Schoenstatt Sisters of Mary
Women in the following of Christ
The Schoenstatt Sisters of Mary are the oldest secular institute of the Roman Catholic Church. As early as 1926, the community was founded by Father Kentenich, the founder of the Schoenstatt Movement. Women had already joined the Schoenstatt Movement during the First World War. At that time there was no legal basis for this new community of women of the Schoenstatt Sisters of Mary. One of the first Sisters of Mary and co-founder of the community was Sister Maria Emilie Engel, whose beatification process was initiated in 1999.
The community follows in the footsteps of Christ according to the example of Mary. The Sisters of Mary want to work where people rejoice and have hope, where they live in grief and fear, where they shape their lives and their world and meet the great questions of life.
They work in their own community, but also in ecclesial and civil institutions, as well as in various fields of civic life. In this way they would like to pass on Mary’s maternal love in selfless service to life and to concrete people.
The Sisters of Mary do not take vows for life. Their consecration to God in the sense of the evangelical counsels is connected with a civil law contract which they conclude with the Secular Institute.
29 countries in which the Schoenstatt Sisters of Mary work:
There are branches on all continents, e.g. in Austria, Switzerland, Poland, Spain and Portugal, the Czech Republic, Russia, and Belarus; in Latin American countries such as Argentina, Brazil, Chile, the United States, and Burundi, India, South Africa, Australia, and the Philippines.
Contact Information
Schönstätter Marienschwestern
Berg Schönstatt 1
56179 Vallendar
Telephone: +49 (0) 261 64041
Link: www.s-ms.org
Email: info@s-ms.org