German Virgin Mary, grant me the visa to Germany!

A marvellous story of how to find Schoenstatt: from Nigeria via Benin to Nigerian compatriots in Germany

Una misionera de la Campaña entregó una estampita a Mary Theresa A missionary of the Campaign had given a picture of the MTA to Mary Theresa Eine Missionarin der Kampagne hatte Mary Theresa ein MTA-Bild gegeben
Santuario en Ibadan Shrine in Ibadan Heiligtum in Ibadan Fotos: Desch © 2006
Charlando sobre la Campaña, el Santuario, Ideal Personal... Talking about the Campaign, the Shrine, the Personal Ideal... Im Gespräch über die Kampagne, das Heiligtum, das Persönliche Ideal Foto:  POS Fischer © 2006

SCHOENSTATT, mkf. "I need to find Schoenstatt and get there, because I need to thank the Mother Thrice Admirable for all she has done for me". A phone call late Tuesday afternoon from Frankfurt opened the doors to a marvellous story shared the other day in a special Nigerian-German-Argentinean encounter in Schoenstatt. "Mary Theresa, you have no idea how hundreds of Nigerians will look at you in holy jealousy", Charles Ozioko, student of the Schoenstatt Fathers from Nigeria and soon to be ordained deacon told her. He explained that she was "one of the very few from the Nigerian Schoenstatt family who knows the Original Shrine where most of them can never go! We walk from Mount Sion to the Original Shrine each day, it so precious for us."

When Mary Theresa came to Schoenstatt that rainy morning of April 6, she did not know what to expect. What she found was not only a "beautiful little town instead of just a shrine," but she also met fellow Nigerian, Charles Ozioko, who along with five fellow Schoenstatt Fathers were spending the last days of tertianship (a time of intensive formation) at Mount Sion in Schoenstatt. In the conversation with him, she learned about the Schoenstatt Shrine in Ibadan, the Schoenstatt Fathers, the Schoenstatt Pilgrim Mother Campaign in her country and in the neighbouring country of Benin. It was a meeting in Benin that brought her into contact with the Mother Thrice Admirable of Schoenstatt whom she now was so eager to greet in her Shrine!

A picture with a strange title of Our Lady

It was while attending a conference in Benin, that Mary Theresa received a holy card with the picture of the Mother Thrice Admirable of Schoenstatt from another participant. "That must have been a missionary of the Pilgrim Mother Campaign," Charles Ozioko commented. "They always need more holy cards because they want to bring the Blessed Mother to all!" Talking about the Rosary Campaign, Mary Theresa remembered that this lady in Benin indeed had brought her Pilgrim Mother along "I took the card, but honestly did not pay too much attention to it," Mary Therese admitted. That was, not until she received the invitation to join a congress in Heidelberg, Germany. She eagerly wanted to participate but it became a "hurdle race" with one difficulty after the other and the beginning of the congress getting closer and closer. "Then I remembered the German Blessed Mother I had gotten in Benin," Mary Theresa shares. "I grabbed the picture and went to pray while waiting at the German embassy." The chapel of the house where she went to pray was the house that had been offered to the Schoenstatt Sisters some years ago, Charles Ozioko commented. Mary Theresa prayed, "Dear Blessed Mother from Germany, grant me the visa, and I will visit you at your home!" The next morning, the day the Congress was to begin, she had her visa in hands.

"I knew I had to go and visit Schoenstatt," she shared. Friends helped her look for directions to Schoenstatt on the Internet and soon she was on her way. With a long time of prayer in the Original Shrine, confession, a visit to Father Kentenich’s tomb together with Michelle and Jackie Adriaansen from South Africa, she completed her pilgrimage. She headed home with hands full of Schoenstatt brochures and the Schoenstatt introduction booklet written by the very students from Nigeria she had met in Schoenstatt. "I will visit the Shrine in Ibadan," she said before leaving. "I found my Schoenstatt home and my Schoenstatt mission."