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Celebración del 60° aniversario del primer Santuario Filial Celebration of the 60th anniversary of the first Daughter Shrine Feier des 60. Jahrestags der ersten Filialheiligtums |
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Lugar del encuentro con el Padre Kentenich Place of encounter with Father Kentenich Raum der Begegnung mit Pater Kentenich Fotos: Regules © 2003 |
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Padre Kentenich, en al año 1947 Father Kentenich in 1947 Pater Kentenich, 1947 |
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Colonia, Uruguay, el P. Kentenich con las Hermanas Candida y Ursula, 1947 Colonia, Uruguay, Fr. Kentenich with Sr. Candida and Sr Ursula, 1947 Colonia, Uruguay, P. Kentenich mit Sr. Candida und Sr Ursula, 1947 |
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Procesión en Nueva Helvecia, 17 de agosto de 1947 Procession in Nueva Helvecia, August 17, 1947 Prozession in Nueva Helvecia, 17. August 1947 |
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Nueva Helvecia, 17 de agosto de 1947 Nueva Helvecia, August 17, 1947 Nueva Helvecia, 17. August 1947 |
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Con los Padres Palotinos en Montevideo With the Pallottine Fathers in Montevideo Mit den Pallottinerpatres in Montevideo |
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Junto al Santuario de Nueva Helvecia At the Shrine in Nueva Helvecia Beim Heiligtum in Nueva Helvecia Fotos Archiv: Huellas de un Padre, 1990 |
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R.O. del URUGUAY, Hna. Marines/mkf. Daily life is back to normal around the Shrine in Nueva Helvecia (R.O. del Uruguay) after the celebration of its 60th anniversary on October 17th to 19th, 2003. A new "earthquake of graces" made the spiritual foundations tremble in the first filial Schoenstatt Shrine of the world. It is the first of over 170 filial Shrines now existing! Soon more will be added: the International Shrine of Rome as a golden crown in the "internet of Shrines", and the Shrines of Lima (Peru), Garanhums (Brazil), Brig (Suiza), Miami (USA), Ibadan (Nigeria), Bangalore (India)...
"I always read with great interest and happiness all what appears in the magazine ‘Schoenstatt Aktuell’ (a summary of the articles of schoenstatt.de) How Schoenstatt developed!" writes Sister Ursula – pioneer of Schoenstatt in Argentina and Uruguay who was the translator and secretary of Fr. Kentenich on his visits to Latin America, first provincial superior of the Nazareth Province of the Sisters – a few days after the 18th of October, anniversary day of the first Daughter Shrine. "I belong to the generation who, in 1943 had the courage of constructing the Shrine of Nueva Helvecia. You don’t know how lonely and abandoned we felt. Due to the war we couldn’t communicate with Schoenstatt and our Father was in Dachau. We asked the Sisters in Chile, Brazil, Africa and most of them didn’t understand our longings for constructing a Shrine: There should be only one Shrine, in Schoenstatt! We were almost considered heretics... What a joy when on May 9th, 1947 our Father visited us and as we walked with him towards the Shrine, he pointed his hand to the shrine and said: ‘From home to home.’ And now there are more than 170 Daughter Shrines in the world..."
The loyalty to the forces that originated the blessed history of the filial Shrines as well as to the history written by the Father on those lands, made the experienced blessings of these days to be so deep.
The celebration of the School’s children
In this great project of the filial Shrine construction, the children from Uruguay, educated by the Sisters in their Schools of Nueva Helvecia, Cardona and Salto, had an important role. 60 years later, the children of the School were again the first ones celebrating "their" Shrine, including a child from that time...
Friday 17th was the Schools special holiday. At 10 in the morning they had a celebration in front of the Shrine lead by the permanent deacon Dante Guerra, who is a former student of the School and who enriched the moment by telling them he was present when the Shrine was built and that he had met Father Kentenich.
