3 Letter to the Girl's Youth










Schoenstatt, September 9, 2010



Dear Schoenstatt Girls Youth:

With joy we write to you after our Schoenstatt meeting, were we could perceive what will be our next International Girls Youth Encounter in Madrid 2011.

The Mater has given us the feeling of being one whole youth, with a same origin, a same home, a same ideal and a same mission.

We were surprised that although this meeting was prepared and convened in such a short time, the response was great: 10 countries sent delegates (we were 30 in total) and 6 sent us their contributions participating also in a video-conference.
It was such a challenge to surpass the difference of languages (Czech, Polish, Spanish, German Hungarian, Portuguese and Italian), BUT WE MADE IT! A great exchange of ideas and lives took place.
We didn’t just work, we also enjoyed with the richness of the different cultures through their games, dances, typical dresses, typical food, and so on.

We started our encounter at night in front of the P. Joseph Kentenich’s grave, where he received and greeted us as his beloved Girls Youth. We gave him what each of us brought through a pray and a symbol. It was a very special moment, where we felt that he was blessing each one of us, our national youths and the encounter.

The first working day we dedicated it to share the life of the different branches of the movement (their challenges, life streams and apostolic projects) and the great surprise was to find so many similarities.

The second day we worked in groups depending in their language to answer the following questions:


After two conclusive sessions we had enough content to formulate several proposals for the motto and, after some votes (in which 4 countries took part of trough the video-conference), we reached its definite formulation, which is the following:


"WITH YOU FATHER, LIVING CROWN FOR THE CHURCH."


Meaning:

The expression “Living Crown” practically came out since the beginning because it is a very strong stream in the majority of countries and we feel identified with it. Being a Living Crown is to aspire to the highest, to be that woman, a little Mary, that, as the Immaculate, is light-hearted, firm, brave, and coherent, craving to join faith with life, radiating and lightening others wherever she is. With joy we realized that we were not alone in this longing, but that we are a community. We all make part of this Living Crown that has come to us as a precious heritage.

Because this story doesn’t start with us, with our generation, it is a gift that we have received from the hands of our father. The P. Kentenich gave us the RTA crown and with it a mission. And this crown became “alive” when the Divine Providence enabled that it got lost and so the international youth took conscience that the crown is to be embodied, we all make part of Mary`s Crown, no girl can miss. All Schoenstatt`s world concretes in the Living Crown (the reality of the Covenant of Love with the Mater, the Shrine, the heroism of the firsts, the solidarity of destinations, etc…). Is in this faithfulness to the Father and to this story of almost one hundred years where we want to say: “With You Father” we give away the richness of our charisma to the church.

We also realize that the Living Crown is a very clear answer to the challenges that present us the reality of the church and the world nowadays.
We noticeably saw that the symbol of the World Youth Day should also be an Living Crown made by young Catholics round the Holy Father. Isn`t this a very clear invitation that, as the International Girls Youth, we should secure with our RTA the Crown of the WYD? For the Pope it would be a great gift that we transmit the face of a young church, positive and joyful, and that we also show the face of Mary and her mission to the Church and the world. Our encounter frames in the WYD, because of that we should consciously give our charisma to the church and with it we should also demonstrate the Crown of sanctity of our Father and Founder.

With this encounter we gave a great step towards Madrid 2011 and we want to keep on giving the next steps united as a whole Girls Youth, as one Living Crown. Because of that we invite you to have a common purpose:
The 18`s of every month lets pilgrimage physically or spiritually to the Shrine and renovate our Covenant of Love asking specially for our future Encounter in Madrid 2011 and for all the Girls Youth in the world en route for 2014.
In the next letters we will provide you with more information. In the meantime we expect your echoes and suggestions of all the branches from the different countries.

Lots of greeting for Schoenstatt, also from all the delegates that have taken part in this pre-encounter,


To contact us, please email: rtamadrid2011@gmail.com