This place is my love

Three Pilgrims in Schoenstatt share their experiences around the table

SCHOENSTATT, mkf. "It could be the title of a romantic song, but this is what I feel: This place is my love": It is a phrase that summarizes the vibrant conversation "around the table" of the Schoenstatt Press Office. It was a cold, cloudy day in Schoenstatt on February 11th, the 150 Anniversary of the Apparition of the Blessed Mother in Lourdes. It is not yet quite the time for large International pilgrimages to Schoenstatt; however, at House Sonnenau, pilgrims are being received with open arms: in particular, two young women from the Shrine of New Bethlehem in Santiago, Chile – Ximena Martinez, member of the Professional Branch, and Carolina Rojas, member of the Girls’ Youth, as well as Monica Aguilar Suzán from Mexico City, Mexico, who is recuperating from a delicate spinal cord operation at a specialized hospital in Wiesbaden.

Ximena and Carolina were in Schoenstatt for World Youth Day, in August of 2005. This year, "through the grace of God" they were blessed to return to Europe together, and the first place they visited was Schoenstatt, "this wonderful, magical place, full of peace that always surprises us", said Ximena, a member of the Professional Branch. "To come to Europe without coming to Schoenstatt would be crazy!" Not able to communicate in English nor German did not discourage her. "I feel that I am in the company of the Father and Mary, and they always help me to be understood. We speak a common language."

Carolina added that, "To be in Schoenstatt for the second time is different. It is much calmer, which means much more. During the World Youth Day, there were many people, so many activities, and we could not take in everything Schoenstatt has to offer because we did not want to miss part of the program. Now, there is time to be in Schoenstatt with enough time to calmly see what we want to see. There is time to pray a lot, explore everything, encounter people we know, and to make new friends. To be here with so many people we know – Fathers, Sisters whom we know from their work in the parish of New Bethlehem – and new people like Melissa Schmid from the United States and Monica Aguilar from Mexico makes me feel that all of Schoenstatt is for us."

Called to the Covenant of Love

Monica Aguilar comes from Mexico City and she belongs to a group of the Professional Branch..."I learned about the Blessed Mother a little more than a year ago," she shared, as she remarked that the Original Shrine was the first Shrine that she visited! "I have gone through many difficult things in my life. On Sunday, in the Adoration Church during the Mass, I felt a peace and tranquility that I had not felt in many years. I believe that the Blessed Mother brought me here for a reason." The reason, the objective of her stay in Schoenstatt is to recover from a series of surgeries and treatments at the Spinal Clinic in Wiesbaden, Germany, one of the few clinics in the world that specialize in her condition, Ehlers-Danlos syndrom type III. Being in Schoenstatt feels like a retreat for her.

"During the Mass in Spanish, this afternoon, I felt called to seal my Covenant of Love. Last night, I was alone in the chapel in House Sonnenau, and I felt a sensation as if the Blessed Mother was speaking to me, as if she was looking at me and speaking to me! That is how my heart opened up to her...She wants to bring me closer to God, to know him better, because I was just baptized and made my First Communion a year ago. The Blessed Mother came to me for a reason; she came to my house as a Pilgrim MTA. Then I contacted Sister Christine Dietrich. Meeting her was as if God had sent her to me. It was also the Blessed Mother who sent me to Germany. There is a German priest from Cologne who serves at the church in the German speaking community in Mexico City/Satélite where Sister Christine also is. To me, everything about my faith is attached to Germany. I was baptized in this church in front of the Blessed Mother. That is why I want to learn how to speak German! It is all a gift of God. I went through difficult situations, and now I am so happy. I feel that He gave me new life."

To live a personal mission

Monica’s testimony was a gift for the two girls from Chile. "We learned that the place or age does not matter; each one has one’s moment of grace, his or her moment to be called by God." Monica is sorry that she did not know God before, but before was not yet her moment. Perhaps it is more profound than when she was younger. "Sometimes, one does not appreciate the state of his or her life, but with a testimony like Monica’s, one becomes grateful again, and now we also feel the desire of helping her with everything. It was a very enriching encounter for us".

It was like reliving her own covenant story, recalled Carolina. "I learned about Schoenstatt just four years ago. Meeting Monica was very impressive to me. Yesterday, we went to Mount Sion where we met a Mexican seminarian, and we introduced her to him. It was very beautiful experience. Two of us ventured to Europe, and here in Schoenstatt there are now three of us!" The three already share an experience in common: that of being spoiled by God. Monica still cannot walk much; but they still went on foot to Mount Sion. "We wanted to see if God would send us an auto. A few minutes later Sister Maria Julia came with an empty auto and picked us up!"

