Bishop Huonder Leads Rosary Procession in Einsiedeln to Commemorate Lepanto

 A good thousand believers took part in this year's rosary procession in Einsiedeln on October 8th.

For centuries it was customary to carry out a solemn rosary procession on the occasion of the rosary festival to commemorate the victory of Lepanto in Einsiedeln. This tradition was lost after the Second Vatican Council but was taken up again by the Militiae Immaculatae and is now shared by three organizations. This year's procession took place on October 8th and is growing from year to year.

Despite the sometimes-heavy rain, a good thousand believers came to Einsiedeln, including many young people and families, to hold the rosary festival to the glory of God and with the request for a Christian future for the country - but this year also for the world consecration to the Immaculate Heart of Mary to thank 80 years ago.

On October 31, 1942, in the middle of the Second World War, the 25th anniversary of the Marian apparitions of Fatima was solemnly concluded and Pope Pius XII. consecrated the world to the Immaculate Heart of Mary, to which she herself had called in Fatima, during a radio address. The turning point in the war coincided with the Battle of El Alamein. A prominent and - from a Catholic point of view - unbiased eyewitness, the then British Prime Minister Winston Churchill, wrote: "One can almost say that we did not record a single victory before El Alamein and afterwards not a single defeat."

The procession was spiritually led by Msgr. Vitus Huonder, Bishop Emeritus of Chur, and two priests. Bishop Vitus Huonder declared at the end of the procession at the Frauenbrunnen on the monastery square that "the consecration is an act of the special and solemn dedication of the faith and thereby becomes a source of a special blessing". In the case of consecration to the Blessed Mother, this is a deep act of faith in the Blessed Mother's participation in the work of salvation of her son Jesus and, connected with it, in God's goodness and mercy. After his speech, those present knelt and led by the bishop, prayed together the prayer of consecration written by Pope Pius XII.

The Militia Immaculatae, is a Catholic movement founded in 1917 by Saint Father Maximilian Kolbe. It promotes devotion to Our Lady, particularly through the distribution of the Miraculous Medal and the Rosary. Father Maximilian Kolbe is known to many because 80 years ago he voluntarily gave his life in the hunger bunker in the Auschwitz concentration camp for the father of family who was a fellow prisoner. The Militia Immaculatae of the traditional observance has several thousand members in German-speaking countries and over 100,000 members worldwide.

This year, the organizing committee was expanded by two Catholic movements: The Fatima World Apostolate of Switzerland, which was founded in 1952 to spread the message of Fatima, and the prayer initiative Switzerland Prays, which arose in the wake of the Corona crisis and meets every Wednesday evening at 140 Places in Switzerland and prayed the Rosary. 

Tradition in Einsiedeln

The Feast of the Rosary is celebrated annually on October 7th to commemorate the victory achieved by praying the Rosary in the greatest galley battle in history, on October 7th, 1571 in the Strait of Lepanto (Greece). There the outnumbered Christians triumphed against the Ottoman fleet and ended Turkish dominance in the Mediterranean.

Information for the 2023 Rosary Procession and more can be found on the Rosary Prayer website.

Text: Giuseppe Nardi
Image : rosary prayer. info

Trans: Tancred vekron99@hotmail.com

AMDG

New Monastery of the Franciscans of the Immaculata -- Flowering Orders of Tradition

(Ancona) The traditional new  Franciscan Order of the Immaculate revives old, abandoned monasteries of other orders. One of the latest examples is the recolonization of the old Franciscan monastery from Colfano di Camporotondo in the Archdiocese of Camerino-San Severino Marche in the Marche region of Italy. The convent of the Friars Minor was founded by Saint Francis of Assisi 1215-1221. The 800-year celebrations is almost here.. Although it is not to be directly celebrated by  the Pope whose namesake the great Saint who launched the Order is, but it can be celebrated and even be Franciscan. The Franciscans had to leave the old monastery for lack of new vocations, that they had revived continuously for so many centuries. Or at least almost continuously. When the grounds were occupied by Italian guerrillas and joined to the newly formed Kingdom of Italy, the anti-clerical government led by a Masonic dominance stormed the Monasteries. For a few years the monastery of Colfano was overturned by the state and the archive destroyed. In 1870 the Franciscans were able to return.

For 33 months has been empty, except with the Franciscans of the Immaculate who on the 2nd of July, 2012 introduced new life, which continues the legacy of countless generations of Friars Minor who have prayed and worked in the spirit of the "Poverello" of Assisi.

The monastery in Colfano has been colonized by a contemplative branch of the young Franciscan religious order in the gray-blue habit. In 1970, two Franciscan pulled out of the branch of the Franciscans to live in strict observance rules of the order and to maintain devotion to Mary in a special way. From this personal experience of two men, one of the most prosperous and fastest growing orders of the Catholic Church has emerged. An order which is also committed to the white tradition. The priest celebrating in both forms of the Roman rite, but internally Rite of the liturgy is celebrated exclusively in the Old Rite.

Today the Order has  four branches, two male and two female. One branch is always pastoral, missionary and evangelically active in the world, the other branch contemplative.

Founded in 2007 as the last of the four branches of contemplative male branch. The members of the order of this branch live a life of prayer and penance. The first monastery was built in Amandola, always in the lands that belonged to the Papal States until 1860. Colfano is now in a year, the second convent.

The Franciscans of the Immaculate, besides their founder Father, Francis of Assisi, they have two saints of modern times whom they revere and whose work they try to imitate: the stigmatist, Padre Pio of Pietrelcina andr Father Maximilian Kolbe murdered in a concentration camp as a martyr. Padre Pio was a Capuchin of the order of Father Maximilian Kolbe, both were thus Franciscan Minorites. Padre Pio stirred, among other things, the love of the Old Mass. Father Maximilian Kolbe, a missionary zeal to contribute to the evangelization. Both priestly figures are also modeled in the personal life, in obedience and patience - from Father Kolbe - to martyrdom.

From the older, active evangelism of the male branch of the Order, there are already 55 convents in many countries. Two convents are in Brazil, which will be active during World Youth Day, reinforced by numerous brothers and sisters from other convents. The catechesis for young people plays an important role in the Order.

In German-speaking areas, there is a monastery in Kitzbühel in Tyrol. Two further attempts to settle there have failed owing to resistance from the dioceses.

The Order maintains, after the example of Saint Maximilian Kolbe, numerous media, including in Italy Il settimanale di Padre Pio (The weekly newspaper of Padre Pio), which includes some of the best Catholic newspapers that exist in Europe at least.

Text: Giuseppe Nardi
Image: Town Camporotondo Fiastrone

Trans: Tancred vekron99@hotmail.com

AMGD