As of: February 2, 2024, 5:00 p.m
By: Alois Ostler
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The Augsburg diocesan bishop Dr.
Bertram Meier gave the sermon at the Don Bosco Festival in Benediktbeuern this year.
© arp
The Augsburg Bishop Bertram Meier was now a guest at the Benediktbeuern Monastery to celebrate the anniversary of the order's founder with the Salesian Order of Don Boco and numerous guests from politics and society.
Because of the hailstorm, the service had to be held in the university's gymnasium this time.
Benediktbeuern - A solemn mass in honor of the order's founder in the gymnasium: "Johannes Bosco would have felt right at home here," was the assessment of the Augsburg diocesan bishop Dr.
Bertram Meier.
He said at the service for the Don Bosco festival in the Benediktbeuern monastery: “It’s not the property that counts, but what’s in it.”
Whether in the house chapel or in the basilica: the anniversary of Johannes Bosco's death is celebrated year after year on January 31st - with a prominent preacher as well as the friends and patrons of the Salesian Order.
After a three-year Corona break, the religious community in Benediktbeuern only returned to normality in 2023.
That was the assessment a year ago, but it was far from the truth.
“Who would have thought back then that the basilica and with it the entire monastery would become a construction site for months, if not years, within a few minutes?” The hailstorm on August 26th gave rise to “apocalyptic fears,” said Bishop Meier.
The order's facilities suffered serious damage during the “end of the world” in the Loisachtal.
Tour of the damaged monastery
After the festival, the churchman was informed in detail about this during a tour of the monastery.
The service in the gymnasium of the foundation university was due to the special situation after the hailstorm, said Father Heinz Menz.
At the start of the festival, the new director welcomed the many guests who have a close connection to the monastery and asked for their understanding about the alternative accommodation.
“The athlete and childhood friend Johannes Bosco would have really liked the gym,” said the Augsburg bishop.
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“The founder of the order was a dreamer,” said Bertram Meier, based on the national motto “Dream” of the Don Bosco Festival 2024. Only those who dream like Johannes Bosco “can help ensure that the Kingdom of God comes to earth.”
At the age of nine, the young Giovanni Bosco had a profound dream that had a lasting impact on his life.
The dream “teaches us that compassion and kindness are the keys to guiding children and young people onto a good path.”
At the end of his sermon, the bishop asked those attending the service this question: Who can I become a brother or sister, mother or father to?
Director thanks all donors
The festive service was musically organized by students from the university of applied sciences - especially with songs in honor of Johannes Bosco - such as the touching "Lord, give me people, take everything else, whatever happens".
Monastery director Father Menz thanked the monastery's many supporters at the standing reception in the university's cafeteria: "God bless you for everything that has been donated so far." His personal dream: If someone wins 50 million euros in the Euro jackpot and we win 45 million of it Euro, “then we are very, very happy”.
In this context, Father Menz promoted the work of “Juwel Kloster Benediktbeuern”.
The association “supports us in educational work and in the construction sector – please support the association”.