While we walk in high voltage

In Parana, Argentina, small pictures of the Blessed Mother are given to expectant mothers

Intercambio con el obispo Sharing with the bishop Austausch mit dem Bischof
En el Sindicato At the Union’s Bei der Gewerkschaft
Misa en el lugar de trabajo Mass at the working place Messe am Arbeitsplatz Fotos: Almeida © 2006

ARGENTINA, rlm. Alfredo Osvaldo Almeida, a man of action, was a salesman, an electrician and he worked for an electric power company for 36 years. He is presently retired. But he still, "has energy for a while" in his walk of life, marked by a "vibration of love", as he defines it, when he explains his experience with the Blessed Mother; it is a creative impulse that gives meaning to each one of his steps.

In the following, Alfredo opens a dialogue with www.schoenstatt.de to share his experiences related to the work which along with his wife Emma, and other people, they are carrying out in Parana, Entre Rios, Argentina. All of them take small pictures of the Blessed Mother with a suggestion to expectant mothers, it is a gesture of sheltering that will accompany them in the new stage of their lives and of their home.

Schoenstatt.de When did you join the Movement? What group do you belong to?

Alfredo: In 1988. My wife Emma and I joined the Family Work and presently we are members of the Apostolic League. I am also a coordinator for the Schoenstatt Rosary Campaign.

Schoenstatt.de How did you come to the Movement? Who invited you?

Alfredo: It was Elvio Gomez, a long standing member of the Family Work, because I wanted to find a place that I could trust for my children to go.

Schoenstatt.de What was your impression? Why did you stay?

Alfredo: I stayed because before entering the Shrine, while I was at the door, I felt something like an internal and external embrace and slight warmth. I experience the same thing when I give the little picture of the Blessed Mother and the suggestion to pray a little prayer in family to the pregnant women. Now I define it as the Love that wrapped me and that continues to wrap me. When I saw the Blessed Mother in the Shrine I was attached to Her through that warm welcome.

"I was captivated by Her"

Schoenstatt.de How was the work that you did with your co-worker, Elvio Gomez, in the electric company?

Alfredo: The first thing we did was to ask some people if they were in agreement with enthroning the Blessed Mother, because of the circumstances that had caused several accidents in the company – some of them were fatal. In this manner we formed a small commission of those who wanted to help with the enthronement, called P.A.T. (Peace, Amor (love) Trabajo (work).

Schoenstatt.de What was the repercussion?

Alfredo: It was something fantastic: no one opposed. We made a list of everyone who wanted to contribute something for the expenses that would be made. The Jewish workers would tell me "write me down, but write it NN" (Mr. X), and the amount we collected was enough to organize a beautiful place. It was a very beautiful time because all of us united in the different sectors of the company and we placed a small picture of the Blessed Mother with a little altar where we also placed the photos of our deceased co-workers and we offered Masses for them. The most beautiful thing was that after we enthroned the Blessed Mother there were no more fatal accidents.

I also had one of those accidents, working with medium voltage. In reality, I don’t know what happened to me, but I believe I saw the Blessed Mother on a cable of high voltage, afterwards, I didn’t remember anything.

During an assembly of the syndicate, I rose and said that there was a group of co-workers who wanted to place a picture of the Blessed Mother in the Syndicate. There was unanimous acceptance. Then it was placed in the nursery that the Syndicate had.

"I have never expected to know all the ABC’s to do something, although with just my humble "a" I have started.

Schoenstatt.de What about your family? Do you have children, grandchildren? Or some anecdote… something beautiful.

Alfredo: Emma and I, our children Andres, Mariano, Ana Lucia, Diego, Manuel, and Daniel. Three grandchildren: Jeremias, Xavier and Nicolas.

Something that I can tell you is that I always like to have something sweet at bedtime. Then my grandchildren, Jere and Xavito, greet me and they go directly to the cookie jar; they take a cookie and I tell them to take another one for the road.

Schoenstatt.de Your concern for working with the formation of families is noticeable. Is there some family experience that you recall and that has marked you?

Alfredo: When I was a little and there was a problem – usually it was economic – we all gathered (even the dog) and together we tried to solve the problem.

