 |
 |
Alianza de Amor en el Santuario de Monterrey Covenant of Love in the Shrine in Monterrey Liebesbündnis im Heiligtum in Monterrey |
|
 |
|
Momento de alegría y compromiso Moments of joy and commitment Augenblicke der Freude und Verpflichtung |
|
 |
|
Si, Mater... Yes, Mother... Ja, meine Mutter... |
|
 |
|
Reina de nuestro matrimonio, de nuestra familia... Queen of our marriage, of our family... Sei Königin unserer Ehe, unserer Familie… |
|
 |
|
Un rosario de flores A rosary of flowers Ein Blüten-Rosenkranz |
|
 |
|
Invicta en el huracán… In storms you remain in view… Du bleibst in den Stürmen stehn… |
|
 |
|
Aniversario del Santuario Anniversary of the Shrine Weihetag des Heiligtums Fotos: www.schoenstatt-mty.org © 2005 |
|
|
MEXICO. Mfk. Last week Mexico, Texas and the Carribean were marked by fear of hurricane Emily and its destructive force…Cities mentioned in the news – Harlingen, Brownsville, Cancun, Monterrey… bring to mind certain names: isn’t it the city where a translator of Sch.de lives?, isn’t it the diocese that went on pilgrimage to Corpus Christi, a four hour trip?, isn’t it the city where the shrine celebrated its third anniversary in May? Yes, each of these places are a part of "my land", there is family…A family that today thanks so many brothers and sisters for their prayers..
"Thousand thanks, Schoenstatt family, for your prayers and for worrying about us, the Schoenstatt Family from Monterrey", writes Marissa Benavides, from the Campaign of Monterrey, "before the arrival of hurricane Emily, that had lost strength before entering the city, thanks to God, it had become a tropical storm. Fortunately Monterrey is surrounded of mountains and this protects us a lot. Thanks to God and the protection of the Blessed Mother, the civil defense authorities have not reported any victims or missing persons, there were only material losses, fallen trees, streets were destroyed, and rivers and arroyos are full of water. Luckily we received much information several days before the arrival of the hurricane and the authorities evacuated all the families that could be in danger because they live so close to the river.
Preparing for the hurricane
"Hurricane Emily made landfall at 2:00 a.m. 100 Km. From here, as a Category 4 so it was fairly strong", commented Astrid Villasenor, who lives in Cancun. "We prepared a thousand things in the house, taping the windows, putting up plywood, and covering many of the entrances, but all we heard was the crazy wind outside and tons of rain, and we asked the Blessed Mother to take care of us. At 2:00 a.m. we were awakened by the wind, we checked to see that everything was o.k. there were only some pillowcases in the washer in the patio that were making so much noise it seemed as if the house was falling, but once we realized what it was, we prayed for a while. I decided that the best way to face a hurricane when your family is asleep is to imitate them, since you can’t do anything about it and if something urgent happens surely you will awaken, so I went to sleep and I didn’t awake up until 8:00 a.m.and everything had already passed, so it wasn’t so bad. By the way, our group of couples is working very well.. There are 7 couples and we happily go to the meetings in spite of the fact that we have thousands of children giving us trouble. It is great because everyone lives about 4 minutes from here. So, in spite of the hurricane we do not want to return to Mexico City.
Traveling through the Schoenstatt Shrines in Mexico
"What we do regret is that we were unable to welcome a pilgrimage that arrived from Tuxla Gutierrez, Chiapas to our Shrine," Marissa relates. "They were traveling to each of the Schoenstatt Shrines in Mexico, visiting Chilapa, Guerrero; Queretaro, San Luis Potosi and Monterrey. But we had a double problem: the arrival of the hurricane and the heavy machinery that is working to widen the road to our Shrine. Unfortunately, the machinery only allows us to pass during the weekend and the pilgrimage was scheduled to arrive last Wednesday. We are so sorry but there was no way of taking them to the Shrine."
A large rosary of flowers for the Blessed Mother
There is much life around the Monterrey Shrine, on May 18th it celebrated its third anniversary. Before the arrival of the hurricane, many members of the Schoenstatt family from Monterrey met on the 14 of July to listen to Father Boll’s experiences. It was a fascinating talk from the perspective of getting to know Father J. Kentenich through his personal encounters with our founder. During Father Boll’s visit to Monterrey we invited him to tell us about his life experiences close to Father Joseph Kentenich, with whom he lived and shared during his exile in Milwaukee. In perfect Spanish and in a deliberate manner he related his many encounters, his walks and talks with Father Kentenich, that clarified and mainly showed Father’s manner and his pedagogy.
On June 25th the group led by Joche and Yvonne Katimi sealed its Covenant of Love with the Blessed Mother in a very special way. It was a beautiful afternoon, everyone was dressed in white, flowers and some white doves marked this very important event for this group composed by Ramiro and Daniella Villanueva, Gustavo and Chivana Morales, Guillermo and Norilda Hinojosa, Jorge and Gladis Vallarta, Fernando and Tonita Gracia and Juan Carlos and Yoyi Segovia.
During the celebration, everyone participated in a special way and with a unique touch.
The ladies entered with a garland of flowers that was extended at the end of Mass to form a large rosary that was offered to the Blessed Mother and was presented in the Shrine. After the celebration, 4 beautiful white doves were released at the door of the Shrine as a symbol of love and freedom.
That night, along with Father Marcel, they shared a dinner in the restaurant Villa de Santiago, where they presenteda gifts to Father Marcel and their leaders. It was a day that they will all remember and that they will always keep in their hearts.
Translation: Celina M Garza, Harlingen, TX, USA