Fr. Pablo Perez and Sr. M. Julia de Almeida had the opportunity to meet with the Holy Father at the closing of the Jubilee of Marian Movements, and the Pope crowned the image of the Pilgrim Mother. Sr. M. Julia recounts:
It was a unique experience on October 12th in St. Peter’s Basilica in the Vatican, during the Holy Mass celebrating the Jubilee of the Marian Movements.
Fr. Pablo Perez, director of the Schoenstatt Movement in Italy, and I, Sr. M. Julia de Almeida, had the grace of greeting the Holy Father, Leo XIV, before Holy Mass. As a sign of our affection for him, on behalf of our entire Schoenstatt Family, Fr. Pablo presented him with a Unity Cross, and I brought a Pilgrim MTA and a crown to be blessed.
When I greeted him, I briefly told him that this year the Schoenstatt Pilgrim Mother Apostolate celebrates its 75th anniversary internationally. I asked His Holiness to offer the crown to the Blessed Mother himself as a sign of gratitude for all the graces she has distributed over these 75 years in the Church and in families, but also as a sign that the Pilgrim Mother may continue to bear abundant fruit in the world.
The Holy Father listened to me very attentively, then took the crown with devotion and placed it on the Pilgrim Image. It took a little while for the crown to fit into the two small holes. First, it went into one hole, then into the other. After that, I said, “It worked, Your Holiness,” and handed him the Mother. He looked at her serenely, smiled, and then I thanked him.
“Here is Schoenstatt!”
It was a unique and sacred moment to see the representative of Christ offer the crown to the Queen of the Church and of our families. At his side was Monsignor Rino Fisichella, pro-prefect of the Dicastery for Evangelization, who, as soon as he saw me, said to the Holy Father, “Here is Schoenstatt.” He certainly remembered us when, in 2012, he himself was in Schoenstatt and crowned the Pilgrim Mother Auxiliary for Europe as Queen of the New Evangelization.
For us Schoenstatters, crowning the Blessed Mother has a very profound meaning: it is a symbol of gratitude, of total trust and abandonment, of a living faith in Mary’s power of intercession. Therefore, during the act of coronation by the Holy Father, I felt a deep gratitude, as if the Blessed Mother herself wanted to confirm this noble apostolate with a gesture so dear to all of us, carried out by the highest authority of the Church.
Thus, the jubilee of the Pilgrim Mother Apostolate is crowned with a visible sign that encourages us to take on the next 75 years with commitment and confidence.
Together with the venerable João Luiz Pozzobon, we entrust our Church and our families once again to the protection of the Mother Thrice Admirable, so that they may become homes of love and cradles of holiness.
Translation: Sr. M. Lourdes Macías
