On Saturday, August 14, the Schoenstatt National Shrine in Ecuador was dressed for a celebration. About 180 young women dressed in white celebrated the 90th anniversary of the founding of the International Girls’ Youth with a solemn Mass. It was a festive and profound ceremony, which was attended by girls from all generations of the Girls’ Youth. Different stories which recalled the times that bore fruit were shared with today’s youth.
As a symbolic act of the unity of all generations, 90 white roses were presented by different members of the Girls’ Youth during the offertory. This great celebration took place within the golden jubilee of the National Shrine, since it is celebrating the 50th anniversary of its blessing, so the Girls’ Youth announced their jubilee gift to the Blessed Mother. It is the crowning of the Queen of Pure Love, since 50 years ago the Girls’ Youth of Ecuador crowned the Blessed Mother with this same title for the first time.
At the end of the ceremony, everyone present was invited to take a trip down memory lane and photos of the different activities that the Girls’ Youth have carried out throughout the years were shared. It did not matter how old or how long each one has been in Schoenstatt; what united them on this day was the joy of being or having been a part of the Girls’ Youth, which was expressed in the songs that repeatedly recalled the different generations that have passed through the Girls’ Youth in the country.
It was a day of celebration, of encounter and profound renewal, which rekindled the ideal: Yes Father, Field of Lilies.
