Our dear heavenly Mother, in the icon of Czestochowa traveled to Tijuana to meet her children. From April 30 to June 13 She will be on the northern border and the base will be the Shrine of Blessed Mother Teresa of Calcutta and the General House of the Missionaries of Charity Fathers.
Tijuana is the largest city in the state of Baja California Norte, neighboring the state of California USA. It is a city that has beaches and cliffs to the Pacific Ocean and is 170 km west of the state capital, Mexicali. The trustees In this area of the country Fr. Zbiginew Szczotka, M.C., will be the custodian of the icon together with Flor and Rene Garcia of the St. Faustina Provida community.
This is the biggest cross-border in the world. The illegal immigrants cross to the USA through a fence dividing two countries. These people are called "pollos" (chickens) and those who extort them are known as "polleros"( coyotes).
The Blessed Virgin was transported to the border by plane. On 29 April, with great respect and care, the Icon and the Image of Divine Mercy was packed. On the evening of the next day, after a long journey, the Icon and Image were received by the Disciples of Jesus welcomed by Father Zibi, and the Missionaries of Charity in Tijuana Airport. With great joy and excitement, they were greeted with chants and cheers. From the airport to the shrine we traveled 10.2 km. The images were taken as sporting oversized baggage, assigning as if they were bags of travelers. There were three packages: the icon of Czestochowa, the base and the Image of Jesus of Divine Mercy.
The new temporary headquarters where the Blessed Virgin is located, is the first official sanctuary of Blessed Mother Teresa of Calcutta, on the place where the first of her many works of charity in Tijuana began. The Sanctuary includes the main church, conference rooms, confessionals and an exhibition on the life and work of Mother Teresa. Next to the Hermitage is the House of the Order of Priests Mother Teresa founded, the Missionaries of Charity Fathers. Their charisma is to serve the poorest of the poor. Here they are serving street people, addicts who are in rehabilitation centers and prisoners. The Sanctuary aims to be a welcoming environment for pilgrims where they can find the Lord.
On friday May 1, the veneration was held in the chapel of the Shrine of the Missionaries of Charity. Beatriz González and her husband Jose Luis Garcia Chagoyan, our Mexican coordinators, gave interviews on the pilgrimage "From Ocean to Ocean" to the Monte Maria Radio & TV and Koinonia Radio and TV program for Provida Faustina.
On Saturday, a Provida Regional Meeting was held. Before 9 am the welcome ceremony took place in the main chapel of the Blessed Teresa of Calcutta Shrine. Then Beatriz and Jose Luis, on behalf of the VidaFlorida Foundation gave a message to the present. The program lasted all day, with testimonies and talks. At 3 pm the Chaplet of Divine Mercy was recited in reparation for the crimes of abortion. After that, the faithful, together with the Our Lady of Czestochowa, held a procession of about two kilometers through the streets praying the rosary for life. This procession is held every first Saturday of the month in the colony, and this time was honored by the presence of Our Lady.
The 4 pm Mass was preceded by the Metropolitan Archbishop S.E. Mons. Rafael Romo Muñoz with liturgy of veneration of the Holy Mother of God. In his homily, he spoke about the importance of defending human life from conception to natural death. Then, he made a blessing and placed badges for the night worshipers. Finally, the consecration of the civilization of life and love was recited. Night worshipers were awake all night with Our Mother.
Both days the spiritual adoption was done. This is a commit to pray for nine months, every day, for a baby who is in danger of being aborted. The person does not know the baby, but prays that his life is respected. In heaven we will see the fruits. "It was wonderful to know that spiritual adoption of unborn babies at risk of dying is performed. All those babies that were adopted today, will be born around the Feast of Cadelaria", said Griselda excited.
At 9 am on Sunday, the Holy Mass was celebrated together with Our Lady of Czestochowa and then we prayed the rosary. At noon the Pilgrim went to the Parish of the Holy Family. At 5 pm she was taken to the Parish of San Isidro Labrador, where we recited the rosary and consecration. At 8 pm Our Lady of Czestochowa returned to the Shrine of Blessed Teresa of Calcutta.
On Monday She was in the convent of the Missionaries of Charity. These days, several priests of the community served with confessions. Also present were the novices in preparation from the USA, Ivory Coast, India and Mexico, among other nationalities. Among pastoral groups we can list the Provida National Committee Tijuana delegation, the Spiritual Adoption Apostolate – Tijuana, 40 Days for Life, Disciples of Jesus of the Missionaries of Charity, the Night Worshippers, the Missionaries of Charity and the novices of the Missionaries of Charity.
On Tuesday May 5, near 2358.8 kilometers have been added to the pilgrimage "From Ocean to Ocean" and did hit again the east coast, now in Mexico, in a city on the Pacific Ocean, at the same longitude as the City of La Joya in San Diego, California, visited on the pilgrimage through United Stated before.