A special mission in
an atheistic environment
I am Sister M. Konstanze. I live in Wittenberg, Germany, and work there in House Francis. This house belongs to the Augustinus-Werk, a large organization with many facilities for persons with multiple disabilities—including cognitive disabilities. After the fall of communism, the two major Churches in the city took over sponsorship, to provide ecumenical witness.
Due to the Diaspora situation, there are very few baptized Christians in our region, which is reflected in our facilities. That applies to both employees as well as residents. So I have a special mission in an atheistic environment. I can be a missionary for the Mother of God.
I work in a residence for children and youth in House Francis. Ten children and youth between the ages of 3 and 21 live here. In the morning they attend a school for cognitively disabled children and in the afternoon they return to their residence, which is their home.
My task consists not only in accompanying the children and youth but also to organize with them common activities for their freetime and thus create a nice home where they are comfortable.
I would like to be a contact point for the children and young people for their big and small needs, joys and sorrows, and to share life with them.
Through me, my being and actions, they should sense the love of God and experience it.
The Blessed Virgin Mary has a permanent place and the children love her with all their heart
Hence, it is important to me in my job, that I make faith in the merciful love of God experiential and that it is planted it in their hearts, in their hearts which have heard and know nothing about God.
It happens through short devotions, morning and evening prayers, and through many personal and sometimes spontaneous conversations. For this, the Apostolate of the Pilgrim MTA is a great help. It has an ancestral place in the group room and also travels from room to room. In the morning everyone competes to see who may light the candle for the Blessed Mother. In between, they spontaneously come to the Blessed Mother with their needs and joys, and every time we go for a walk there is a bouquet of flowers for her. The children in my residence love her very much.
The Blessed Mother is in their midst and that makes them happy.
Text of the Video:
I am Sister M. Konstanze. I come from Wittenberg which is in the Diocese of Magdeburg. There I work in a home for children with special needs.
I also work with the Pilgrim MTA, and I would like to tell you a little about my experiences.
During the first wave of the coronavirus, the children also had to stay home and could not attend school. This is very difficult for special needs children.
Since I had brought the Pilgrim MTA with me, I also told them during the pandemic about the covenant of love and the wedding at Cana and that we want to fill the jug. Then, in a very simple way we sealed the covenant of love with the Mother of God for all people who were affected by the virus and we wanted to offer to the Blessed Mother everything that we had to do without.
Since then, the Pilgrim MTA has a permanent place in the group room. When it is time to light the candle, the children quickly come and compete to be the first to light it.
Or when we go for a walk, the Pilgrim MTA always receives a bouquet.
When we had the coronavirus in the group and the children had to stay in their own rooms, the Pilgrim MTA visited every child in his or her solitude and in this way brought much, much joy.
She has a permanent place and the children love her with all their heart.
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