This Saturday, May 9, the traditional Mother’s Day Pilgrimage took place, an event that for 48 years has brought together the Catholic faithful at the Schoenstatt Shrine in Guayaquil, Ecuador.
More than 10,000 pilgrims arrive each year through various routes, whether in large processions, walking from different parishes since dawn, or arriving by bus from different parts of the city or nearby towns. They make the pilgrimage in an atmosphere of prayer, singing, and great enthusiasm, bringing their images or banners to be placed at the base of the Shrine as an expression of faith and love for the Blessed Mother. The largest procession departs from La Alborada, carrying the image of the Blessed Mother, which is adorned each year with flowers and ribbons to highlight its beauty.
Peace, a longing in Guayaquil and throughout the world
This year, due to the curfew in the city, the schedule was adjusted; thus, the praying of the Rosary began at 7:00 a.m., and Holy Mass began at 8:00 a.m. with the entrance procession of seminarians, concelebrating priests, auxiliary bishops, and Cardinal Luis Cabrera, who immediately proceeded to the altar. The procession with the image of the Blessed Mother, accompanied by a cortege of children and led by seminarians and Sisters of Mary, paid tribute to the 70th anniversary of the establishment of the Archdiocese of Guayaquil and the 100th anniversary of the founding of the Community of the Sisters of Mary.
Cardinal Luis Cabrera, under a blazing sun, reached the heart of his people with a message inspired by this year’s motto, “Mary, make me an instrument of peace”, through which he called on us to live in peace within our families, communities, and in our own hearts.
The celebration was filled with meaningful details, such as a song prepared especially for this pilgrimage, “Mary, Give Us Peace,” as well as the traditional songs of our people that help us experience Holy Mass more deeply. During the Offertory, the youth presented a floral tapestry depicting a dove, and at the end of Mass, a family released white doves as a gesture of our mission to build peace from within families.
Shrine decorated to evoke heaven
In the end, thousands of pilgrims continued to enter the Shrine to receive the graces that the Blessed Mother bestows upon us, and to experience a little piece of heaven there, as the Shrine is decorated in such a special way every year.
This pilgrimage is a demonstration of a people united in the love of Mary, who come from many distant places motivated by a Marian devotion that Pope Francis, during his visit to Ecuador, highlighted as a quality very characteristic of Ecuadorians.
Translation: Maribel Acaron
