The bi-weekly invitation Jesus extends to us: Go see your Mother

So much life: a snapshot of the activities of the Dawn-breakers in Chile

Intercambio despues de la madrugada Sharing after the prayer time Austausch nach der Morgenwache
Los madrugadores de Arica The dawn-breakers of Arica Die Madrugadores von Arica
Madrugada en el Santuario de Ayinrehue, Temuco Dawn-breaking at the Shrine of Ayinrehue, Temuco Morgenwache am Heiligtum von Ayinrehue, Temuco
Testimonio en Valparaiso Giving testimony in Valparaiso Zeugnis in Valparaiso
Madrugada de padres y hijos en Los Angeles Fathers and sons together in Los Angeles Morgenwache von Vätern und Söhnen in Los Angeles
Los madrugadores sin diácono en Providencia The dawnbreakers without deacon in Providencia Die Madrgadores ohne Diakon in Providencia Fotos: Madrugadores © 2008

CHILE, MKF. The Dawn-breakers: a stream of life emerging in Chile around the Shrines. They are men who go to the Shrines, parishes, or chapels at dawn. Their numbers are growing and growing. From the extreme of southern Chile to the north there are communities of Dawn-breakers, connected by the strong bonds of friendship among themselves. Furthermore, they know how to use the media to make those connections grow: many Communities of Dawn-breakers have websites on the Internet where they communicate, from dawn to dawn of their self -giving and commitment; the majority of them do it through blogs. Claudio Villagra, a Dawn-breaker from the Providence Shrine in Santiago, Chile, recently created a new space on the Internet where he summarizes the most recent blogs of Dawn-breakers around the world.

Through a syndicated tool like RSS, they can automatically review the latest news of each Dawn-breaker community on the Internet. This is just one example making us aware of the strong life of this new initiative of the Blessed Mother’s from her Shrine. During the last dawn of the Los Angeles Community, for example, God was thanked by a touching applause for the presence of so many Dawn-breakers fathers along with their sons. This community also loyally distributes the virtual retreat of Father Nicolás through their web page on the Internet.

Arica: A farewell

The dawn of February 16^th in Arica in northern Chile was marked by a farewell. Daniel Muñoz Viveros writes: "It is dark when we arrived at the Shrine…It is noticeable that summer is ending. This would be a special dawn. It would be the last time for long while that our Father Claudio would celebrate the Eucharist for us since he is going to Colombia to study. The Mass would be dedicated in our hearts to him…so things will go well for him, he will continue praying for us, and he will return safely at the end of the year. Best wishes, Father Claudio!

We extend our deepest gratitude for the support he has given this stream of life during seven continuous years. Thank you Claudio, Dawn-breaker! May the Blessed Mother always accompany you!"

Providence: A dawn without a Deacon

Claudio V. from the Shrine of Providence, tells about an unforgettable dawn:

It may sound strange for other communities, but we have two deacons in our community and a strange coincidence happened, neither one attended, it could only happen to us during the summer season.

Our community is characterized by the lack of priests, so we had conveniently become accustomed to the Liturgy of the Word and Communion given by our deacons.

So, at 7:05 a.m. we became restless. We keep a portfolio with the texts of the four Saturdays of Lauds that exist, some songs, prayers, etc. in a cabinet in the Shrine. The problem was to determine which of the four Saturdays of Lauds corresponded to this date. After some discussion, we realized that no one had paid attention to the emails explaining this information, so we opted for what ‘we hoped was the right one’ and if not, ‘She and He will understand,’ after all, the intention is what counts. We chose the 1st Saturday of Lauds (and this was the correct one!). We found out at noon when we visited the Internet again.

After seventeen minutes, we ended the hour of Lauds; we should clarify that this is an abbreviated version of the official Lauds, don’t think that ‘we ran races with the prayers’ as I have seen some people do at mid-afternoon.

There are five minutes of silent prayer, then we review the readings of the day, and we take some time for spiritual reading.

We had a new member among the seven assistants, a transplanted Dawn-breaker from Temuco, Andrés R., who was traveling for a year, then weekly, and now at last he brought his family to Santiago.

We returned home before 10:00 a.m. with some pleasant conversation on the way.

Dawn at the Grotto of Lourdes

The Dawn-breakers from the Concón Parish relate: February 11^th arrived and today we were invited Placeres Hill, in Valparaiso. The pastor, Father Ricardo Arellano, had invited us at the beginning of the celebration for Our Lady of Lourdes at his parish community.

At that place we celebrated the Eucharist along with some thirty-five parishioners, and about twenty Dawn-Breakers from different communities: Cordillera, Placilla, Agua Santa, Los Pinos, and Concón. In spite of being a workday, they responded to the invitation. There is a beautiful grotto at the parish, where we took a photo of what could be a new community in Valparaiso in the future…it would be the third, if God and the Blessed Mother desire it.

During breakfast we were able to share our experiences to fill and enthuse the pastor and his parishioners. Everyone listened attentively to the testimonies.

This is how we began the week with an extra dawn along with the pastor and the Chaplain for the Coast Guard, and with a vision of the possibility for a new community, the ninth in the diocese.

In the Shrine of Ayinrehue

Sergio, a Dawn-breaker from the Shrine of Ayinrehue, Temuco relates:

"This report is a little late, but here it is. We gathered to pray in the Ayinrehue Shrine. The quorum was not low considering it is vacation time, well we had close to twenty-five Dawn-breakers praying and learning about our faith, thanks to the wise readings of our brother Francisco. At breakfast two new brothers were introduced who manifested their intention of continuing to break the dawn. That is what we all hope. The already strong main subject is the Journey of Dawn-breakers in Temuco, the Lord has been generous to us…We are calling all men from Temuco who want to participate in these Dawn-breakers’ meetings to our next dawn at the community of Saint John the Baptist, where we will await everyone. Do not tire of inviting; let us share these very enriching moments for the soul.

The article ends with the classic phrase that is found on the web page created by Claudio Villagra: If some community does not appear, it is because it has not reported recently, so get to work!

This does not only refer to the Dawn-breakers!

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