The truth is that I do not know if I have been a good father or not. I have fallen short through my mistakes and failing to hit the mark. I believe that we make mistakes because we do not understand things, not because we want to make them, and furthermore, Father Kentenich has inspired me in the little that I have read about him, about self-education and about the family.

I never expected to know everything about the ABC’s of doing something, although with just my humble "a" I have started.

Schoenstatt.de What are your desires for your family?

Alfredo: My desire for my family is for my children to study, for them to have a profession and for them to work honorably, for them to have an orderly and well educated family.

"As they begin to read they are get closer and they embrace, at the end they tell me it is very good."

Schoenstatt.de What does the work of distributing the small pictures of the Blessed Mother to expectant Mothers entail? Explain it in detail so that those who are not familiar with it will understand it.

Alfredo: When both spouses are together, I greet the husband and I ask his permission to give the small picture to his wife for the child that is coming. The lady receives, and I ask her to kindly read the prayer aloud along with her husband so that they can give me their opinion. They are together, and as they are reading they get closer and they embrace. When they finish they tell me it is very good. I tell them that if they agree, they should apply it, and they tell me yes. The most beautiful thing is that a vibration of love like the one I felt in the Shrine comes forth, that is what I love. We all do something for a reason. What I have been able to verify and which pleases me, is the state of happiness that is felt after they have read the suggestion. When it is given to the mothers alone, once they read it they me tell that they are going to share it with their husband.

Schoenstatt.de Why the expectant mothers? What is the objective of this work?

Alfredo: What motivates us is that things have to be taken from its beginning, and the expectant mothers have the beginning of life. The objective is for the mothers, who with that love that they feel can better organize their lives and their homes, just as the suggestion reads.

Schoenstatt.de Since when have you carried out this work?

Alfredo. For two years, with bigger and laminated pictures that are placed in interurban buses and taxis of the city, and handing them out by hand to every person that we see that might need it. And the most beautiful thing is that everyone happily receives it, and after they solve their problem and they see us again, they express their gratitude for having given it to them. At the end of last year we began with the suggestion and to date we have distributed 820 of these pictures.

Schoenstatt.de How many people participate in this?

Alfredo: The people from the transportation company, a paper factory and a computer business, a print shop and us. Each one collaborates according to his own capability.

"Things must be taken from the beginning, and the expectant mothers have the beginning of life"

Schoenstatt.de What is your experience" Do you recall some special anecdote during this work?

Alfredo: Once I gave a small picture with the suggestion to an expectant lady, she showed to her husband and in spite of him being very apathetic about these things, he told her that he was in complete agreement with her, and when I met her again she told me about it.

Other times I have encountered mothers who have had their babies and they have shown them to me, telling me that things are going well for them, and when they thank me; I answer: "Thanks to the Blessed Mother".

Schoenstatt.de What are the responses of the people?

Alfredo: They are very favorable, that is the reason that now we printed some larger ones, like posters, and we place them public places (in a parking lot they have even framed it so it can be seen well), and in a music store on main street it is on the door, and it is also in several businesses.

Schoenstatt.de What does your wife say about this experience? What has she told you about her impressions?

Alfredo: She has experienced each step of this walk with me, helping me in all that is needed; she shares everything about my thinking in this respect. She has received the same responses and sensations when she gives the small pictures and she encourages me to keep doing it.

Schoenstatt.de If someone wants to join this apostolate, who should they contact?

Alfredo: They can write to me at my email: aoapatalmeida@hotmail.com. Of course you will not receive a material reward; rather, on the contrary, "we are too ambitious" and we only want what we can take with us when we die, be it the love and gratitude of the people, who learn more about God, the Blessed Mother, and Father Kentenich through this means.

Schoenstatt.de Are you planning something new after this work?

Alfredo: Yes. We want to know Father Kentenich and his teachings better so we can

disseminate it, starting with the nurseries – that should be available at every Shrine –with a precocious education, and in this way, through play, the children can practice self-education. From what I have seen, the more one knows, the fewer mistakes one makes.

Schoenstatt.de I will leave this question open so that you can write whatever you wish that I have not asked you.

Alfredo: What I would like is for every Shrine to have Father Kentenich’s handprint, so that everyone can see it and touch it. In this way they indirectly thank him for having existed.

Translation: Celina M Garza, Harlingen, TX, USA