"Mother I salute you, you salute to me"December 13, 2003: The Schoenstatt Movement of Lima, Peru, celebrated the blessing of their Shrine with the assistance of Cardinal Juan Luis Cipriani and some fifteen hundred pilgrims |
Peru, Manuel Huapaya. "Mother I salute you, you salute to me". These are the words of our Father and Founder taken by Cardinal Juan Luis Cipriani, Archbishop of Lima, Peru during his homily during the blessing of the first Schoenstatt Shrine in Lima, the capital of Peru. It was around 5:30 PM in the evening and the sunbeams were reluctant to completely fade away when one of the most long time awaited moments began. For many of the present there it had been more than twenty years since Schoenstatt arrived to Peru and since then, the yearning for a Shrine exponentially grew. Moments before the ceremony started you could see pilgrims from different places: Chile, Ecuador, Portugal, Paraguay, Germany, as well as many Peruvians who traveled from all over the country. Even the old comrades were there. Those who were in the breaking of the foundation, and for different reasons couldn’t participate in the Movement, but now they have made a pause in their lives to go and salute their Queen and to welcome her in her new home, her definitive dwelling. Delivery of the Shrine keysThe ceremony began with the procession headed by banners from different cities, one from the Vatican and a few from the existing dioceses branches. After a brief presentation and a short greeting from the Diocesan Coordinators, the Engineers in charge of the Construction of the shrine, Mr. Ruperto Escobar and Mr. Franz Scamarone delivered the shrine keys to Cardinal Cipriani as a sign of the organic service that Schoenstatt wants to offer to the Church, just like our Founder and Father taught us. The Shrine, an alive sign of God’s presence.During his homily Cardinal Cipriani emphasized Father Josef Kentenich’s life and encouraged the crowd to live their lives according with Father’s example and in accordance to the Blessed Mother. He encouraged them to transform this Shrine in an alive sign of God’s presence. After sprinkling with holy water the Shrine’s exterior walls, and after taking the Holy sacrament to the sanctuary, the most awaited moment arrived: the Mater would take possession of her new home. A group of girls dressed in white and holding baskets filled with rose’s petals were bordering the road that the image’s procession would follow. The lights were turned off and an immense lantern illuminated directly to the procession. The girls were scattering the roses petals over the image as they went next to the branch leaders, the loyal custodies of our Movement’s life. Cardinal Cipriano waited by the Shrine’s main door the arrival of the Blessed Mother. The crowd was chanting "God, tie me, tie me to your Shrine…" as they were saluting the Queen and Mother Thrice Admirable while passing by. An image of the MTA for the CardinalA few minutes after her picture was being hung in the interior of the Shrine, Fr. Jose Luis Correa was handing Cardinal Cipriano a beautiful present: an image of our Mater. His eminence looked at the picture, he lifted it to show gratitude and then he kissed it as a gesture of his love to the Blessed Mother. The Holy Mass and the Blessing of the Shrine had culminated, and everyone there, close to 1,500 people revealed joy and rejoice in their faces. Many with tears in their eyes and moved by this powerful happening simply were giving thanks to Our Lord for such an immense gift. Then, brothers and sisters shared hugs and kisses: after such a long wait, the mission was accomplished. The new Shrine had been blessed and a new era had just began. GratitudeSuch immense and wonderful work deserves special acknowledgements: to the diocese coordinators of the Schoenstatt Movement of La Molina, Soledad Alarcon and Cristian Aguilera (Couples’ branch); to Jaime Carrillo, Shrine blessing team leader; and to the Schoenstatt Youth Group from Callao, for their great collaboration and sacrifice. With this Shrine blessing in La Molina, now there are two Schoenstatt shrines in Lima, Peru. Translation: Vera Gamez, Austin, Texas, USA |
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