, the Shrine of La Loma in the neighborhood of Paracao, Parana, on Saturday around 5:00 in the afternoon, where Archbishop Mario Maulion was to preside over the Mass crowning the pilgrimage after a walk of almost 26 hours.

It all started with two young men of the Men’s Youth in 1983

"This is the result of a profound faith – explained the priest Raul Spahn, from the parish of San Jose de Hasenkamp. Two young men of this town made the pilgrimage in 1983, on this same date, close to Mother’s Day in homage to the Blessed Mother and later on more and more pilgrims joined it. In a few years there were already 80 people in the pilgrimage and after ten years they reached 2,000. From the 13th pilgrimage on it has had the importance that we see now. There are many people participating."

The first pilgrims, Jorge Quiroz and Amelio Rodriguez, both members of the Schoenstatt Apostolic Movement, did this for the MTA as a gift in preparation of their Covenant of Love. Now they have multiplied by thousands. As in those days also, the guide of the pilgrims is the Blessed Mother Mary. The slogan is: Son, here is your Mother.

"The hot weather makes us tired but we walk happy," said Father Fabian Minigutti, the mentor of what is now known as the Pilgrimage of the People, when he arrived at camp Podversich on road 12 on the first of the 6 stops of the walk. In his hometown, on the road of the pilgrimage, a few days ago he blessed a wayside shrine of the MTA with his brother, also a priest. It is not easy to walk... "But the faith comes first, even when those who did this before know that during the night and after Cerrito the way seems even longer, we count on something very strong which motivates us," said Father Minigutti.

"It is possible to make a new person, a new family, a new homeland"

"I sincerely believe that this expression of faith in this pilgrimage is one of the gifts that God makes to our homeland when there are dark clouds and there are expectations; when there is suffering and exclusions and also when there are dreams. This shows that the Lord is with us, it is possible to make a new person, a new family, a new homeland," said Monsignor Mario Maulion, Archbishop of Parana, in the homily during the Mass celebrated in La Loma. It was 7:20 p.m. when some of the pilgrims started going back after 28 hours without sleep.

Like Rafael Peralta and Monica Pereira who arrived from San Jaime de la Frontera in the department of Feliciano, after preparing themselves for a year. "It gives you great joy. It is like a spiritual necessity, but it is also to give thanks and to be able to move forward. The situation now is difficult and in this way we get strength. There are parts that are complicated, especially if it rains, as it happened last year. We ended up crying and barefooted. But faith sustains and motivates us," they said. The same impulse made Gustavo Alba (28), Silvio Maidana (30) and Hernan Maidana (24), repeat the experience. These three friends walked 56 miles for 26 hours to give thanks and ask the Blessed Mother’s help. "Many people do this with an intention of asking for something or giving it to Mary as a present. In my case this year, it was to give thanks. In the past I did ask for something, but this time it was in gratitude," said Gustavo.

‘And the Blessed Mother gives you what you ask for? ‘Yes. At times you don’t understand her timing, you don’t understand why God challenges you with something, but in due time you understand. You understand why, and it is always for our own good.

"How do you stay on the road without losing your strength?"

"In our case we were three friends. Each one with his own particular intention and we gave each other support, without knowing the other persons intention, because we wanted him to feel comfortable giving this present to the MTA. But there were difficult moments during the pilgrimage, when the blisters show up, when the legs are shaky. But people help you; otherwise you couldn’t do it."

Cooperation of over 600 volunteers

There was a careful organization behind the 2003 edition of the People’s Pilgrimage, as it is also known. This helped it to take place, like every year since 1983, without surprises and without any accidents among the pilgrims or the more than 600 volunteers who took part in it. But still the Archbishop Maulion asked the organizers to get insurance to cover the volunteers and the pilgrims and after the mass he congratulated them for their efforts. "With joy I preside at this Eucharist that puts a final touch to all the work, effort, devotion and strength that you have all demonstrated during this pilgrimage," he told them.

"It is the first time I preside at the Eucharist for this, and I feel grateful to the Lord for giving me this gift, that it is a gift you have given to the Blessed Mother Mary. You have done this with love and devotion for the Blessed Mother on Mother’s Day. But I also feel like a beneficiary of this gift. For me it is also a gift to confirm the expression of your faith and generosity, my brothers in the same church."

He continued, reminding them that the life of all Christians is also, "Don’t lie, don’t harm, don’t dominate with abuse. The key to social life is to serve. It is never to dominate, exclude nor disqualify. It is to serve. To serve is to be honest, tell the truth. Yes, yes, no, no. Not to play games which lead to confusion and confrontation. To listen to Jesus is to serve; to listen to Jesus is to know that the suffering we experience is not definite. God is definite and to be with God. This is what the Lord and the Blessed Mother are reminding us of today."

A priest with lots of youth

He is loquacious, restless, simple, extroverted, good and seldom does he go unnoticed. Dressed in a worn out beige habit, the small figure of Father Orlando Bottegal promenaded among the pilgrims. He was not one of the walkers; nevertheless he was in front of the column making an entrance at 6:30 pm into the Shrine of La Loma in the middle of applause and chants.

Thispriest, after years of pastoral work in the San Benito area, has also his own story written in the San Jose Parish in Hasenkamp, where he arrived in 1989 to be part of the beginnings of the People’s Pilgrimage. This year he brought his spiritual support to the pilgrims on each of the 6 stops along the way.

"I kept them company on the stops because I am already old, "che", said Bottegal, when he could free himself of the loving attention of the ladies around him.

"How old are you?"
"You know, I have accumulated youth. That’s what I have. In four months I will be 81."
" Where and with whom are you feasting?"
" No, I don’t feast any longer. But I’m there in Hasenkamp and there I will celebrate. I will stay there if they don’t kick me out.’

Translation: Carmen Barruel, Belgium/ Paula Dudgeon, Minnesota, USA



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