Mario Visits and Stays in the Elqui Valley in Chile

A gift on behalf of the restauration of the chapel in El Tambo

Cristo, regalo al templo de El Tambo A precious cross, a gift for the church of El Tambo Das kostbare Kreuz, Geschenk für die Kirche von El Tambo
Mario Hiriart – segundo de derecho Mario Hiriart – second from right Mario Hiriart – zweiter von rechts
En un campamento At a camp Bei einem Jugendlager (Mario Hiriart im Poncho links)
Iglesia de El Tambo (1997, antes del incendio) Church of El Tambo (1997, before the fire) Kirche von El Tambo (1997, vor dem Brand)
Restauración (enero de 2008) Renovation (January 2008) Renovierung (Januar 2008)
El cementerio de El Tambo The cementary of El Tambo Friedhof von El Tambo Fotos © Sekretariat Mario Hiriart, Alemania, 1997, AIS Chile, 2008 Álbum de fotos – photo album – Fotoalbum

CHILE, Amelia Peirone. Mario Hiriart, the servant of God whose cause for canonization advances in Rome, was always a lover of nature. With an inebriated soul, he would sing joyfully St. Francis of Assisi’s Praises to the Creatures. There is a place in the world which has the privilege of being the cradle and the summit of this great love where the deepest and most vibrant spiritual experiences can be lived.

He himself said that in this place, "he could understand the mystics." This place is a valley with blue skies, fresh air, and cultivated meadows among tall and dry mountains. Its warm climate, fertile land, craggy peaks, and torrential rivers convert it into an oasis. It is called the Valley of the Elqui River in the northern center of Chile located 30 degrees south latitude and opposite the Himalayas located 30 degrees north latitude. Its extraordinary clear skies attract students with astronomical instruments from all over the world. Nevertheless, one comes across small towns with typical adobe houses, churches, plazas, and local and traditional arts and crafts.

El Tambo

Among those small towns, there is one called El Tambo. It is a small village surrounded by mountains, wild grapevines, narrow streets, and its church faces the plaza. A few years ago, a voracious fire and the lack of resources to restore the church, made it lose the hope of ever seeing it again as the noble house of the People of God. The International Organization of Aid to the Church in Need (Kirche-in-Not), through the anonymous cooperation and solidarity of Christians from many countries, made possible "the indispensable and arduous task of restoration." On January 20, 2008, the community again sang gratitude to God and to the benefactors in their festive Eucharistic celebration.

"The venerable temple of Our Lady of the Rosary at El Tambo has been restored in its noble architecture. The history of faith of this first church in the Elqui Valley shines once again," says Fr. Joaquín Alliende, international chaplain for the Church in Need. This is written in a letter written on January 16, 2008, to Father Fidel Carmona, pastor of El Tambo.

God's presence

This valley, this little town, and this little church are witnesses of the innumerable times that the enamored visitor of these places, young Mario, went up and down the streets. When Mario was there in the Spring, he wrote with a multi-colored pen: "When I have returned to Santa Adela (summer home for the friends of the Peralta family), I always went to see the cemetery in El Tambo….. It is a paradise of solitude, silence, peace and of the omnipotent presence of God! Who could possibly paint the marvelous alley which leads up to the cemetery on the side of the plaza surrounded by two dry-stone walls of clay and adobe and on which can be seen vines, avocado trees, flowering quills, and the Crown of the Inca radiant with its flowers and leaves?"

Nevertheless, the indestructible bond with those places was based on a unique experience which marked his soul in such a way that he had to discuss it with his "Madrecita (little Mother," which was the endearing name he gave to the Blessed Virgin: "I am certain that never again, will any kind of landscape be able to place me in the presence of God as intimately as the whole Elqui Valley. There is something there which fascinates me. It fulfills me completely in all my desires…..especially is the sensation of smallness and of being a creature. This sensation overtakes me when facing the magnitude and magnificence of that sober and deserted nature. It startles me and immediately makes me understand the presence of God. When I am there, I walk in His presence. I encounter Him in each glance around me….. in the immense profile of the mountains….. in the stones which seem to have been placed one by one by His hands….. in the perfect and styled figure of the bristling night blooming Cereus….. in the tiny flowers which open up and are sheltered by the rocks….. in the wind which blows at dusk with such force that it almost overturns the horseman…..Little Mother, there, I have truly touched God with my fingertips."

