Schoenstatt 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.