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The picture of the MTA in Gudnick, close to Rossel
Nachrichten - News - Noticias
 published: 2009-08-14

In the land of Joseph Engling

Continuing to build on the inheritance of the founding generation

 

Die Kirche in Gudnicki

La iglesia de Gudnicki

The church in Gudnicki

Die Kirche in Gudnicki

 

Die frühere Schönstatt-Kapelle in Klewno

La antigua capellita de Schoenstatt, ahora abandonada

The former, now abandoned Schoenstatt chapel in Klewno

Die frühere Schönstatt-Kapelle in Klewno

 
Der Altar aus der Kapelle, jetzt in der Kirche in Gudnicki  

El altar, ahora en la iglesia de Gudnicki

The altar, now in the church in Gudnicki

Der Altar aus der Kapelle, jetzt in der Kirche in Gudnicki

 
Schönstatt-Treffen vor der Kirche in Gudnicki  

Frente de la iglesia de Gudnicki

In front of the church in Gudnicki

Schönstatt-Treffen vor der Kirche in Gudnicki

Fotos: Alicja Kostka © 2009

 
   

POLAND, Dra. Alicia Kostka. On April 26, 2009, the Feast of Our Lady of Good Counsel, a picture of the MTA was placed on the Schoenstatt altar in Gudnick, near Rossel (which was previously Eastern Prussia, presently Poland). This altar was build during the decade of the 1930’s; it is very similar to the altar at the Original Shrine. Moreover, as in Maria Polh’s written report during that decade explains; it is a relic of the Movement that existed in the area of Rossel with the accompaniment of the then Pallotine Fathers such as Father Schafer and Father Johannes Tick.

The history of Schoenstatt in Ermland, Joseph Engling’s native land, was interrupted at the end of World War II with the explusion of the German population. The farm of the Pallotine Fathers in Klawsdorf (Klewno), close to Rossel, where a Schoenstatt chapel had been built, fell into the hands of new owners who had no interest of preserving the religious place or sacred things. According to the reports of the farmers, the altar was sent to Gudnick. At the end of the 1960’s it was taken to an old, abandoned church, that did not fit with the interior of that church because of its style.

When the first Shrine was built in Poland at the end of the 1970’s, interest emerged in reference to this altar. Since it was somewhat different from the one of the Original Shrine, it was decided to order a new altar.

Discovered again

The altar was hidden from the view of the Schoenstatt Family until the year 2000, when at the conclusion of the first Joseph Engling Conference in Prosity, AliciaKostka (Federation of Women) and by Mr. Lambert M. Schroeder (a Brother of Mary) re-discovered it. Both of them searched through several reports that led them to the parish church of Saint Peter and Saint Paul. When the pastor, Father Dyzma Wyrostek had a photo of the Schoenstatt altar in his hands, he gave them unexpected, quick response, and he even traveled with both of them to Gudnick, where the altar they were looking for was before their eyes. Since then, they made short or long trips to Gudnick, even from Schoenstatt, including Prosity in the trips. It was striking that there was no MTA picture on the altar, although other Schoenstatt characteristics were visible, among them the illuminated frame with the phrase, Servís Mariae Nunquam peribit and the inscription Ingolstadt – Schoenstatt. Perhaps the Schoenstatters took the picture with them when they were deported to Germany in 1946, or it was lost somehow.

The MTA comes home

In 2007 those who traveled to Prosity took a picture of the MTA as a gift, it later went on pilgrimage in Ermland, among the Polish Schoenstatters. At the end of April, they placed the picture on the altar. The blessing of the picture was done in the presence of the Director of the Schoenstatt Movement in Poland, Father Arkadiusz Sosna, as well as the members of the region’s Movement. A week before, the Pastor of Rossel had been in Schoenstatt; he supported the placement of the picture. At Schoenstatt he had the opportunity to learn more about the Movement.

"May the interior of the new little chapel look like the Schoenstatt Shrine"

Notes from the report by María Pohl about the "little Schoenstatt Chapel" in Klawsdorf (Klewno): "We are convinced that Our Blessed Mother has her throne at this place, and that from here, she wants to offer the three pilgrimage graces: spiritual shelter, interior transformation, and apostolic zeal. Our new little chapel should continually submerge us in the atmosphere of the Schoenstatt Shrine; it should help us to loyally live within the Schoenstatt world. For this reason, we will try to make the interior of this little chapel look like the Schoenstatt Shrine. A woodworker named Klein from Rossel made the altar; it has a similar shape, although it is not exactly like the one at the Schoenstatt Shrine. Mr. Gross, the father of a student from Allenstein, carefully carved the frame that surrounds the picture of the MTA. The students had collected donations for it.

The statue of Saint Michael and the votive lamp were obtained in Schoenstatt. The mother of Tilla Kloni made the anti-pendium of lace for the altar with the inscription: Mater Ter Admirabilis. They also bought the iron candleholders and a small stand for candles. When we left the little chapel, we placed a candle there. Now we have our little Schoenstatt Chapel that deserves our care. Some people would go there frequently early in the morning for Holy Mass although their relatives do not understand this. Father Schafer gave us talks on certain days while he was in Rossel until 1936. We would go there on pilgrimage on Marian and Schoenstatt feast days. We especially competed during May, the month of Mary, and we deposited our Capital of Grace on the altar on the last day of May. On May 1, 1933 we wanted to begin the month of May in the little Schoenstatt Chapel as a group. During the night, there was an unexpected heavy snowfall. In the morning as we went to church, we had to walk in snow that was knee-deep in some places. Trudel Kaese was the only one of us who had the courage to walk the three kilometers to the little Schoenstatt Chapel in Klawadorf. She wanted to consciously offer this sacrifice," the report related.

It was not a barren land

When we returned – fifty years after the war – to built the Schoenstatt Movement in the land of Joseph Engling, we did not do it on barren land. We wanted to make the contributions of the Schoenstatters, who lived there since the end of the 1920’s until the end of the war, fruitful, and to build on their legacy; to again value the altar through the picture of the MTA is part of this effort. The other dimension is to make Joseph Engling more known in his land and to promote his veneration. This is the reason that the Joseph Engling conference is organized every year in Prosity.

Translation: aat, Argentina

 


 

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