Schoenstatt, mkf. The crown of roses spreads its light from the altar of the Adoration Church, on Saturday, the 5th of March, with more than 40 candles and red roses... "Dearest Mother, help our Holy Father so that he can come to Cologne to be with the Youth who eagerly awaits him..."United spirituallly to many others, some 70 persons - from Germany, Switzerland, Chile and Poland - offered an Illuminated Rosary for the health of the Pope, presided by the Third International Auxiliary Shrine of the Rosary Campaign, that was blessed by he Holy Father in the Apostolic Nuncio's of Buenos Aires on the 12th of April of 1987, Palm Sunday, before the closing Mass of the World Youth Day (WYD). A candle in front of the Auxiliary, with the logo of the WYD in Cologne to be celebrated in August of 2005, intertwined that blessing with the restlessness of today: that the Pope will be able to travel to Cologne to meet with the Youth of the world.

There are many, in all the world, who have been praying during all this time and continue to pray for the health of the Pope. In Austria a very original ideal surged: "the virtual jar" for the health of the Pope; on the web page of the "Family as a Vocation" - an initiative of the Family Work - there is a section where the people write what they offer as Capital of Grace in this jar - a headache, a medical exam, the cold weather, an argument with their children, their university studies...

In each journey of the Mothers' Branch and the Branch of Retired Professionals, in the south of Germany, special prayers for the Pope were offered, commented Sisters Silva and Mirjam, assessors of said branches. the Press Office of the Holy See announced that Pope John Paul II has received tens of thousands emails from all over the world since the web site from the Vatican included in each of its six languages, an email address: john_paul_ii@vatican.va.

Since noon on the 1st of March until the same hour on the 3rd of March, according to the published information, the Pope has received more than 20 thousand emails: 10 thousand in English, 6077 in Spanish, 2012 in Portugese, 1134 in Italian, 850 in German and 800 in French. Also many messages in Polish, the Pope's native language, arrive daily. According to the Press Office of the Holy See, "these numbers are only a small percentage of the emails directed to the Holy Father during these days, to which must be added, the emails received since that day, plus letters and faxes that arrive at the Secretariat of State and the other tribunals of the Roman Curia". Among the first messages sent in Spanish, was the one from the coordinators of the Rosary Campaign in Panama, commented Ida Aleman.

A rose, a candle for the Holy Father..along with my lack of a job and also the illness of my brother

In Schoenstatt, the Illuminated Rosary was offered with much fervor; on Friday an announcement was published in various local and regional newspapers. "I come to pray for the Holy Father, commented a lady from Koblenz who had come to Schoenstatt for the first time. "We placed the posters in Weitersburg- some 5 kms. from Vallendar - and today several persons have attended", said Kristine and Petra Haas, who have not missed a single Illuminated Rosary in the whole year, they learned about it when they were in Schoenstatt for the first time last year, after moving to Weitersburg. "Wouldn't it be nice to have it each month?" they asked. "Count on us, we are willing to help!" At the beginning of the Illuminated Rosary, Gabriele Sudermann, leader of the Professional Branch, organizers of the event, explained that each candle would be lit from the candle that was lighted in front of the Auxiliary, as a symbol of unity with the Pope. Just as the candles were lit from the candle lit before, each worry, each joy, each personal petition was united in prayer for the Holy Father. Just as Father Kentenich expressed in a talk in Villa Ballester about the rosary as a crown of living roses, a rosary that was prayed and lived,the sorrowful, glorious, luminious, and joyful mysteries of our own life form a living rosary... a rosary brought to life for the Pope and for the persons whose names were mentioned in this "call to heaven" through the roses and candles. The youth in search of values; our children without employment, the Italian reporter liberated in Iraq and the official who died protecting her; the seven year old child who died of malnutrition, abandoned by her parents in Hamburg, Germany; the joy of a 56 years old,man, who had a new job; the novices of the Schoenstatt Fathers in Nigeria who will soon receive their tunic of Sion; a couple from Mexico that are preparing for their wedding and who sent their wedding invitation to "the two most important persons of our lives", the MTA and Father Kentenich"...many things and everything were offered with each of these candles and roses that brought to life the Illuminated Rosary, accompanied by hymns and meditations of the "The Rosary of Joao Pozzobon" before each mystery, At the end of the rosary a collection was made for the Casa del Nino (The Children's Home) in Villa Ballester, "as an act of gratitude to Argentina for the gift of the Illuminated Rosary", inspired by the words of Father Kentenich in Villa Ballester.

Missionary activity of the Professionals" retreat

For the Professionals, who promoted the event, this rosary was the close of their annual retreat; ending, as it now customary, three days of silent retreat with inspirational talks by Father Angel Strada, with a missionary activity: the Illuminated Rosary. During the retreat, on one of the afternoons, Brother Arendes spoke to them about the person and mission of Mario Hiriart, while each day they participated in the Mass in which Father Angel preached, he had also given a talk before the Mass. On Saturday, the three days of silence ended through the renewal of the Covenant of Love in the Original Shrine - to which Father Angel said, "it is impossible for anything better to exist": to renew the covenant in the place where everything started!

Translation: Celina M. Garza, Harlingen, TX, USA