Time for fairs, time for spontaneous visits to Schoenstatt

Encounters around the Orginal Shrine at the beginning of June

Visitantes de Costa Rica Visitors from Costa Rica Besucher aus Costa Rica
Encuentro argentino-alemán  en el departamento de la Federación de Madres German-Argentinean Encounter in the department of the Mothers’ Federation Deutsch-argentinische Begegnung in der Wohnung des Mütterbundes
Peregrinos de Santiago de Chile Pilgrims from Santiago de Chile Pilger aus Santiago de Chile
María Piedrabuena, de Argentina, con su novio María Piedrabuena, from Argentina, with her boy-friend María Piedrabuena aus Argentinien mit ihrem Freund
Jovenes de Chile y Ecuador, con la Hermana Luz Maria, en el rosario Youth from Chile and Ecuador , together with Sr Luz Maria, in the rosary Jugendliche der Schönstattzeit aus Chile und Ecuador gestalteten mit Schw. Luz Maria den Rosenkranz
Carlos y Aurelia Ayala, de Paraguay Carlos and Aurelia Ayala, from Paraguay Carlos und Aurelia Ayala aus Paraguay Fotos: POS Schoenstatt © 2008 Álbum de fotos – photo album – Fotoalbum

SCHOENSTATT,mkf. It is the time for fairs in Germany, not only the drupa exposition in Dusseldorf that attracts visitors from the all over the world; there are also other fairs in Munich, in Bremen, and congresses for large businesses that take place during the first weeks of June. With the fairs and the congresses, there are also Schoenstatters from all around the world who have arrived in Germany, and almost all of them have tried to visit the Original Shrine. They have searched for – and found – that unique experience that Juan Pablo and Cristina Roux from Correintes, Argentina describe so well after returning to their country: "The hours that we spent and experienced in Schoenstatt are not erased from our hearts, our spirits or our memories. We are truly filled with that grace that flows from this beautiful sunlit place, ‘the meadow radiantly lit.’ We are going to do everything possible so that throughout our life as a couple and family, this grace will help us to travel on the road close to Father and the Blessed Mother. The first encounter with the Original Shrine took place five minutes after we arrived, and we felt all that emotion and feeling of gratitude and sense of belonging and of being touched."

This is how a "chapeador" (a common expression in Costa Rica referring to people who pull oxen) of the Blessed Mother in Costa Rica arrived on June 4^th along with a co-worker who gladly listened to the explanation of what "Schoenstatt is" that fascinated his friend so much. The "chapeador" belongs to a group from the Family Branch in Costa Rica that has committed to taking care of the surrounding of the Wayside Shrine of the Mother Thrice Admirable in Costa Rica, and where they want to build the first Shrine in that country very soon. The two only had a few hours to visit Schoenstatt, but it was enough for what they wanted to do: to pray for a while in the Original Shrine, at Father’s tomb, and to have a little chat in the Press Office.

Towards Schoenstatt the place I yearn

"My husband and I are already in Paris, we will depart in the early morning towards the land of Schoenstatt for which I yearn," wrote Leandra Valdez, who belongs to the 15^th course of the Mothers’ Federation in Argentina. On April 17^th she made her first consecration and less than a month later she has the privilege of being in Schoenstatt. What a surprise and joy it was for her and her husband to be welcomed in Schoenstatt by Rosemarie Bohrer of the Mothers’ Federation of Germany! Not only was she the guide for the two of them – in Spanish- but that afternoon she invited them to a conference at the department of the Mothers’ Federation in House Marienland, where along with Sister Luciane, the area leader, they spoke about several subjects regarding the Federation and about Schoenstatt in general in an atmosphere of "having known each other forever." With the addresses of the Schoenstatt Shrines in Rome in hand, they departed for Italy the next day…

Cristian Herrero Lanzarotti from Santiago, Chile arrived on June 5^th with his wife. Since they got lost when they took the train, they only had three or four hours to spend in Schoenstatt. They arrived at Schoenstatt with great petitions for health, and only with the desire of being able to deposit a letter on Father’s tomb…It was a good thing that sometimes there are cars that can be borrowed to fulfill this desire. They were very grateful and emotional after leaving their serious worries in Father’s hands…

They didn’t find the ceramic Shrines with soil from the Original Shrine that they always wanted to buy as a souvenir - Father Juan Pablo Rodriguez who arrived to Schoenstatt a few days later with a pilgrimage from Chile will take them some.

One day before beginning her music course in Bonn, Maria Piedrabuena, from Paraná, Argentina, visited Schoenstatt along with her fiancée, and was happy to spend "all day just for Schoenstatt." She already had been here, so she was the perfect guide for her fiancée.

"Carlos and Aurelia Ayala are about to arrive to Schoenstatt," Julio Zucchini from Paraguay wrote on Sunday. When the email arrived, the two of them had just left the Original Shrine, after having their first encounter with the place where it all began…It was an encounter with tears and much emotion. They have belonged to the Family Work for seventeen years, and they took all their group members who did not have the privilege of traveling to Schoenstatt with them to the Shrine. They stayed until Tuesday noon. All day Monday they were able to participate in the program of the pilgrimage from Chile. It was a heavenly day, they said, while visiting the press office to share a little about their experiences in Paraguay and to present two CDs of the Choir of Tuparenda, "so that our love for the Blessed Mother can be heard in Schoenstatt." On that same Monday, Nicolás Crim of the Boys’ Youth from Córdoba, Argentina, along with his brother and parents were here. After Holy Mass in the Original Shrine on Tuesday, just before departing, Nicolás and his brother asked for a special favor: "something from the Original Shrine for the Boys’ Youth from Córdoba." Sometimes it is enough to ask the Blessed Mother once...and for one instrument. They went to the Press Office, they were in a hurry and happy without a photo or a cappuccino, but with a shingle from the roof of the Original Shrine!

Juan Barbosa, also from Córdoba, was fortunate. He will be able to travel to Schoenstatt right after the drupa (the largest printing fair) in Dusseldorf, and on June 17^th while representing his country in a very special event of Schoenstatt history, he will attend the Holy Mass, where the diocesan process for the beatification process of Joseph Engling will close in Trier.

Present at the rosary on Saturday

On Saturday at five thirty in the afternoon, when the rosary was prayed in the Original Shrine, there were no pilgrims…But the youth from Ecuador and Chile who are spending some time in Schoenstatt, along with the Sisters of Mary from Ecuador and Chile, sang and prayed the rosary for everything that is happening around the Original Shrine, the Shrines, and Wayside Shrines of the world, and for all the petitions that are sent to the Original Shrine during the week. At the end, as always, one of the girls deposited the printed sheets with the petitions in the jar of the Original Shrine. How good it is to know that so many people can unite themselves to this weekly rosary through the Internet…and by so doing, they are also present!

• Rosary in the Original Shrine, June 7, 2008