Capital of Grace
The Church’s teaching on merits and our possibility to cooperate in Christ’s work of salvation (see Col 1, 24: “In my own flesh I make up what is lacking in the sufferings of Christ for the sake of his body, the Church”) encourages us to actively strive for sanctity and make ourselves available for the building up of the Kingdom.
A special form for this in Schoenstatt is the “Contributions to the capital of grace”. In the covenant of love with Mary, we actively bring our prayers, sacrifices and striving for sanctity and make the merits of these good works available to the MTA for her mission in the service of Christ.
The image of “capital” is taken from finance, where large sums need to be gathered for major undertakings such as establishing a business. From 1915 on, Schoenstatt has spoken of a different kind of Capital: That which we bring to Mary in the Shrine comes together (like money from different investors) to assist the MTA in whatever major undertakings she has in mind from Shrine, especially those relating to the moral and religious renewal of the world in Christ. Because “capital” is not financial, but on the level of grace, it is called “capital of grace”.
The theological foundations for this are found in the Church’s teaching in the Catechism ofthe Catholic Church under the communion of saints (No. 945-948), intercessory prayer (No.2634-36) and merits (No. 2006-2011).
