Testimonies and examples from men
who experience the Pilgrim MTA
We Schoenstatt Sisters of Mary, who work with the Apostolate of the Pilgrim MTA in Switzerland and Liechtenstein, receive much feedback about her visits to homes. It is mainly women who provide the feedback, but there are also testimonies and examples from men who experience the Pilgrim MTA.
A deacon and his family participate in the Apostolate of the Pilgrim MTA. At one Holy Mass he told his parish that the Blessed Mother slows me down when she comes to visit us. She invites me, even challenges me, to pause for a moment with her presence, to not always rush around and hurry to the next thing, but to sit down for a moment or simply think about God again and take a deep breath. I find this apostolate really worthwhile. U. B.
A pastor relates: When I let God into my heart, when I open the door to the Blessed Mother and her Son and when I offer them a home, I notice that I experience security. The Pilgrim MTA shrine, which comes to my rectory once a month, gives me the gift of home. This picture is like a window—one could say—through which I can see my true home, heaven. B. A.
My husband is not Catholic and is less attached to the Blessed Mother than I. That’s why he has the feeling the Pilgrim MTA shrine is my business. However, he has already repaired the picture here and there. The other day he said: “I mended your Blessed Mother again!” Then he paused and added: “Well, I mean – our Blessed Mother!” D. Z.
A man who made himself available as the contact person for a Pilgrim MTA circle, unfortunately could not come to the commissioning because he had to work that morning. When the woman who had received the Pilgrim MTA shrine on his behalf came to his home, the man was already standing outside the house waiting. He was very happy when she handed him the picture of the Blessed Mother and he thanked her four times. He looked at it and said, “What a beautiful Blessed Mother, a pure Blessed Mother!” O. Q.
One day I thought the Pilgrim MTA shrine might not be of much use to a 96-year-old man. So I asked him if he wanted to continue with the Pilgrim MTA or whether I should pick it up and bring it to someone younger. But he insisted on the visit of the Pilgrim MTA shrine and said: “I would like to receive the visiting Pilgrim MTA shrine as long as I am alive. The Blessed Mother always helps make the loneliness and issues of health easier to bear.” B.
Once, when the Blessed Mother was visiting us, I was angry about something and I was ranting on and on. I talked and talked at my husband. Suddenly he turned to the Pilgrim MTA shrine and said, “Blessed Mother, listen to her!”
I paused and was a little irritated, momentarily, but I had to laugh to myself and I thought: He is right. SHE is listening to me and takes my anger seriously. M. R.
When the Pilgrim MTA came to us for the first time, I set her in a nice place. I was a little curious about my husband’s reaction. When he saw HER, he said, what is she doing there? I explained to him and he accepted it without saying much. After some time, we were supposed to have the Blessed Mother with us but for some reason there was a delay. My husband said to me, “Isn’t she coming this month? She should be here by now?!” A. B.
My husband is a physician and he never really reacted too much to the visit of the Pilgrim MTA shrine, and yet one day he said, “When the picture of the Blessed Mother is here, it is peaceful and the hectic pace of everyday life slows down.” C.