Ximena learned about Schoenstatt through the Schoenstatt Fathers who work in her parish. They call her "Josephine Engling" because she wants to be more like Mary. "I want to do everything for her and for others. The Father’s ideals are my ideals, the Schoenstatt ideals are my ideals! I am single, a lay person, and I am very happy in what I do and who I am," she affirmed, glowing with immense happiness.

Carolina has loved Mary since she was a child. "Schoenstatt fits me perfectly! I immediately and completely fell in love. Working with a Sister of Mary for me has been very impressive; I see Mary in her. I met God the Father, and I see his paternity in the Fathers that I have met. I also see the maternity of the Blessed Mother in the Sisters. That has been my road to Schoenstatt".

Everything revolves around the Pilgrim MTA

For Monica, everything revolves around the Pilgrim MTA. She received Mary at the end of 2006 when her health situation was very serious. "A Catholic friend, who does not belong to Schoenstatt, gave her to me with all her heart. She was there at that moment before the difficult spinal surgery, when I had to decide between a Mexican doctor and a German one. When she gave me the Blessed Mother, my friend told me: ‘She is from Germany!’ I began to pray the rosary without knowing what the rosary was or how to pray it...I was overcome with a strong sensation of faith when I received the Blessed Mother. When I had the Pilgrim MTA in my room, I was overcome by the presence God that was so profound, and everyday, I gained strength to keep going forward. I could barely get out of bed. I could not do many things. I was in my bedroom, humanly abandoned, but I felt the closeness of God. And I did not want to bid farewell to the Blessed Mother when they came for the Pilgrim MTA, so they let me have her a little longer..." Thanks to her testimony, the entire group of Schoenstatt Professional Women is very much aware of the Pilgrim MTA. "The Schoenstatt Family in Mexico City is not very large, and many do not know about the Pilgrim MTA, but I received her for a reason and she brought me to Schoenstatt and to God. I always thought about going to Queretaro to visit the Shrine, but instead, I am here in the Original Shrine! She brought me to Germany! I feel very grateful to God and the Blessed Mother. I feel so close to her since the moment she came to my house. I did not know anything about the rosary or what a novena was, I knew very little about the faith, but thanks to her, I found the faith. The faith I have in my heart is so very strong. I ask the Blessed Mother to illuminate my way in everything. I feel that faith moves mountains. For me it was like being born again."

To share what God does in your life.

The exchange with Monica, as well as the time she met Alejandra Mery, from the emerging Schoenstatt Family in Medellin, Columbia, who visited her group in Chile, has given Carolina a strong conviction: "We should not be egotistical by keeping Schoenstatt enclosed. No, Schoenstatt must be shared, it must expand. I fell in love with Schoenstatt so quickly that it is hard for me explain what it is because one must live it in order to know it. There is a phrase in a song: ‘This is the place of my love!’ - The place of my original love! This is Schoenstatt! To keep Schoenstatt enclosed is egoistical. Schoenstatt must be spread to the ends of the earth; God’s message must be spread. I was deeply touched by what Father Strada said at a conference in Chile, ‘We are His letter of introduction.’ No one will know God if we do not make Him known – not through books; rather, through our own lives."

Monica admitted that it was not easy to be at the Clinic in Wiesbaden without being able to speak German and where no one spoke English. " When I arrived at Schoenstatt, I was introduced to Melissa from the United States, and she introduced me to Schoenstatt. She showed me the places, we talked...it was like coming home. I learned from the Pilgrim MTA that we need others in our life to share our thoughts with - we give ourselves to others, and we welcome others. Faith is a constant learning process of the many aspects that are essential in our lives. It does not matter where you are from, what language you speak, or what nationality you belong to; it is important to share, to share what God does in your life".

Each person is unique

"In this global world, it is very important to understand other people – who they are, and to know that there is always something to share," Monica added. Each person has his or her unique mission. Each nation also is charged with an important task. That is Carolina’s subject. "No one is the same, everyone is unique. Each person’s mission is unique. Every one of us is God’s favorite, each person, each country, and there is something of Him in all of us."

"When you see this, you are greatly surprised by the beauty of God in others," Ximena added. "In Schoenstatt, we gather from a source that gives us a mission for the global world," she continued, "and it has been in the exchange with Monica that I found my mission. America is a Marian continent, where each country has a Marian name, where the Blessed Mother of Guadalupe is the Patron of the Americas and is loved throughout the continent. But...’Our Lady of Schoenstatt’, the Pilgrim MTA, is present throughout the world. You see her in Japan and in Africa, in India and in Germany...She is our source of communication."

Translation: Celina Garza, Harlingen, TX, USA/ Melissa Schmid, Rochester/MN, USA