Blessing of Motorcycles
at the Immaculata Shrine
in Quarten, Switzerland
“So that they may be one,” states the Gospel for the seventh Sunday of Easter. After the corona break of the last two years, numerous motorcyclists from Germany followed this call – they met and rode to beautiful Switzerland. After an eventful trip, they were looking forward to the accommodations in our new digital hotel New-Schoenstatt in Quarten. I met the group of cyclists in our restaurant and told them that another group had the wish to have their motorcycles blessed before continuing.
Each one with their motorcycle
Soon it was clear: They wanted that, too—God’s blessing. I invited the men and women to celebrate Holy Mass with us Schoenstatt Sisters of Mary in our house chapel at seven the next morning. After Holy Mass Father Uwe A Vielhaber OP greeted the men and women who were standing with their motorcycles in front of the shrine and he blessed each one of them. He was not sparing with the holy water!
His face shine upon us
The old folk wisdom that “Everything depends on God’s blessing,” spontaneously came to the mind of one of the women. In the Bible it says: “May God be gracious to us and bless us; may his face shine upon us.” (Psalm 67:2) What a verse: Grace! Blessing! And HIS face shining upon us! This verse of the psalm is a blessing, a prayer of supplication, and a promise from God – this also applied to the motorcycle trip.
Good words
In the blessing is contained the good works that God has promised us, that he wants the good for us and for the world, and that he may keep away harm and disaster. And this is exactly what the Latin word “bless” – “benedicere” – “to say good things” means. That’s what a blessing is: good words that can change, transform, and bless human life, its actions and nature.
