On Saturday, 15 January, at Castel D’Aro (Girona), Maria Voce was welcomed with festivity and joy. Through an imaginary “bus tour” the president and co-president of the Focolare were presented with the eastern Focolare zone of Spain. There were also dances, poems, and songs which helped to show the variety of the region. “It seemed so beautiful, so rich, so complete that I wanted to say: this land is blessed.”

Maria Voce offers two challenges. The first challenge: “Discover what kind of holiness God is asking of Spain today: a totally new path of holiness, which is to live the charism that Chiara gave to us, with the presence of Jesus, the Holy One in the midst of us. This could give a new push to Spain and beyond. Once again Spain could be like a vivarium, a place where you prove that it is possible inside and, therefore, also outside of Spain.”

The second challenge was a more imminent one: that everyone might live for the meeting which the youth of the Focolare are working to prepare for the young people of Spain on 29 January in Madrid, which will be called Positive Revolution ON! Protagonists in our world. Together with Maria Voce they would like to show to youths the Ideal of the Gospel that has fascinated them (www.positiverevolution.es).

On pilgrimage to Montserrat

On 17 January, near to the end of her stay in Catalonia, Maria Voce went to the Shrine of Our Lady of Montserrat, who is the patroness of Catalonia. She was accompanied by the Abbot, Dom Josep M. Soler. The meeting was cordial and full of mutual esteem, in continuation of the fraternity and communion which has marked the relations between the Focolare and the Benedictines. While visiting the Monastery of Montserrat in 2002, Chiara Lubich remarked: “Oftentimes, the movements give the example of charismatic and evangelical freshness, as well as an abundant and creative evangelisation. But the movements have much they can learn from the witness of consecrated life, which guard and preserve many treasures of experience and wisdom.” The abbot said that he was gladdened to learn that Chiara Luce Badano, the young woman recently beatified in Rome, was at Montserrat shortly before her death. “Another thing that unites us!” exclaimed Dom Josep.

Still on Monday, the 17th, the Cardinal of Barcellona, Lluis Martines Sistach welcomed Maria Voce with great affection, recalling Chiara’s visit in 2001. In the evening the president met the Archbishop of La Seu d’Urgell and ex officio Co-Prince of Andorra, Bishop Joan-Enric Vives i Sicília.

The journey ended with a visit to the Basilica of the Sagrada Famiglia, which was consecrated by Pope Benedict XVI last November. Then there was a visit to Ciutat Nova, the Catalan edition of Citta Nuova.

Now they are leaving for the land of Andalusia, Seville, in the south of Spain.

Comments are disabled.