Contemplation of God in nature

This human and divine experience merited the astonished recollection of the priest in his letter: "In Rome, I was able to mention these texts to one of the great professors on spirituality which advised Pope John Paul II, Carmelite Father Jesús Castellano. He commented: ‘In Mario Hiriart, there is a cosmic sanctity, that is, a contemplation of God in nature. This is very important for the future.’"

The encounters which shake the lives of persons leave recorded the day, the hour, the aromas and colors. These will be treasured at the center of the soul where one often goes to refresh oneself, to strengthen oneself, and to heal oneself in the midst of the battle of daily life. We often repeat when referring to these living recollections: "I remember it as if it were today." That is how it happened to Mario. He also recorded the hour of the encounter: "I understood the attachment to God through nature. I think this became life for me for the first time as I looked at the Cemetery of El Tambo and contemplated the greatness of the gorge in its fullness and its imposing aridity which goes into the mountains. There I prayed the Angelus on a summer afternoon: at that moment, I had for the first time in my life an immense and overwhelming awareness of the presence of God at my side. Since then, I began to sense God in nature and to love Him through it with all my faculties. That entire world of pure and simple nature would place me in the presence of God. I felt Him at my side, taking care of me and it made me feel a deep love for Him."

Once again, the priest connects recollections in his letter "to allude to Mario’s fine human and cultural sensitivity." "The National Prize Winner of Education and leading Language Academician, Ernesto Livacic, while reading and rereading Mario Hiriart’s diary, maintained several times that through that prose, Mario should have belonged to that Academy."

A gift

The letter we have been mentioning is not only a joyful and fraternal greeting but it accompanies and gives "the sense of the gift which I can make for the Church of El Tambo in memory of Mario Hiriart. This young professor of engineering learned in the school of the Blessed Mother to love Jesus passionately, especially in the mystery of the Eucharist. Perhaps the restored temple will collect images of dignity and beauty which will inspire the devotion of the faithful. On my behalf, I want to give you an image of Christ which has accompanied me throughout the long decades of my priesthood. It is a beautiful colonial crucifix which speaks to us about the history of our faith in Chile. With this donation, I would like to become an echo of some of Mario’s strong affirmations written on the 19^th of September of 1957: ‘I really like all of the moments of the Passion and they make me vibrate deeply.’ With the force of resurrection, he always turns to the Crucified Lord and he adores Him remembering when he received him as Bread from Heaven: ‘By coming to me daily, He sanctifies my day and all I can do throughout the day. <<I do not live, it is Christ who lives in me>>…..Jesus, You are the foundation of my life."

Being able to say to someone: "Have you seen? Your dream has come true!" releases the spirit of joyful exultation. We should celebrate this today with our brother, Mario. It was 1956, when Mario sighed in regard to a wish he would not be able to fulfill: "Little Mother, Santa Adela and El Tambo are only lacking one thing to be perfect: your presence there….. I would like to enthrone your image: I do not know where, but hopefully where no one would be able to remove it…..it could be at the Willows by the river where I often prayed my evening prayers…..perhaps at the cemetery of El Tambo or at the gorge toward the mountains. I could build a small stone chapel with my own hands and place your image there…..therefore, all my loves would be together at Elqui."

Was this young man a romantic dreamer? Never…..he expressed the wish of a child whose feet were on the ground and whose restlessness was in heaven. He was also a praying heart for our times who wants to be a brother to all. He, in that special place in the world, "so marvelous that words cannot express it; where my land of Elqui is covered in unlikely splendor, there, like never before did I feel close to You, Little Mother, and to your Son." This was the powerful reason that his soul remained implanted in such a homeland.

To that focal point, the parish church of El Tambo, the beautiful and serene image of Christ arrived today. Wit It, the silent presence of the Blessed Mother will always be transparent. And Mario, with "his love for Jesus, his manly tenderness with the Blessed Virgin, and his inexhaustible surrender of missionary service to his brothers and sisters" arrives with them to continue looking at God and at the fertile valley and to accompany everyone with "intimate love for that land where one lives, works and journeys toward Heaven."

Translation: Carlos Cantú Family Federation La Feria, Texas USA 020508