Each grade offered the contributions to the Capital of Grace that the children had been depositing in the small shrines in their classrooms during the year. The older ones wrote their contributions on a piece of paper and the little ones colored a piece of paper in red or made a small drawing when they behaved well. The students of the 6th grade made their Covenant and received a small shrine.
From Argentina, at noon, arrived the Fathers Juan Pablo Cattogio (Provincial of the Schoenstatt Fathers) and Guillermo Mario Cassone and also the Sisters Maria Teresa (Provincial of the Schoenstatt Sisters), M. Elrita and M. Virginia.
At 5:30 pm during the Holy Mass co-celebrated by the two Schoenstatt Fathers and the parish priest of Nueva Helvecia, Fr. Bartesaghi, sealed the Covenant of Love thirteen docents and the mother of one of them, and another five renewed theirs. Two of them are Lutherans.
The Shrine’s Youth – The first to greet the MTA
From the Shrine, the MTA wants to attract the "young hearts." The first ones to greet the MTA in her "young 60 year old Shrine" were the youngsters...
At 8:30 pm started the youth celebration. They made a pilgrimage from the wayside shrine to the entrance of Nueva Helvecia through the road of the hotels (Nueva Helvecia is a resort city). They carried torches, were escorted by Sister Maria Ester and Fr. Juan Pablo who invited them to sing the Avemarias of the Rosary, alternating phrase by phrase between the boys and the girls. They stopped in front of each of the three hotels: El Suizo, El Central and El Prado and meditated on the luminous mysteries. They prayed on the for the health of Denis Campo, a former student of the School who is very ill with cancer. For the same reason a group of adults prayed with them for the same intention.
At the Shrine they offered a serenade to the MTA and sang Happy Birthday! to the Shrine. The Boys' Youth prepared this serenade two months in advance with a special musical group formed for this purpose called "Shrine Guards". They intend to continue developing it.
They stayed till midnight to be the first ones greeting the MTA and the Shrine on its 60 years. In the meantime some scaffolds were put together and they placed a sash with the colors of the national flag.
A place to meet with the Father
The Sisters prepared the "little house of the Father", place were he lived during his visits, to be a place of encounter with him. On one wall was placed the picture of the MTA over a framed background with a golden paper border. The Sisters Community presented the picture of the Father; on another pedestal is the death mask of the Father in brass. Among other objects that remind us of his stay in Nueva Helvecia is the chasuble he wears in the photograph taken in the Shrine; other ornaments and chalices; a rosary, a handkerchief; the chair he used, a pew that used to be in the Shrine and can be seen documented in a drawing by Irma Ulmer. (Irma Ulmer, an artist already dead who made several symbolic drawings which express beautifully the Schoenstatt spirituality. She had a good attachment to Father Kentenich and visited him for long periods in Milwaukee)
For years the Sisters have been gathering all the elements to make this place and made a copy of the carpet in the Founder Chapel that indicates the place where Father Kentenich died. For this celebration, a show was prepared inside the little house with historical photos of Father’s footprints in Montevideo. There was also an album with postcards of the Daughter Shrines around the world.
Preferred family, Mary’s homeland
On October 18th, the national mission of Schoenstatt in Uruguay was solemnly proclaimed: PREFERRED FAMILY – MARY’S HOMELAND, it was the topic of the day. From their respective communities, Fr. Juan Pablo Cattogio and Sr. Maria Teresa gave their testimony on the contents of the national mission, which contributed on the decision making of many to seal that same afternoon their covenant with the Father. Developing the creative concept of FAMILY, with a Father, a Mother and a Home. And the unique content of being PREFERRED for having the first filial Shrine, for contributing on the foundation of Schoenstatt International (Cfr. third founding documents), for sealing there for the first time as a community a covenant with Father Kentenich.
