published: 2008-03-14 |
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Go with HimRetreat Commencement of the Catholic Polish Mission from Koblenz in Schoenstatt |
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SCHOENSTATT, mkf. A woman looked around in the dimly lit Pilgrims’ Church. Then she went forward and lighted the candles in front of the MTA picture, smiled, and took her place once more in the procession that was moving from station to station as it proceeded through the Stations of the Cross. It was an entirely ordinary workday, Wednesday evening, 6:30 pm, dusk, windy, wet and cold. And 200 people, many of which were young married couples and youth, were in the Pilgrims’ Church in Schoenstatt praying the Stations of the Cross. Heartfelt praying and singing filled the huge church. The Stations of the Cross and Holy Mass marked the commencement celebration of the Catholic Polish Mission from Koblenz on this evening of March 12th. There is a Holy Mass celebrated in Polish in Schoenstatt on every 2nd Wednesday of the month: Father Marian, the retreat Pastor who was a missionary working in Cameroon for many years, came up with the idea to hold the Commencement Mass in Schoenstatt, which happened to occur on the same Wednesday as the regularly-scheduled Polish Mass. However, the Shrine of the Families, where Mass usually takes place, would have been simply too small for such a large congregation. And so, the many people who had prepared for the celebration of Holy Week during the retreat filed into the Pilgrims’ Church in Schoenstatt on this evening. The retreat had begun on Saturday, reported Father Sławomir Nadobny SChr from the Polish Mission in Koblenz. Talks for the confirmandees – based on the experiences from the mission work in Cameroon and from the joyful faith of the young community there – , talks about prayer, about encounters with Jesus in this special, liturgical time, worship services, reconciliation – all of these topics from the retreat were rounded off with the Stations of the Cross and the Holy Mass on this evening. During the Stations of the Cross and up until the beginning of the Holy Mass, Fr. Alojzy Klein SChr was available to hear confessions. Frs. Marian and Nabodny led prayers and songs throughout the Stations of the Cross. Alter servers led the way with burning candles. Fr. Nabodny reported that a short time ago after the Stations of the Cross in a parish church, he addressed a man in Polish. The man then stuttered and said he does not understand a word in Polish, but he likes to come to the Stations of the Cross because the atmosphere is so beautiful and uplifting. One gladly believes. With the Pilgrim MTAAfter the Holy Mass, which Frs. Nabodny and Marian co-celebrated, a man came forward to be commissioned as a missionary in taking the Pilgrim MTA where she would like to go to actively affect her people. But he did not pray alone, quite the contrary; all the other missionaries present also came to the front to pray with him. It was a beautiful sign of the accompaniment – in the truest sense of the word! Long ago, the Pilgrim MTA had found many witnesses to the faith among these Polish Christians and still comes into the houses and to the families. And at the very end of the commencement there was still the Mother-Blessing for a young couple, who have not known for very long at all that they are expecting a child. The two were beaming during the blessing, and they were still beaming as they received the MTA picture and baby booties. The farewell was sincere, and for many, it meant: until the 2nd Wednesday in April! Translation: Melissa Ann Schmid, USA |
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