A country waiting for Schoenstatt

Schoenstatt Mission in India (2)

Pais de contrastes, de pobreza… A country of contrasts, of poverty... Ein Land der Gegensätze, mit viel Armut...
Hay cuatro Santuarios de Schoenstatt en India Four Schoenstatt Shrines welcome pilgrims in India Vier Schönstatt-Heiligtümer gibt es in Indien
La Mater quiere obrar en India... The MTA wants to work in India Hier will die MTA wirken… Fotos: Aymerich © 2005

INDIA , Rosa and Eduadro Aymerich. Barefoot children, stray dogs, starving sacred cows flood the streets with no reason. Elephants and monkeys, millenary temples, rivers and waterfalls paint the landscape. Regard the never-ending rice fields with peasants who work every day from dawn. Banana, coconut and palm trees are part of the treasury from one of the richest natural environments anyone could ever imagine. The heat overwhelms you at every step and people open their doors to you. They offer the best they have with incredible kindness and generosity. This is India. It is a land of contrasts. It has chaotic yet charming cities, where misery can almost be touched and felt. It has rural areas and countrysides, where poverty is lived with a healthy feeling of hope, in peaceful harmony with nature. In this India, a veritable tower of Babel, different cultures co-exist and combine. This is where different languages, traditions and religions live together. I see an India of rice, of strong smells and tastes. I hear a noisy India, deafened by the sounds and horns of cars, buses and trolleys. India is full of people, people, and more people. With all of this for a backdrop, four Schoenstatt Shrines stand.

Each one of these shrines is unique. Each has an original story and particular character. These are shrines where people take off their shoes to pray and stand on holy ground. Their walls are covered with incense and jasmine scent. The floors serve as benches. The Consecration Prayer to Mary resounds over and over, each time in a in a different language. Through our shrines, Schoenstatt is gradually becoming known. Many are the vocationst that join, year by year, the fathers or sisters institutes, and a growing number of pilgrims come to the shrines in prayer, but still only few are part of the Family of Schoenstatt.

A City of God

At this point in time, we joined the Schoenstatt mission in India. We have the same desire that the Schoenstatt Fathers and Sisters have: a dream to establish a foundation for the movement, with all its possibilities and different communities. We have the dream of building a warm and familiar city - "A City of God". This city would be a true reflection of His kingdom in heaven, which is a kingdom of freedom, truth and justice.

It is a land of saints, who lovingly offer their hearts to God. Moreover, it has a real family, brimming with life, whose children spread their joy and whose youth are proud to be raised under the banner of Jesus Christ. We pray for youth that are ready to give all they have for love- even their own life. This kingdom is where all can find a home; where families gather around Mary, burning and hungering after God’s own heart. It is a fertile land, full of joy, where Mary is crowned as the Three Times Admirable Queen of Schoenstatt. Finally, it is a land where love is aroused and inflamed in every heart and then it begins to spread to the whole world.