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1 de junio: comienza la pintura del futuro Santuario en Quito June 1: the painting of the future Shrine in Quito begins 1. Juni: der Außenanstrich des zukünftigen Heiligtums in Quito hat begonnen |
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Así luce el Santuario This is how the Shrine is situated So sieht man das Heiligtum von der Straße aus |
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Quito, en la vista de la Mater Quito in the perspectiva of the MTA Und so sieht die MTA Quito |
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San Miguel Arcangel St. Michael Archangel Statue des Erzengels Michael |
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La obra sigue... The work goes on Noch ist einiges zu tun. Fotos: www.schoenstatt.ec © 2005 |
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ECUADOR, F. Rodrigo Delazar/mkf. "Rejoice, today you will surely conquer heaven". This is how he receives visitors to the place of the future Shrine of the city. This phrase is on a great board with the picture of a smiling child, placed in front of the place of the Shrine. Simply because the place of the Shrine is the access route to a great tourist project in the city: Quito’s cable car.
Quito is a beautiful city, with an intense blue morning sky, located 2.800 meters above sea level. It is a city that has conserved its colonial centre almost intact, for this reason it’s been named UNESCO’s world patrimony to humanity. It is in this city – that before the arrival of the Gospel was considered a sacred city for its position near the middle of the world and that for many ancient dwellers signified the place of birth of the sun – that the Holy Virgin Mary wanted to settle. She already did this, twelve years ago, 25 Km away, on the outskirts of Quito, in one of the valleys: in Alangasi. But this time she wanted to settle in the heart of the city, to shine like a light of holiness and to act as Mother and educator of childhood and families.
So this place becomes Heaven’s Gate
On the hillside of the Pichincha volcano, the construction of the Shrine is being finished. The work progresses as contribution to the capital of graces, so Mary can make this place Heaven’s Gate (name that the Shrine in Frederico Westphalen, Brazil also. The Quito Family is working intensely and hopes that this celebration will be in union with the Guayaquil Family so they can form a more dynamic community with solid links. On June 1st, the work of the painting started, the façade of the Shrine will be white, contrasting with the green of the topography of the place. A stone cross from a farm in the Ecuadorian highlands will preside majestically in the field in front of the Shrine. This cross is located so that the pilgrim can observe it from all the angels of land and can know the Shrine of Mary is the Way to Jesus… The grass that is being laid in the field in front of the Shrine starts to give life to the place, this way the pilgrims will find a hospitable place where it is good to be… The altarpiece was made from fine cedar wood. It is ready to be installed once the interior painting of the Shrine is done. The work is a masterpiece of the master Miguel Angel, whose workshop is located in San Antonio de Ibarra. The fine work can be observed on the embossed pieces, where one can observe the depth and slimness of the figures… No doubt the Shrine is being filled with beautiful things… The wooden images (carvings) for the Shrine of Viña del Mar (Chile) entrusted to the same workshop are also ready (Saint Michael and Saint Joseph), as well as the altarpiece for that Shrine and it is identical to the one that will go in the Shrine of the City of Quito. For the Quito Family, it is an honor that the Ecuadorian art will take place in a place of honor in its brother Shrine…
The history of Quito is one of the richest in the Americas. During the time of the colonization, the craftsmen perfected the religious art and lovingly carved the most beautiful scenes of the life of Christ, Mary and the saints. This shows that the people have their roots in a faith that learned to express itself with love and passion. It is everyone’s conviction: "Today we want to renew ourselves in that faith that was so strong in God, for this we count with the best ally, the Mother of God, She is settling in our Shrine and from there she will never move because she is watching how men and women integrate to her…"
How the idea of the Shrine was born
The Shrine in the city is an initiative that was born under the Foundation Joseph Kentenich, foundation that has the responsibility of educating children in extreme poverty. Many of them live in areas of great poverty on the hillside of the Pichincha volcano, called the Comuna. Nine years ago, a group of couples of the familiar branch that had the interest of doing social evangelization began with a child care for the poor and this began to grow until it became the present Saint Joseph of the Comuna School, which educates, feeds, and provides a health plan to 260 children, all without federal help.
Practically from the beginning of the present school, the interest for a Shrine was born, so Mary could help educate the children, from there the first name of the Foundation: Childcare of Mary. After some years, the land loaned to the school was purchased, which is located on the hillside of the Pichincha Volcano, next to the highway that limits the city’s growth on the east. In the middle of Quito, the city has 47 Km of length but is really narrow; there is the new Shrine of the city.
In the year 2001, after the coronation of the Mater as Queen of the Family and Unity in the Shrine of Alangasi, a group of lay persons and the Fathers of Schoenstatt, decided to invite the Family to the conquest of the new place for Mary.
The challenge was to pray one million Hail Maries, make the visits to the Shrine of Alangasi more frequent, and increase the stream of home Sanctuaries in the Family. All of this was met throughout these years in which the Family began meeting every 18th of the month next to a little hermitage placed in the location of the future Shrine, until present, a hillside without much value.
A tourist project… and the smile of the Mater
Some time later it was made known that the land for the school, and thus the Shrine, had been chosen as an obligate pass for a millionaire tourist project: a cable car from the top of the Pichincha, located 4000 meters above sea level and next to it a big mall. This motivated the investors of the project to desire part of the land for the future Shrine and a satisfactory exchange was achieved. The land exchange incurred some costs due to bureaucratic issues and the definite approval did not arrive until September 2004. During the dioceses coordination meeting of September, the project was presented and the construction of the Shrine was decided. The first stone was placed on December 12 and the blessing will be on June 18, 2005.
On December 12th, approximately 400 people met to place the first stone of the Shrine of the city. It was a very beautiful and emotional ceremony. Inscribed in the stone, next to the foundation of the new Shrine, was a copy of the handprint of the Founding Father, a relic of Saint Brother Michael, saint of Ecuador, a medal from John Paul II, and soil from the Shrine of Alangasí. Most of the people present filled the cavity with petitions and contributions to the Capital of Graces.
The field continued to grow and the small hillside became a good platform that opens itself to the city and that wants to be the new spiritual lung for the entire country. The building of a house of the Fathers of Schoenstatt, as well as a construction with pastoral aims which will include a training center, a cafeteria and a gift shop is being considered to go next to the Shrine.
The blessing of the Shrine will take place June 18th at 10.00 hrs. The ceremony will be presided by monsignor Raúl Vela Chiriboga, archbishop of Quito. The entire international Schoenstatt Family is invited to attend.
To send greetings, prayers, messages: rdelazar@punto.net.ec
Sources: Link (Vinculo), Chile’s Schoenstatt Movement magazine, and www.schoenstatt.ec
Translation: Natalia Cava, USA