SCHOENSTATT, mkf. For the first time a live Stations of the Cross took place in Schoenstatt, in four languages and personified by some 25 youth from different countries: volunteers who collaborate with the preparations of World Youth Day, members of the Pastoral team of the Original Shrine, along with boys and girls who are taking part in the extended stay program of the Schoenstatt Fathers and Sisters. The public that attended were composed of some 60 pilrims from Germany, Chile, Paraguay and England.

"I did not feel like a foreigner", commented Isabel Arenas, from Calama, in northern Chile. "I felt at home, spoiled not only by the Blessed Mother but also by my brothers and sisters. The Stations of the Cross took place on Good Friday, at 10:00 a.m., departing from the Pilgrims' Church to the amphitheater (pilgrims park). The actors representing Mary, John, the women who accompanied Jesus, the soldiers, Veronica, and especially the one who personified Jesus, transmitted by clear gestures, with simplicity and authencity, part of what the theme contained in this Stations of the Cross: I want to carry your cross...The meditations for the Stations of the Cross, inspired by the text of "Heavenwards", with songs in Portugese, Spanish, English, and German accompanied by guitars, created a profound atmosphere of meditation. The Stations of the Cross ended at the pilgrims' park, where the gigantic World Youth Day flag indicated the place where in August some 2500 to 3000 youth will seal their Covenant of Love representing all the youth of the world.

The visit of a special Pilgrim MTA

Just as the Stations of the Cross began, two young men arrived from Cologne: Nicholas, from the Boys' Youth in Campanario, Chile, and Jose Luis, from the Boys' Youth in Paraguay, who work in the Office of the World Youth Day in Cologne. Jose Luis carried a special PIlgrim MTA, that had visited Schoenstatt and Rome in the year 2000 with a pilgrimage of Youth from Paraguay, organized by Father Gerardo for the World Youth Day in Rome. This Pilgrim MTA has now come with Jose Luis to accompany the preparations for World Youth Day 2005 in Cologne...

Pilgrims from three continents were present in Schoenstatt

"Although it is hard not to understand any of the liturgies, especially during the most important liturgical time of the year, we love being in Schoenstatt for Easter", commented John and Jan Beebe, from England.

Just as in other years, at this season, there were pilgrims from three continents anxious to celebrate Holy Week and Easter in Schoenstatt:

• On Holy Thursday, some 20 pilgrims from Japan, on their third visit to Schoenstatt - family and friends of Sister Elizabeth, who is from Japan, who now resides in Germany - who were at the point of seeing their plans ruined this year...because the driver of the bus who was to pick them up at the airport, very kindly offered to bring a group of Koreans to Schoenstatt instead of them...! And it almost happened, against the Koreans wishes.
• From Chile, Shiegeo Suyuki Sone and his spouse Isabel Arenas, along with the leaders of the Family Work of Calama, Alfonso Pereira Olivares and Patricai Colina Munoz. "We missed the train in Mainz", commented Shigeo Suyuki Sone, whom Isabel quoted: "But we still wanted to come to Schoenstatt. Since we did not know when the next train would depart, and it was impossible to communicate in order to ask, we took a taxi..." They participated in the Mass of Holy Thursday in the PIlgrims' Church and Seder meal (agape), where they enjoyed a friendly chat with Father Franz Widmaier - in Spanish!
• Saturday, the Ambassador from Chile in Holland, with his family.
• Some 15 girls from Switzerland, accompanied by their assesor, to participate in the traditional Easter retreat in Schoenstatt, organized each year by the Girls' Youth of Switzerland.
• On Good Friday, Luciana Gomes de Almeida Mocelin, of Curitiba, Brazil, editor of the magazine, "Tabor on the Web", and her husband, who because of business reasons annually spends some weeks in Germany. "Now I will work on the next edition from Germany", commented Luciana. "Thanks to the Internet, that makes it possible! The beautiful work in the field of communication and media, and that is what we so much need in Schoenstatt to keep "in touch" and to grow in the mission!

Host of light

The liturgies of Holy Week were celebrated in the Adoration Church and the in the PIlgrims' Church, filled with a solemn and at the same time a festive spirit, with which since years past many of the pilgrims are familiar and they form part of the "life of Holy Week and Easter" in Schoenstatt. In the Pilgrims' Church, the liturgy team introduced visual effects and contemporary songs, in order to help, convey the depth of the meaning of each celebration. In the the Mass commemorating the Last Supper, Father Lothar Penners, Director of the Movement, spoke of Jesus' giving of self that becomes inheritance in the Eucharist - an inheritance that was manifested also in the host of light formed at the entrance of the Church...Just as the candles that formed part of this host of light were distributed among

the assistants for the procession with the Blessed Sacrament at the end of the liturgy, each one is called today to carry this inheritance of Jesus' giving of self to illuminate the darkness of the time.

The pilgrims from Japan, who had their own program during their stay in Schoenstatt, joined the liturgy of Good Friday in the Adoration Church. During that same liturgy, in the Pilgrims' Church, the main concerns of the Church year after year, were written on a poster with a globe which are presented to the Father on the day of the supreme and total sacrifice of his Son: world peace - which is so threatened in Iraq, Holy Land, Lebanon, Kirguistan, Sudan.." the mission of the Church, the Holy Father - who through his illness is reliving the passion of Christ in his own body, in a manifestation of such a sublime love of Him and the men who have gained the respect and admiration of those persons who during the years ridiculed him - those who did not have faith.

Along with the foreign pilgrims and the usual agglomeration of Germans anxious to spend Holy Week in Schoenstatt, present in the different common liturgies, there was also a retreat for couples and seminar for engaged couples, both with their respective programs.

In the depth of the silence of Holy Saturday, Schoenstatt expectantly awaited the Resurrection of Jesus...