The face of the Original Shrine toward the universal Church

Belmonte: A wedding, a pilgrimage, daily rosary and thanksgiving

Recibieron un cuadro de la MTA de regalo A gift for them: the MTA picture Als Hochzeitsgeschenk bekommen sie hier ein MTA-Bild
Belmonte: tienen prisa para llegar al Santuario... Belmonte: they hurry to the Shrine... Belmonte: so eilig haben es die Brautpaare, ins Heiligtum zu kommen
El Santuario de Belmonte y su mision para la iglesia universal The Shrine in Belmonte and its mission for the universal church Das Heiligtum in Belmonte und seine Sendung für die Weltkirche
Misa de los peregrinos alemanes Holy Mass of the German pilgrims Heilige Messe der deutschen Pilger
Procesión de sacerdotes después de la Misa del grupo de Alemania Procession of priests after the Mass of the group from Germany Auszug der Priester nach der Messe der Gruppe aus Deutschland Fotos: Nuño © 2006

ROMA, Francisco Nuno. It is a short and beautiful story. It is a gesture and a promise. In any case it is a gift of our Madonna of Schoenstatt for us, her children, who take care of her Shrine. It is about two young Italians, their names are Stefano and Erika. She is the daughter of some friends and regulars at the Shrine at Belmonte. The road of their mutual love began eleven years ago, on the Feast of the Immaculate Conception. They were very young. And now precisely on the Feast of the Immaculate Conception of this year they married in the Parish of Santa Gemma, which is close to our Matri Ecclesiae Shrine.

They had planned to bring some white flowers to the Blessed Mother in her Shrine once the ceremony in the parish was over and to offer her their love at the first moment of their young matrimony. And that is what they did, Anneliese and I were there to welcome them and to give them a present from the Blessed Mother. When they finished their moment of silence we congratulated them and we gave them a picture of the MTA with the message of our Founding Father in the Letter of Santa Maria: "Take the picture of the Blessed Mother and give her a place of honor in your homes…" For us it was a gift to be able to see the joy of this young couple and the gleam of love in their eyes when they took the picture in their hands. When they bid farewell they wrote a message in the Shrine Book. The text is a wonderful testimony of love of Mary and a life of profound practical faith in Divine Providence. When they left, we returned to the Shrine looking at the Madonna and we pointed out the possibility that Stefano and Erika could become "foundation and crown" of the Family Work in Rome. Mater, tua resagitur, clarificate! We are here to help you.

A song for the Blessed Mother

There are small and large events that accompany our lives as custodians of the Shrine. It was also that way on the days of the novena for the Feast of the Immaculate Conception. At the time of the rosary – four o’clock in the afternoon – a mother, who joined us, would go home after work to leave some things and then she would come hurriedly to be at the Shrine on time. She did not want to miss the praying of the rosary during these days of preparation for the Feast of the Immaculate Conception. I noticed that she needed to speak with someone; she asked me if she could sing a song to the Immaculate one that she learned in her youth. I encouraged her to sing it. She sang her song and when she finished she told me some of her worries. In summary:

Why does God permit so much sorrow and suffering in the families and in our surroundings? I tried in my deficient Italian to tell her that I had also asked myself the same question and finally I gave her a couple of hints for reflection. The next day – both of us were again alone in the Shrine – She gave me a handwritten paper with the words of the song to the Immaculate one so that I could accompany her. And I did. It’s a good thing that we were alone…I think that our Blessed Mother was happy with us and with our music in spite of everything.

German pilgrims visit

During the days of the novena, a group of German pilgrims were also present. It is a very old custom: Our Diocesan priests from Germany organized a pilgrimage to Rome for the Feast of the Immaculate Conception with Monsignor Wolf as the leader. They arrived to Belmonte on the December 5^th a little after nine o’clock in the morning. They had spent the night on the bus on the way to Rome. In spite of this, they animatedly arrived to the Shrine to celebrate Holy Mass together before going to the Residence that they had reserved in Rome. Anneliese had prepared a table with hot coffee and some pasta for them in the shadow of the Shrine. It was a joy. The weather was favorable, and it was also like this at the farewell Mass on the Eve of the Feast of the Immaculate Conception. On the afternoon of December 7^th after an encounter in one of the halls of the Covenant House (Casa dell’Alleanza), we celebrated Holy Mass in the Shrine. It was almost dark

when we began. Part of the pilgrims had to remain outside of the Shrine, it was cold but the weather was favorable. This afternoon the main celebrant was Father Ludovico, Rector of the Filial of Schoenstatt Fathers in Rome. He addressed the pilgrims in German and he spoke to them about the importance of the Matri Ecclesiae Shrine for Schoenstatt and for the Church

In these notes I want to point one of his thoughts that seemed to me of singular importance especially during this time in which many of the leaders of our Family are asking themselves how we should worthily celebrate the year 2014, the 100^th Anniversary of our founding. The Shrine of Belmonte was built 40 years after the Founding Father accepted it as a gift. The time has now come of living that which the Father wanted for this place. In the year of 1965, when he returned from Milwaukee, our Founder saw this Shrine and the Internationl Center of Rome as a symbol of thanksgiving for the fourteen years of exile and he wanted that from here the Church would send us to the world after recognizing the totality and the fullness of the work he founded. In the year 2014 we want to celebrate the one hundred years of the Covenant of Love and of the Original Shrine by preparing a special stream of grace in all of the Family. Schoenstatt has a mission for the Church and the world. If we want to celebrate this event in a universal ecclesial perspective, the Shrine of Belmonte could be the face of the Original Shrine toward the universal Church. This would be the appropriate place for the Church to send us forth to fulfill our mission for the world.

The comment of a German pilgrim upon bidding farewell at our Center after hearing the testimonies of the people who work here, Father Ludovico, Sister Fernanda and us: It is an immense joy to be able to witness the spirit that reigns in Rome, here one can feel that Schoenstatt is being founded, the joy of the first love is experienced. Good!

It is good to be here, it feels good here

And lastly an impetus for my friends: the Italians have a special and refined feeling for beautiful things. Many of the people who visit our Shrine in Belmonte express their admiration for the beauty of the Madonna and for the beauty of the altar with its decorations. "It is good to be here, it feels good here!" they say with their own original expressions.

It is interesting, we have been going in and out of our Shrines for years, and we have also experienced the grace of sheltering. During these days I have seen Anneliese take care of

the flowers and she dedicates a lot of time in preparing the floral arrangements for the altar. These are outstanding days for the celebrations of the Immaculate Conception and for Christmas. And it is now that it has occurred to me to think expressly about the many Sisters and unknown people who, week after week, take care of all the Schoenstatt Shrines extended throughout the entire world to ensure, on their part, through their work and love that all of us will feel good when we arrive there. I extend my gratitude and admiration to all of them.

Translation: Celina Garza, Harlingen, TX, USA