A miracle of peace and of reconciliation

The Third International Auxiliary MTA of the Schoenstatt Rosary Campaign on pilgrimage to the Parish of Buhonga

Devoción de la gente de Buhonga The people of Buhonga venerating the Queen of Peace Spontane Verehrung der Königin des Friedens durch die einfachen Menschen von Buhonga
Cantos y bailes Songs and dances Lieder und Tänze für Maria
Hutus y Tutsis juntos con la Reina Hutus and Tutsis together with the Queen Hutus und Tutsis miteinander… mit der Königin
Cientos de feligreses esperando a la Auxiliar Hundreds of faithful waiting for the Auxiliary Hunderte von Menschen erwarten die Auxiliar
Entrada Entrance procession Einzug in die Pfarrkirche
La Reina de la paz The Queen of peace Die Königin des Friedens Fotos: P. Deogratias Marahukiro © 2008 Álbum de fotos – photo album – Fotoalbum

BURUNDI, Father Deogratias Marahukiro. Sunday, April 6^th was a day full of grace, a day of blessing since the Queen of Peace visited the Parish of Buhonga. The Parish of Buhonga is one of the first of three missions founded in Burundi by white priests. It is located in the southern part of the city of Bumumbura, and it is situated on the mountains that dominate the capital of Burundi.

Always a surprise

It is a surprise for me every time that we make a pilgrimage with our Queen. I was surprised by the number of people who wanted to go with us on pilgrimage. Each time there are more people who feel touched and who truly want to accompany the Blessed Mother. The meeting place was at Mount Zion about 7:30 a.m. and after the blessing we departed in procession to the parish of Buhonga.

This time there were seven large buses with a capacity for thirty people in each one and almost eleven private automobiles.

The pilgrimage with all these autos amazed the inhabitants of the capital of Bujumbura very much. Since the automobile carrying the Blessed Mother was specially decorated, some people of the city thought that it was the wedding of a city magnate of Bujumbura, but they were thunderstruck to see that this rich man was going to get married in its interior. That is what one person exclaimed: "Mbe muramduganye: Is he really getting into the interior with the bride?" It is true. The picture of the Blessed Mother was so well adorned one might think that it was adorned as a bride for a real wedding.

From fear to joy

Before arriving at the parish of Buhonga, we met with a large number of Christians accompanied by the parish priest. They waited for us almost a kilometer from the parish. They shouted words of welcome to the Blessed Mother, there was great hope, a great thirst, everyone wanted to touch her, and they wanted to tell the Mother something. It was difficult for some of the people who accompanied us to contain their emotions. At this place and at this moment, the Mother truly worked a miracle, a miracle of peace and of reconciliation. Two groups of people from the same town, but of different origins met at this place to walk together accompanied by the Queen of Peace. On one side there were pilgrims from Bujumbura who are more or less from a good socio-economic level, and on the other side, there were the people from the rural parish of Buhonga. We must add that some consider the region of Buhonga as the fiefdom of the National Hutu Army whose rebellion has still not put down its arms. The people from Buhonga are essentially comprised of ethnic Hutus. For some people from the city of Bujumbura to go to Buhonga is to risk death. Furthermore, for some people of the Tutsi ethnic group it is almost impossible or unimaginable to stop in Buhonga. As the parish priest told us, some began to pray the rosary when they arrived at Buhonga and the kept saying it after passing the region. We must declare that this pilgrimage was reconciliation for this region. For some people who were with us on the pilgrimage, to be able to walk more than forty minutes through Buhonga surrounded by the people of Buhonga, was truly a miracle. The best gift of this day was the grace of reconciliation. Some almost dared not to participate in the pilgrimage to Buhonga. They were so afraid, but they simply accepted to accompany the Blessed Mother. During the procession you could see an expression of joy on their faces; fear had given way to joy.

