Our Movement Branches
Schoenstatt Pilgrim Mother Apostolate (SPMA)
The Schoenstatt Schoenstatt Pilgrim Mother Apostolate (SPMA) is an apostolate within the International Schoenstatt Movement.
The Schoenstatt Pilgrim Mother Apostolate (SPMA) began in 1950, in Santa Maria, Brazil and started in Texas in 1987. From the Shrine, missionaries are commissioned with the Pilgrim MTA to go on pilgrimage with Mary to carry Jesus to visit families, parishes, schools, the sick and homebound. The rosary is recited during the visit. There she serves the needs of the people and intercedes for miracles of inner transformation in lives. Therefore, her motherly concern for us in love of Christ urges her to come to us through the Schoenstatt Pilgrim Mother Apostolate (SPMA).
What takes place when the Pilgrim MTA goes to visit families and homes?
Mary wants to carry Jesus into our homes, serve our needs, and intercede for miracles in our lives. She knows that we cannot travel easily to the great pilgrimage places like Lourdes in France, Fatima in Portugal, Schoenstatt in Germany, etc. Therefore, her motherly concern for us and her devotion to Christ urge her to COME TO US.
Contact: Stephen & Frances Zunker at 210-380-3295
Family Branch
The Schoenstatt Family Branch wants to bring about a renewal in our society and in the Church through the renewal of family life under the guidance of Mary. Our aim as Schoenstatt families is to become “the domestic Church”. Our way of building up a covenant culture in society is primarily through keeping alive our home shrine and fostering its ideal and the life proceeding from it, including our apostolic endeavors. Schoenstatt couples strive to realize the ideal of Catholic marriage in accordance with the moral teachings of the Church. According to Schoenstatt’s founder, we are called to live the “ideal” of the Nazareth Family. We form couples or family groups of four to ten couples who meet monthly and have guided discussions on relevant subjects—marriage, family life, our Catholic faith and the core elements of the Schoenstatt spirituality: the covenant of love, practical faith in Divine Providence, everyday sanctity and instrumentality. Through a special resolution which is decided at the end of the meetings, the topic discussed is put into practice in daily life. In their homes, the couples try to adhere faithfully to the Schoenstatt Hour, a weekly hour of communication between husband and wife.
Contact: Rene Gabino or Jessica Matute at
Mother's Branch
The members of the Schoenstatt Mother's Branch stive to fulfill their calling as the heart of their family with the Blessed Mother as their model. With the guidance of a lay leader, they meet monthly in groups of 7 to 12 women seeking a deeper attachment with Mary, who ultimately leads all of her children to the Triune God. The group learns and discusses the Marian lifestyle within the Schoenstatt spirituality. They prepare to seal the Covenant of Love in the shrine with the Blessed Mother, under the title of Mother Thrice Admirable, Queen and Victress of Schoenstatt. The ideal of the Schoenstatt mother is to be like Mary, the Living Monstrance, who is Christ-bearer, Christ-bringer and Christ-server.
Boys & Girls Youth Branches
The purpose of Schoenstatt’s Youth Work is to support all young people from all age groups to educate themselves into free and mature personalities. Our work has a clear spiritual and moral dimension, expressed in a personal consecration to Mary, the Mother of God, in the Schoenstatt Shrine (called the "Covenant of Love"). The conviction is that through this Covenant with Mary, the regular contact with the Shrine, with each other and with the Youth Moderators, young people receive the strength and inspiration they need for their process of self-education and the growth of inner freedom. The Youth Branches in San Antonio is composed of boys from 13 to 18 years old. They meet in different groups every other Wednesday at 7 PM. The girls, ages 7-18 meet in different groups on the third Saturday of each month. Schoenstatt serves university men and women of UT-Austin who hold their retreats at Mount Schoenstatt and university women of various campuses in San Antonio.