For those who lived closer to the process of birth of the Movement in Uruguay it had a special meaning to listen to the couples of Montevideo and Nueva Helvecia, missionaries and mothers, speak with such conviction about the contents of being Preferred Family – Mary’s Homeland from their own personal lives and community experiences. They were all conscious that they were living a historical moment. They were all convinced that a new page was opening with a conscience of election and predilection. No one doubted they were the MTA’s preferred children: a Preferred Family – Mary’s Homeland.
Then, with their hearts full of hope, they all went to the Little House of the Father. Fr. Catoggio used the stole that the Father had used, and blessed the Father Encounter Room. Then, the ones who had been for months preparing for it sealed the Covenant with the Father to commit even more deeply to his work.
Presents of the Movement, an expression of their attachment to the Shrine
During the Holy Mass, celebrated at 5 p.m., at the moment of the bread and wine offerings they presented the rosary made of agate for the Auxiliar MTA, four rose plants for the Shrine’s garden, a sign with a graphic representation of the couple’s slogan for the year "We are Schoenstatt, we are Family, we want to share it" with rays showing the concrete way they practice it: happiness, self-education, love, volunteer work, transformation, integration, apostolate, commitment, hope, service. The mother’s group of Nueva Helvecia offered a basket of flowers for the altar; the Male Youth brought the national flag and their branch flag, the Female Youth offered their branch and group banners.
At the end of the Holy Mass they all proclaimed together the national mission: Preferred Family – Mary’s Homeland.
After a song they ended the day surrounding the Shrine with torches lighted during the singing.
The people’s celebration
At last, the celebration day has finally arrived after a long time of waiting and preparing!
At 6:30 on October 19th they prayed the Dawn’s Rosary and continued with the celebration of the Holy Mass.
By 9 a.m. the pilgrims started arriving from Montevideo, Canelones, Cerrillos, Minas, Carmelo, Rivera, Mercedes, Rodo, Palmitas, San Jose, Maldonado, Sarandi del Yi, Pan de Azucar, Juan Lacaze: a total of 38 busses (those checked at the reception).
At 10:30 Fr. Cassone gave a lecture explaining the National Mission to the pilgrims and it was transmitted through the speakers in the whole area so that everybody could listen, including the people having their second breakfast.
After lunch there was a dance performance by "Los Alegres Alpinos", with typical Swiss dances, the school children presented an allegory to Uruguay with songs, poems, and stage acting representing the river Uruguay who gave the country its name, the indians that inhabited the area, the gaucho, and the child from Uruguay to whom the Blessed Mother speaks giving him hope for the future; the younger children sang "Palomas de Paz" and gave each person a dove with a peace message mentioning the shrine.
Then started the procession at 3 p.m. sharp, taking the image of the MTA beautifully decorated through the streets of Nueva Helvecia while people prayed the Holy Rosary meditating on the luminous mysteries. Back at the Shrine started the solemn Mass presided by Fr. Pedro Wolcan, delegate of the Bishop who was in Roma in the celebration of the 25th anniversary of Pope John Paul II and the beatification of Mother Theresa. And this was providential because Fr. Pedro is also a former student of the School and he spoke of the three pilgrimage graces in a very clear way emphasizing the shelter given by the Mater. He remarked on the way She holds the Child Jesus wrapped in her mantle. Many pilgrims expressed their joy after this lecture.
As a ‘birthday cake’ there were cupcakes (biscuits) distributed in the shape of the Shrine to all the people who on this day full of blessings came to greet the MTA. As everyone was leaving, the tune of the ‘Happy Birthday’ was still in the air...
Judging by the numerous phone calls and emails received everybody agreed that an ‘earthquake of graces’ had deeply shaken the foundations of the first filial Shrine of Schoenstatt in the world. May the tidal wave reach to all the other Shrines that followed and will continue to follow!
Cf. Fr. Esteban Uriburu, Huellas de un Padre, presencia y Mensaje del P. Kentenich en America Latina (1947-1952), p.46-52; 61-66.