Schoenstatt’s Spirituality
The Covenant of Love with Mary – a New Beginning for my Life
Also
A World that has much to offer us -
What has humanity not all accomplished, designed, invtented,
discoverd in the past!? We are doing relatively well in this
world. And yet, there are vestiges of unfullfillment, of longing.
Again and again sadness, fear, and perhaps just boredom surface:
is that all? Is that which the world has to offer me enough for
me, for my life?
Nostalgia for Another World
We possess a never ending desire:
We want to belong, to be accepted, to have a place where we can
let go and just be as we are. Simply to be at home.
We long for the shelteredness that we once had with God.
Schoenstatt came about through this desire:
Humanity needs a real home in this world, a home with God.
Schoenstatt, a Movement that Changes the World.
Father Kentenich was engaged as spiritual director and educator
in the minor seminary in Schoenstatt. He brought a “new wind”
into an institution shaped by discipline and rigor. He led the
boys and young men to Mary.
She, the Mother of Jesus, is truly a mother. A mother, who
consoles, helps and understands, a mother who educates.
Father Kentenich guided the boy’s strong desire for freedom and
greatness on to another level: with Mary’s help, they should
work towards becoming free, strong personalities.
Home is a place where people meet each other, speak with one
another, and get to know one another. The small Marian chapel
became the place where the students gathered. Here they
exchanged their experiences; here they brought their “contributions”,
so that Mary could be effective. They brought that which they
accomplished, and that which in everyday life simply went wrong.
Not only in the peaceful valley of Schoenstatt, but also in the
war, in trenches, in the midst of bombing, they had their ideals
before their eyes. And they gave everything, so that the small
Marian chapel would become a place of Mary’s effective activity,
not only for Germany, but for the whole world.
The Chapel of Grace – The Original Shrine
Today the Original Shrine in Schoenstatt is the center of an
international movement of renewal and a world-famous place of
pilgrimage, with 190 exact replicas built throughout the world.
People from all over the world turn with great trust to Mary and
experience:
-
in the uncertainties of life, she gives us a
feeling of security in God’s heart;
-
whoever recommends themselves to her, she helps
in the development of their personality and
works miracles of transformation;
-
Mary relies on the help of those who consecrate
themselves to her, in order to complete her
tasks on earth: to build a realm of peace, of
justice and of love in the spirit of her Son
Jesus Christ.
The Bond with Mary has a Name: Covenant of Love
The Schoenstatt Shrine is a place of blessing and grace for the
people of our time. What began in 1914 continues to have an
effect in the people who unite themselves to Mary and entrust
themselves to her. Mary gives herself completely to the other in
the Covenant of Love.
Those who give her their very selves, their lives, their love,
and their suffering, praying and work, their gratitude and their
trust, successes and failures, experience: I am not alone.
I have a compassionate and strong Mother on my side. I can give
myself completely to her. She helps me to master life. She leads
me to God. I may help her in her great task to renew the world.
Mary also interested in my life. Am I ready to dare a new
beginning with her?
A Prayer that Goes Around the World
With the little consecration, a well-known prayer to Mary,
anyone can enter into the Covenant of Love with the Mother
Thrice Admirable, Queen and Victress of Schoenstatt. In this way
she/he participates in the graces which God bestows from the
Schoenstatt Shrine through the Blessed Mother. At the same time
she/he contributes to help the stream of graces flow. Everything
that happens in everyday life, at work, or at times of leisure,
every prayer, every joy and every suffering, acquires a deeper
significance, when it becomes a contribution in the covenant of
love with the Blessed Mother.
Covenant of Love Prayer:
My Queen, my Mother, I give myself entirely to you, and to show
my devotion to you, I consecrate to you this day my eyes, my
ears, my mouth, my heart, my entire self without reserve. As I
am your own, my good Mother, guard me and defend me as your
property and possession. Amen.
The Jar – a Symbol for Human Cooperation and Mary’s Activity
In many Schoenstatt Shrines we find a jar, slips of paper and
pencils. They are an invitation, to write down and put into the
jar that which in the covenant of love with the Blessed Mother I
offer to Mary or I ask of her.
In this way that which constitutes the covenant of love becomes
very concrete:
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the trust and belief in the powerful activity of
the Blessed Mother from the Shrine;
-
the experience that everything that I bring is
important;
-
the bond with the many, who do the same and who
in prayer show solidarity to one another.
As with the Wedding at Cana the miracle of transformation will
take place.
On the Covenant Day, the 18th of every month (at some
Schoenstatt Shrines the day is observed in the proximity of the
18th), the slips of paper are offered in a fire in the context
of our covenant celebration.
The Covenant Book – Document of a new beginning
Whoever has sealed the covenant of love, becomes a member of the
great international Schoenstatt Family. A covenant of love can
take place in an anonymous way. Only those who seal the covenant
and the Blessed Mother know of the event.
At request, the name and date of those who have sealed the
covenant of love can be recorded in the Covenant Book. With his
signature in one of these Covenant Books, Father Kentenich
himself joined the great multitude of those who in this simple
way give witness to their covenant of love.
The Covenant Book is placed in the Pilgrims’ Church and is
carried to the Original Shrine during the covenant celebration
on the 18 of every month.
Whoever has sealed the covenant of love and would like to have
their names inscribed in the Covenant Book can contact the
Pilgrims‘ Information Center, or complete the following form:
please click here:
Pilgerzentrale Schönstatt
Am Marienberg 1
56179 Vallendar
Tel: 0261 - 96 26 4-0
Fax: 0261 - 96 26 4-19
E-Mail:
kontakt@schoenstatt-info.de
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