Feast of Hope in Austria with Cardinal Christoph Schönborn
They were days full of joy, of prayer, of great friendship of miracles of the Divine Providence and of Our Lady. The feast of hope offi
cially started on the 21st with the recital “Credo” and with the Holy Mass concelebrated by many priests, 2 bishops, among whom was one from Ukraine and Cardinal Schonborn, but the feast already started when the first boys arrived in Austria to mount everything a month ago and it continued in these past weeks of practices, difficulties, joy, sacrifices, moments of prayer and friendship among us.
Mother Elvira and our priests were present to participate in the feast but also to prepare our boys and girls with confession, so that they could make a more pure and true testimony. Many families of our boys and girls, many friends and also exes of our Community came, whether it was to participate, to help or to serve at the various stalls.
For Saturday’s recital, we prayed for the sun but the Divine Providence had already planned a cloudy sky and rain for the evening. The feast started with the Holy Rosary in German, along with some songs to welcome everyone followed by Holy Mass. At the end of the Mass, Bishop Egidio, of the diocese of Eisenstadt, honored mother Elvira with a gold medal, thanking her for the fountain of goodness that is the Community Cenacolo in Austria.
On Tuesday 25th September Mother Elvira, with a group of boys, girls and sisters, participated in the evening of prayer for peace in the Dome of Vienna, with various prayer groups of the Queen of Peace. Ivan, one of the visionaries of Medjugorje, was also there present. At the beginning of this meeting, they invited us to testify with our songs and a few brief testimonies, among which Mother Elvira said: “Jesus…Jesus….Jesus is the strength of God in living,….he’s everything! We are poor but the life of God is always new and it always goes forward!” Once our moment was over, Mother Elvira “escaped” into the crowd embracing and smiling at everyone.
At the end of the meeting, Cardinal Schonborn celebrated the Holy Mass with many priests. In the homily he repeated the teachings of Mother Elvira many times, thanking her for everything she does for the youth.
On Friday 28th September Mother Elvira along with Don Massimo and the sisters visited the Fraternity in Slovakia, “Saints Cyril and Methodus.”
It was a moment of true joy for the boys. Don Massimo celebrated the Holy Mass in the new chapel, which is still being built, and in his homily he reminded the boys about the importance of doing good in their walk in Community, to be able to build a future on a solid base.
After lunch there was a moment of adoration altogether, at the end of which Mother Elvira held back the boys making them laugh, but also reminding them of the importance of knowing how to go beyond the small situations of everyday life.
On Saturday 29th September Bishop Egidio arrived in the Fraternity to celebrate the 15 years of the life of the Community in Austria, in which he blessed the altar, the tabernacle and the new boy’s house. In his homily he thanked Mother Elvira for the gift to have the Community in his diocese and expressed the desire that other houses will be opened in Austria and the places nearby. After lunch, there was a moment of testimonies, open to everyone from the parish, under the marquee mounted especially for the feast, where some friends told of their experiences of collaboration with the Community and of how much this has changed them, next Don Massimo gave a testimony and presented the dance of the “masks” and at the end the sisters danced to “Maria dolcissima amica mia” and “Libertà”. The feast finished with everyone singing together “Gesù mi ama”.
It was nice to see how much the church in Austria admires and sustains our Community. Mother Elvira won over the hearts of everyone, Mother of good hope will continue to bless and watch over our house there and over all the Austrian church!
The boys of the Fraternity “Mother of Hope”
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