About Schoenstatt
Schoenstatt is a Catholic lay movement that strives to live the Gospel of Jesus Christ through the example and guidance of Mary. Schoenstatt is deeply and devotedly Marian and has repeatedly experienced how love of Mary opens new avenues to a vibrant relationship with Christ, to the Holy Spirit, to God the Father and to a renewal of love of neighbor and self.
The Schoenstatt Movement roots go back to October 18, 1914. On that day, Father Joseph Kentenich and a group of high school seminarians made a covenant of love with Mary, asking her to take possession of their chapel -now known as our Schoenstatt Shrine - to help them become saints and draw many youthful hearts to herself. The ensuing years verified that Mary was indeed very active in this new place of grace, drawing Catholics since then from around the world. Rome approved our community as an institute of pontifical right on June 24, 1988.
Schoenstatt, a German word for "beautiful place", is the name of the valley in Germany where the Original Schoenstatt Shrine is located. It is very near the Rhine River at Koblenz about one hour south of Cologne.
It has also become the name of the international movement associated with the shrine. There are currently over 140 replicas of the Original Shrine around the world. The movement involves lay people, priests, and religious, with special branches for boys and girls youth and for the sick. It is the task of the Schoenstatt Fathers to help coordinate and inspire these many parts, which share a common spirituality.
Our charism as a community might be summed up with the words: love of Mary, love of the Church, love of the mission of Christ.
Love of Mary.
We love the Blessed Mother. She is at the heart of our spirituality as the "Mother Thrice Admirable, Queen and Victress of Schoenstatt" or "MTA" for short. Our spirituality is anchored in the form of Marian consecration particular to Schoenstatt, namely a generous and mutual covenant of love with the MTA in the Shrine.
Love of the Church.
From our founder, Father Kentenich, we have a strong love for the Church. He devoted himself untiringly to the mission of the Church in our times. We for our part make the inscription on his tomb our mission: Dilexit Ecclesiam --- He loved the Church.
Love of the Mission of Christ.
As sharers in the one priesthood of Christ, we are especially bound to Our Lord and Savior. This does not only express itself in love for the Eucharist (like our founder, we cherish the daily celebration of the Mass) and our striving for sanctity, but also in our desire to share Christ's mission of proclaiming his Father.
This proclamation takes special form in our understanding of the priesthood as a "priestly fatherhood" in the service of Christ and the Church. We strive to find God the Father's voice in our times and in our lives and to live a "practical faith in Divine Providence". This demands of us a strong spirit of prayer and active listening to what God might be trying to tell us through the events of everyday life.
Schoenstatt Spirituality
Schoenstatt is a religious center, a place of pilgrimage, a shrine dedicated to Mary. The first Shrine-located in Germany near Colbence on the Rhine-became Our Lady’s place of grace in 1914. Throughout the years, many such shrines have been erected across the world, each of them an exact replica of the Mother Shrine. They are the spiritual centers of the international Apostolic Movement of Schoenstatt.
A Movement
The Schoenstatt Movement is a special kind of spiritual community, offering a place and support to any Catholic searching for spritual growth and apostolic activity. It comprises people of all walks and states of life, of all ages and cultures. It has expanded internationally into more than 28 nations. It cannot be compared to a club, an association or guild, or to any work-related or special interest group. It has an image of its own.
A Movementof Lay Apostolate
The main body of the movement is formed by lay people who work in conjunction with priests. Together they serve the universal apostolate of the Church in the world today. By their striving to sanctify each day, they hope to fulfill the challenge of Vatican II, “to consecrate the world.”
A Movement of Education
Education and spiritual formation of each person are necessary in order to render the apostolic endeavors fruitful. Schoenstatt offers specific methods of education which help us to reach the final goal of our catholic living; self-education should bring about the inner renewal of each person, the formation of a new person in a new society.
About Our Founder Father Kentenich
Father Joseph Kentenich was born in Gymnich near Cologne, Germany on November 18, 1885. He began his priestly life as a gifted teacher and educator in the Pallottine House of Studies in Schoenstatt, Vallendar. An extraordinary bond of trust developed between him and his students. They made his love for Mary their own and through his message learned to see her as a bridge leading to a deep, fervent love of God.
Alert to the signs of the time and listening attentively in order to perceive God’s will, Father Kentenich, together with a small group of students - entered into a covenant of love with Mary in the chapel (now known as the Original Shrine) at Schoenstatt. This was the beginning and the lasting foundation of today’s worldwide development of the Schoenstatt Movement.
In 1926, Father Kentenich founded our community, the Schoenstatt Sisters of Mary, to be the soul of the Schoenstatt Movement. He allowed himself to be guided by everything the Holy Spirit worked in the individuals and groups of our community. Our form of life, our structure, the values and goals of our institute——everything unfolded gradually from inspirations that Father Kentenich took up and creatively developed.
During his lifetime our founder indentified himself with our sisters’ family to such a degree that he could say: “The family is my extended self.” We experience ever anew that our connection to him gives us creative strength and at the same time an authentic foundation for our being and mission. Throughout his life as founder, Father Kentenich gave his followers a deep experience of God’s fatherhood and led them into his own profound love for the Church. In this way he became a bridge for us toward a living relationship with the Triune God.
