Schoenstatt Germany to celebrate the 25th Anniversary of the Pilgrim MTA
Sister Marié Munz
Since the beginning of this year, the team responsible for the Jubilee Year celebrations had been planning to open the Jubilee Year in Fulda, considered to be a very important place for the Christianization of Germany, and to symbolically celebrate there what would eventually be the climax of the Jubilee celebration which will take place at the Original Shrine on October 1st, 2022: to consecrate our country, the Church in our country and the people in our country to the MTA in the Covenant of Love. Now, as a result of the war situation in Europe, Pope Francis had surprisingly invited us to consecrate the world to the Immaculate Heart of Mary on March 25. Divine planning joined the Pope’s intention with ours.
She is the great missionary. She will work miracles.
With Bishop Michael Gerber, we renewed our Covenant of Love for Germany and recited the Holy Father’s prayer of consecration. Our intentions for a Germany renewed in faith and for peace in Europe and the whole world were placed in the heart of the Blessed Mother with the conviction: “She is the great missionary. She will work miracles!” – Once again, we could hear St. John Paul II’s voice, who, during his first visit to Germany in Fulda, insistently said:
“Many say that this history (of Christianity in your country) is now coming to an end. I say to you: This history of Christianity in your country shall now begin anew, and it shall begin anew through you, through your testimony formed in the spirit of St. Boniface!” (Pope John Paul II, 11/18/1980)
Prayer marathon for the Church in our country
During the celebration, 27 candles were blessed and will remain lit in the Original Shrine representing the 27 dioceses of Germany and their bishops during the next 27 weeks. A marathon of prayer for the Church in our country sets the pace for the Jubilee celebration on October 1, 2022, in Schoenstatt. A week of intense prayer will be offered for each bishop and for his diocese.
Following Holy Mass, the 20 members of Bishop Michael Gerber’s team were invited to lunch at the seminary. Individual representatives from the dioceses were able to talk about the work of the Pilgrim Mother.
“The Church is built only upon Jesus Christ …”
Afterwards, the group visited another special place of Christian faith in our country: St. Michael’s Church right next to the Fulda Cathedral. For 1200 years it has stood as a strong symbol of faith: The structural support of the entire church rests on a single pillar, which has been destroyed many times over the centuries and has been renovated and rebuilt repeatedly. “The church is built upon Jesus Christ only…”, this song took on a special flavor in this place.
The following day, the jubilee committee made a pilgrimage to the MTA and to the Victory Column in Dietershausen. The statue of the column touched our hearts once again through Father Kentenich’s words, spoken in 1945, when Germany was practically in ruins: “One great column is left standing in these ruins, an unbroken column. There She stands before us, She who is the most blessed of women (Mary) … And all who cling to this pillar are drawn into the process of today’s salvation, of today’s world” (J. K., 1945).
“Mother and child united in love …”
During the pilgrimage to the Victory Column, we saw children and adults from Ukraine who found refuge in the former Provincial House of the Sisters of Mary. They observed with interest and, as it seemed, with emotion the group of people who passed by praying and singing with a large image of Mary.
Our Sisters and many faithful have repeatedly renewed Germany’s consecration to Our Lady at the Marian Column since 1978. Sister M. Louise explained to us the historical background, which made a deep impression on all of us. The Fulda Schoenstatt Center is located not far from the memorial site of the inner-German border “Point Alpha”. At the time of the Cold War, the troops of the Eastern Block and NATO faced each other here, ready to fight. The conviction remains that the prayers certainly contributed to the fall of the Wall and the peaceful reunification of Germany. We too prayed there with renewed confidence:
“Mother, with your Divine Son descend upon Germany’s (and Europe’s) fields, so that following in your footsteps it may find lasting peace. Fatherland, the only way to your salvation is if you join the Blessed Mother and her Son in love. Amen”
The team worked with great dedication and motivation to elaborate on various elements of the Jubilee Year: the planning of the Jubilee Day at the Original Shrine on October 1, 2022, the meditations on the crown and the renewed crowning of Germany’s Auxiliary Pilgrim Mother, how the Jubilee can be celebrated locally in the dioceses and parishes, and so on.
“The two days were like a week’s retreat,” commented one participant as she said goodbye. Our Jubilee motto is even richer than before:
Sometimes we need to “clean up” our lives – move furniture, remove dust, arrange some flowers, decorate the rooms. How can we do this in our inner realm?
On this “Sunday of the Word of God”, follow some tips to begin or go deeper into the reading of the Bible. Father Marcelo Cervi, Doctor of Theology and member of the Secular Institute of Schoenstatt Diocesan Priests, coordinates an online Bible study group and offers some suggestions.
