The pilgrim is on the road again

The remains of John Louis Pozzobon were transferred

En el Santuario Tabor, con  su hijo y sus hijas At the Tabor Shrine, with his son and two daughters Im Tabor-Heiligtum; sein Sohn und seine Töchter sind dabei
En presencia de la Peregrina Original The Original Pilgrim Mother is present Die Ur-Peregrina ist dabei
Procesión Procession Prozession
Un momento solemne A solemn moment Ein feierlicher Moment
El peregrino de Maria... en su ultima peregrinación The pilgrim of Mary – on his last pilgrimage Der Pilger Marias – aus seinem letzten Pilgerweg
El P. Argemiro Fr. Argemiro P. Argemiro beim Gebet Fotos: Ir.M. Rosequiel e  Ir. Glaucelei © 2008 Álbum de fotos – photo album – Fotoalbum

BRAZIL,Sister M. Rosequiel Favero. Twenty-three years ago, in June of 1985, John Pozzobon made his "last pilgrimage" just as he wrote in his spiritual testament. At his burial, there was a procession from the Church of Our Lady of Sorrows to the Tabor Shrine, and then to the Chapel of Our Lady of Grace. He, who walked more than 140 kilometers with the picture of the Pilgrim Mother and Queen of Schoensttt, wanted his last tribute to also be a pilgrimage.

But that would not be the final journey of the "pilgrim of Mary." On the last Sunday of 2008, December 28^th, the mortal remains of the Servant of God, John Louis Pozzobon, were transferred. As at his burial, the pilgrimage included the churches that marked the life and mission of the "poor deacon and pilgrim," as he liked to call himself: The Church of Our Lady of Sorrows, the Shrine of our Mother Thrice Admirable, and the Chapel of Our Lady of Grace.

The first stop of this itinerary of faith was the Schoenstatt Shrine of Santa Maria. However, prior to the planned program, Schoenstatters took a beautiful wooden urn with a Unity Cross over it and with John Pozzobon’s name through the main door. The bell of the Shrine rang, as if to give voice to the Blessed Mother, who welcomed her beloved son with joy. In the Shrine, the original Pilgrim MTA waited for him, the one, which John went on pilgrimage with for thirty years. Once again She would be his "Pilgrimage Companion" by departing from the Shrine for this celebration on this very special day.

I always want to be united to the Shrine.

Some of the people recalled how throughout his life, when he arrived at the throne of his beloved "Maezinha"; he knelt on the ground, even before entering the Shrine, to "place his contributions for the Capital of Grace in the hands of the Blessed Mother" and then he would enter. When the urn was taken up the steps to the Shrine, it seemed as if John himself was coming, happy once again to meet the MTA. You could almost "hear" the words registered in his diary. "Mother and Queen, I want to always be united to your Shrine. I only feel big when I kneel in your Shrine."

A moment of profound prayer followed, in which different testimonies that John had made about the importance of the Shrine and the Schoenstatt spirituality for his road to sanctity. Little by little, some symbols were placed over the urn: Pilgrim MTA.s, rosaries, photos…as expressions of trust so that he would intercede for his brothers and sisters in the Covenant. Heaven and earth, eternity and the present, united at the moment when the Covenant of Love was renewed as with one voice united with the Mother Thrice Admirable.

Again in the hands of the Schoenstatters, the urn, with the remains of John, and the original Pilgrim MTA followed in procession from the Shrine to the second stop: the Church of Our Lady of Sorrows, where they were welcomed by the Vicar, Father Francisco Bianchin, and by a group of parishioners. The remains stayed here, where the members of the Rosary of Men always guarded them, and where they were visited by many of the faithful.

At 7:00 p.m. in the mother church, Our Lady of Sorrows, Father Francisco Bianchin, who stressed the "work of precision" of Providence by transferring the mortal remains of John Pozzobon precisely on the day in which the Church celebrates the Feast of the Holy Family, celebrated Holy Mass. The great "missionary of families" wants to re-ignite a new missionary zeal for families in each person who was present.

Our Blessed Mother of Heaven

From this church, a long line of cars departed to the Chapel of Our Lady of Grace, carrying the urn and the original Pilgrim MTA. During a simple celebration as an official act of the Cause of Canonization, which was also done as a family, the Diocesan Bishop of Santa Maria, Monsignor Helio Rubert, blessed the new burial place. It was touching when a taped voice of John Louis Pozzobon was heard telling about his giving of self to the mission and the great joy he had with it. At the end, while the people sang Marian songs (especially "Maezinha do ceu") a lacquered acrylic box that contained some clothes and other objects that were in John’s coffin, and the urn with his mortal remains were placed in the burial site. They will remain in this place (until the beatification) to receive visits from many pilgrims who will come from far and near for an encounter.

The faces of everyone wore expressions of great joy for everything that they experienced on this day. "It was truly a Christmas gift," someone commented. Now, that the cause of beatification is almost complete at the diocesan level, we pray to God for a miracle so that the "pilgrim" can begin a new trip to Rome on the way to his beatification.

Translation: Celina Garza, San Antonio/amj, USA