Pure joy was felt during the jubilee of the Living Crown of the International Schoenstatt Girls’ Youth: from July 25–27 in Schoenstatt, the days were filled with internationality, an atmosphere of faith, and true community. Around 700 girls and young women from 22 nations came to the place of origin to deepen what unites them: the desire and reality of being a Living Crown. The Original Shrine and the Adoration Church—Schoenstatt as a whole—were pulsating with life.
Young women encouraging each other to live differently through faith is not something taken for granted. Yet, at the International Meeting of the Living Crown, this was the norm. “It is worth standing up for what is sacred to you,” encouraged young women from Poland in one statement. “Spreading love,” “Being a light for others,” “Trusting in God” were other concrete examples of how they live “differently” in their daily lives and seek to make a difference. And this longing was already a lived reality when many expressed thanks for the good food or the cakes baked by countless volunteers; when the core teams had invested months of heart, time, and energy, gone beyond their limits, and still were happy. One participant put it this way: “The week before the jubilee was extremely exhausting and cost a lot of nerves and energy, but on Saturday night, at the coronation, it became clear—it was all worth it.”
The World Needs You!
One statement said: “Everything the world shouts today shows that something is missing. What the world is lacking are precisely the values that form our ideal: purity, loyalty, nobility… You are the answer to today’s times. The world needs you!” This atmosphere of hope, joy, and being sent forth marked the days, which were also blessed with perfect weather. The program was varied, always with an international character that revealed different mentalities: on Friday evening, for example, each country presented a typical dance, song, or similar performance, and at the same time showed the secret of the “prayer sponsorships,” in which, for months, each country had spiritually accompanied another toward the jubilee.
During these days, there were also small sharing circles, personal statements to all 700 participants, creative times, opportunities to put experiences into writing, moments of prayer, and plenty of time to meet and connect, such as at the evening picnic on the green meadow. This is what the Living Crown lifestyle feels like.
A historical look that reaches into the present
Anyone who attended the international meeting of the Schoenstatt Girls’ Youth on August 12, 2000, could hardly have imagined that, 25 years later, what arose then out of a moment of need would still be alive worldwide: being a Living Crown. The Blessed Mother is a great covenant partner—close to daily life yet of infinite nobility. In the longing to become ever more like her, she is crowned again and again in the worldwide Schoenstatt Movement. In 1999, however, the crown with which the young woman wished to visibly honor her—a gift from the founder, Fr. Joseph Kentenich, to an earlier generation—was stolen. Thus began the life stream of being a Living Crown, inspired by a saying of Fr. Kentenich: “You are my (living) crown.”
“Let’s Shine Evening” as the highlight
25 years later, the Blessed Mother was crowned in two ways: with a small golden crown in the Original Shrine and as a Living Crown of 700 women. In 2000, the aerial photo was taken in broad daylight and under intense heat; this time, on Saturday night, the participants lit up the dark night with candles in their hands, captured by a drone. That was one of the central elements.
In the 25 years of the Living Crown, there have been many highlights, but the ideal remains the same: RTA, Regina Ter Admirabilis, Queen Thrice Admirable. RTA also stands for purity, loyalty, and nobility—values embodied in the crown stolen in 1999, whose shape was recreated in 2000 and again now.
The second key moment of the evening was the crowning of the image of the Blessed Mother in the Original Shrine with a small replica of Fr. Kentenich’s original crown, placed there in 2014 during Schoenstatt’s centenary. On July 26 this year, it was put there again—not as a purely formal act, but as an expression that each woman, with her “yes” and her daily life, together with the worldwide Girls’ Youth, reaffirms: I want to be a Living Crown of the Blessed Mother, bring her and her way into the world, shine, live credibly, unite heaven and earth, and make the difference the world needs today.
The more you give, the more you receive
What these young women experienced will shape them for life. As one said: “A moving and contagious joy for our Queen and for being a Living Crown, which unites us across borders” (Eliana Broosch).
Working on something great makes you grow. This was also experienced by the young women and the Schoenstatt Sisters of Mary who prepared the event. There were teams in Germany and internationally with different tasks, and all were simply happy, despite the hard work. “It was overwhelming to see where the last resources came from. Now, everyday life can continue in an even more joyful way” (Helena Reich).
The young woman experienced that, when trusted and in an atmosphere of goodwill, the last reserves of strength are awakened and one grows beyond oneself. “When each one contributes her part, something great emerges. And it doesn’t matter who did what, but the collaboration and the ability to rely on each other” (Elisabeth Mayer).
Thus, a generation of young women changes the world—Today, tomorrow, together. Not loudly, but quietly, effectively, like the small crown behind the large one. And with the renewed awareness: I am not alone! We are united worldwide. The motto is reality: We are your living crown – today, tomorrow, together.
Translation: Sr. M. Lourdes Macías