She works miracles

It was the triumphal march of the Queen of Peace and of Reconciliation among its people. The welcome of the people from Buhonga with songs of joy and dances demolished the walls of fear, and there was spontaneous happiness in the pilgrims who came from Bujumbura. The encounter was held on a small mountain and a large number of pilgrims could be seen struggling to climb this mountain. They were afraid to meet the people from the parish of Buhonga who waited for them at the top of the mountain with songs and dances of joy. They had put a small table in the middle of the clay route and on it they placed the picture of the Blessed Mother. We began to sing and to dance around the Blessed Mother. Since Buhonga is situated on the mountain dominating the city of Bujumbura, there was a panoramic view of the beautiful countryside of this region. The sky had also prepared to welcome us, it was beautiful with some white clouds scattered among the background of blue spaces. It seemed as if the sky had opened to allow us to see the grace of peace and of reconciliation rain down. Yes, something wonderful had just happened, yes, we could say as did Saint Vincent Pallotti "She is the great Missionary, She will work miracles." We began the procession in this atmosphere; it seemed like a triumphal march of the Queen of Peace and of Reconciliation among her people.

Once the procession ended, the Mass began. As is customary in Burundi, it was a solemn Mass that lasted no less than three hours. We were in a three hour long Mass with a liturgy that was especially marked by symbolic elements. We offered: a candle to ask that the light of Christ would illuminate us, the map of Burundi so that the Queen of Peace would protect this country, an empty basket so that the Blessed Mother would fill it with the graces of peace and of reconciliation. The faithful of parish also offered their Capital of Grace, and we returned with a Capital of Grace basketful. At the end of the Mass, we gave them a picture of the Blessed Mother, since we could leave the Auxiliary MTA at this parish– everyone was asking us to leave Her at least for a few days. This picture will give testimony that the Auxiliary was at this parish, and it will be the guarantee of the Blessed Mother’s presence at this parish. As we left the Mass, we went to a small Shrine of the Blessed Mother at the parish. They exposed the picture of the Blessed Mother and we all gathered around it; the people from Buhonga had prepared some songs and dances in Her honor. After the songs, the next part began, which was no less important, it was something that we had not foreseen, and which taught us a lot: it was the devotion and the love for the Blessed Mother by the people.

A lesson of prayer…

After the official ceremony with dances and songs that were organized by the parishioners of Buhonga, we saw the spontaneous and personal veneration of the Blessed Mother. The joyful people crowded around the picture of the Blessed Mother. Everyone wanted to touch the picture, everybody want to say something to the Blessed Mother. We had trouble choosing just one person to transport the picture because everyone wanted to do it! For us, who always have the picture of the Blessed Mother in the Shrine, it was hard to understand how they considered touching this picture as a privilege. This reminded us of an adage in Kirundi, that says: uwuflise ikirezi atamenya ko cera: he who has a collar around his neck can never appreciate its beauty.

Petitions were raised in front of the picture of the Blessed Mother that gave testimony of a very profound faith, which became a lesson of prayer for us. A lady who probably had family problems said out loud: "Dearest Mother, you know what is happening in my home, I ask that you touch my husband…." Another lady remained before the Blessed Mother while those that had come with her wanted to return home because it was getting late; they encouraged her to leave and she responded: "How can I leave if the Mother is still here." In spite of the long distance that she had to travel by foot, she preferred to accompany the Blessed Mother. Undoubtedly many people received many graces, we will tell about those testimonies of this unforgettable journey some other time. As always before returning, there was a light rain and everyone was convinced that heaven was again blessing us with this rain.

In conclusion, we extend our gratitude to all the people who prayed for us so that this pilgrimage would be successful. We extend very special gratitude to those who accompanied us from Schoenstatt in the Original Shrine and those from Argentina. We invite other Schoenstatters and members of the Rosary Campaign to accompany us in this great campaign of prayer for peace in the countries of the Great Lakes.

Future pilgrimages

Next time we will send the Blessed Mother to Congo, a Bukavu city. This will be on April 18^th.

On April 27^th there will be large pilgrimage to begin the month of May in the Shrine of Mount Zion. The Bishop will be present. On May 4^th, there will be a large pilgrimage to the neighboring parish of Kamenge. This is a very poor neighborhood of Bujumbura, it is also a neighborhood that was almost destroyed by civil war.

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