"It’s beautiful knowing while we pray that the world unites."

An initiative that emerged at the Blessed Mother’s Wayside Shrine in Venezuela October 18^th at 9:00 a.m.: One million children will pray the Rosary

18 de octubre: Un millon de niños rezan por la paz... en Venezuela... October 18: One million children pray for peace… in Venezuela… 18. Oktober: Eine Million Kinder beten für den Frieden... in Venezuela
...en Egipto ...in Egypt ...in Ägypten...
... en Paraguay... ...in Paraguay... ...in Paraguay...
Teresa Blumers entregando afiches Teresa Blumers offering posters Teresa Blumers verteilt Plakate Fotos: Blumers © 2007

VENEZUELA/INTERNATIONAL, MKF. "It’s beautiful knowing while we pray the world is united," said a child. The time was Wednesday, October 18, 2006, when thousands of children close to the Blessed Mother, prayed to God for peace: for each person’s interior peace, as well as the peace and unity of the family, the country, and the entire world.

It all began on August 18, 2005 at Mother Thrice Admirable of Schoenstatt’s Wayside Shrine in Caracas, Venezuela. This was also the day the Holy Father arrived at Cologne to celebrate World Youth Day with youth from the all over the world, and the same day in which the Schoenstatt Youth made a human chain uniting the Schoenstatt Shrine in Cologne with the Cologne cathedral. Meanwhile in Venezuela, some children fervently and enthusiastically prayed the rosary at the Wayside Shrine, everyone present had a profound sensation of the Blessed Mother’s almost tangible presence. And while the ladies began to tell about what they were experiencing, the children looked at them and asked them, "Please, not so loud, we are praying the rosary!"

"Just think, if one million children prayed the Rosary the world would change," said one lady with emotion citing St. Padre Pio. "That’s where ‘One million children pray the Rosary’ was born," said Teresa Blumers from the Schoenstatt Institute of Families, who with her family lived in Caracas and worked for years for the nascent Schoenstatt Family in that country. Soon thereafter, the National Council of Laity from Venezuela picked up this initiative. Because the birth of One million of children was on August 18, the first idea was to chose September 18, one month later, as the date to realize the project; but as time was simply too short for the preparation, it was postponed until the following 18th – October 18^th, Schoenstatt’s founding day. "This happened without the Schoenstatt Family’s intervention," commented Konstantin Blumers. "It was one of those things of the Blessed Mother…"

"I believe that God is going to open new opportunities in all of our lives".

The idea is to infuse into the hearts of the children the need to pray for each person’s interior peace, as well as the peace and unity of the family, the country, and the entire world. On October 18, 2006, they waited until 9:00 a.m. in many places: classrooms, playgrounds, squares, chapels, shrines, pediatric hospitals, parishes, orphanages, child care centers, preschools, or any other place where there were children, who were the protagonists. With great faith and joy they prayed for everyone, without any bias. The Rosary had been proposed as a prayer for peace. John Paul II said: "Today, I want to entrust the cause of peace in the world and in families to the efficacy of this prayer."

Among the countries that joined this initiative in 2006 convoked by the National Council of the Laity of Venezuela were many Latin American countries: Argentina, Chile, Honduras, Peru, Mexico, and Paraguay. Spain, Germany, the United States, and far away countries such as Egypt also participated. A student from a school for refugee children in Sudan sent the message, "Thanks to God for the prayer of the children today. I believe that God is going open new opportunities in all of our lives."

Together for One million children

At the beginning of 2007, the Blumers moved to Moscow for work-related reasons. With a great commitment and zeal for the One million children praying the Rosary, they took a Pilgrim MTA with them.

Last week, the Focolar Movement in Moscow invited members of other movements and communities to a retreat with an ecumenical atmosphere. Had the wind of Together for Europe blown? Was it a little Pentecost? The Focolars invited the Schoenstatters to share their experience about One million children, and the idea emerged: we will do it in Moscow, together. At the same meeting, some people volunteered for the translating the rosary and the posters into Russian. It would be an ecumenical endeavor; children from other faiths praying for peace as they are accustomed, and all together… "What a pity that it’s only for children!" commented someone at this meeting in Moscow. "Ah no, we are all children," was the response, and "Let’s tell the older ladies that if they pray with the children on October 18^th, they will become five years younger!"

"We already know that children will gather in the Philippines, Africa, Germany, in the United States, and of course in Latin America," says Teresa Blumers, who, this weekend, traveled throughout all Schoenstatt with brochures and posters in Spanish, Russian, English, and German, seeking allies. The translations into Polish and Czech are being prepared. The last week of September, Help the Church in Need began sending the material to the national coordinators.

For this convocation it not necessary to go anywhere or incur expenses since it consists simply of praying the Rosary on October 18^th at 9:00 a.m. wherever there are children: schools, homes, etc.

We only need help to make it known, and to motivate this Journey of Prayer in the community or to accompany the children on the morning of October 18^th at 9:00 a.m. if you can…

On October 18, 2006, the rosary was prayed in a school that is in poor neighborhood of El Cairo where refugee children from Sudan and other countries of Africa attend and who go there to try to begin a new life. I am working there as a volunteer and I posed the idea. You can not imagine how docile they are, they did it very well, I was present and I could see and hear these children praying full of joy and faith to the Blessed Mother in their own language (Arabic) in their own way, with their own songs from their culture. I was very touched; it made me think that the world could change with such a simple gesture.

• Internet: www.unmillondeninos.com www.cev.org.ve/unmillon
• Material in English (posters, brochures): www.kirche-in-not.org
• Mail: JL@kirche-in-not.org or through the national coordinators
• For more information: Teresa and Konstantin Blumers ktblumers@web.de

Translation: Celina Garza, Harlingen, TX, USA /amj