June 28, 2022

The Wonders of the Mother Thrice Admirable of Schoenstatt—Today!

Sr. M. Vera Lucia Mangas

In Etruria – Tuscany – Toscana

 

Certainly countless wonderful things are happening in all of Italy and in the whole world. Today we return to Tuscany and tell you about three current events.

The title of our Lady of Schoenstatt is: “Mother Thrice Admirable.” She is endlessly wonderful. Our dear Lady surprises us constantly with wonders of her endless love.

It seems that in Tuscany something “three times wonderful” has happened.

♥    As we recently reported, we witnessed the new dawn of the covenant of love in the month of May after the long period of the pandemic.

♥    A second group gathered in Santa Croce sull’Arno (PI) to likewise prepare for the covenant of love. This meeting also took place in the month of May. The photos show that the effort was worthwhile: Many followed the call.

Laura Liberati is convinced: “Each time people come forward to seal the covenant of love, new motivation is there to organize a meeting in preparation for the covenant of love.” In conversation with these people at the various meetings, they all say that the Mother of God called them.

Although all of them are already actively involved in the life of the Church and belong to a circle of the Pilgrim MTA, the need for deeper, inner enrichment grew in them. The desire awakened in them to come closer to the Blessed Mother. They experienced it as a “call” similar to the Annunciation of the Mother of God.

At the center of Schoenstatt is the covenant of love with the Mother of God. The relationship between Jesus and the Blessed Virgin Mary, this “two in oneness,” is central to the spirituality of Schoenstatt. The Blessed Mother is the great Christ bearer, the collaborator  of Christ in his work of redemption.

The covenant of love of October 18, 1914, bears fruit through our cooperation with divine initiative: Nothing without you – Nothing without us! This covenant is our life. We live from the conviction of Father Joseph Kentenich:

“I firmly believe that whoever is faithful
to their covenant of love will never perish.”

When we turn to the Blessed Mother in the Schoenstatt shrine, we trust:

“Even in storms and dangers 
you will always remain faithful   
to the covenant you have sealed with us
and enriched with countless graces.” J. K.  

♥    Francesca Signorini tells us: The newpaper “Toscana Oggi” reported about the visits of the MTA to cities in Tuscany where she had not been previously:

“Terricciola and Morrona – Our Lady of Schoenstatt
Goes on Pilgrimage to the Families.”

At the end of January, both of these parishes began to participate in the Apostolate of the Pilgrim MTA of Schoenstatt. An image of the Blessed Mother with the child Jesus that was blessed in a Schoenstatt shrine in Rome visits ten families who welcome her for three days each month. This initiative is an incentive to rediscover prayer at home where it has become so difficult to pray together. The Blessed Mother would like to bring God back into our everyday life. In these difficult times when one trial follows another, the image of the Pilgrim MTA comes on the same day every month to console, support, and accompany the families. The Mother of God conveys warmth, hospitality, closeness, and creates bonds between the families and with the parish.

Two couples have taken it upon themselves to ensure that the picture visits the families regularly. Even a group of first communicants participates with a small Pilgrim MTA.

The priests and sisters who accompany the project live in Rome but visit the parishes regularly to hold informational meetings and to give spiritual support.

Behind these three stories, that are basically very simple but nevertheless full of strength and faith, is the covenant of love that proceeds from the small Schoenstatt shrine and reaches to the ends of the earth.

The covenant of love shapes culture, a culture of the covenant. It is fundamentally  a way of shaping our lifestyle and our work: our attachment to God, to people, to nature, and to culture, to the Church and to the world, always based on the covenant of love.

Commitment to a covenant culture encourages people to leave the shrines and to go to existential peripheries in order to “sanctify” the world, fulfilling a desire of Pope Francis.