Dr. Péter und Orsi Török, Sr. Gertrud-Maria Erhard
For two years the Schoenstatt Movement in Hungary has been preparing for this event, expanding on the awareness of the mystery of the Eucharist.
Using Father Kentenich’s approach, we sought the connection between theological truths and everyday life. Our annual Schoenstatt conference, in view of the mystery of the Eucharist and of the sacrament of Marriage as well, has formulated this year’s motto: “One with you“.
One with you
Love for the Eucharist and adoration has become a real current in our Movement in preparation for the Eucharistic Congress. Young people and families meet regularly for hours of adoration. At all the family gatherings that take place at our Schoenstatt center in Óbudavár during the year and especially in the summer, it has already become customary for those who wish to do so to come to the shrine for adoration before breakfast and before the evening program. This way we experience the blessing of having young people and couples praying together before the Blessed Sacrament.
Further development as a source of grace
As a contribution of the Hungarian Schoenstatt Family Movement to the Eucharistic Congress and to the Church in general, we see the need to explore, witness, practice and convey the connection between the sacrament of Marriage and the sacrament of the Eucharist. The desire to develop the profound connection between the two as a source of grace was given to us many years ago by Father Tilmann Beller.
Christ is present not only in the sacrament of the altar, but also in the sacrament of Matrimony. We genuflect before the Blessed Sacrament. This gesture of faith brings us closer to God, who is hidden in the Eucharist. Since Christ is also present in the sacrament of Matrimony, Father Beller once genuflected before every married couple at a family gathering. To this day, the passion and devotion for Christ in the sacrament of Marriage is still alive in these couples.
A New Marriage Route in the Light of the Eucharist
A spark ignited, spread, and gave shape to our lives. Thus, the idea of developing a marriage route in the light of the Eucharist was born. We were inspired by Father Kentenich’s organic thinking and the writings of the popes during the last decades. The route consists of 15 “stations”, with 15 panels, places where the text presented helps to meditate on a particular aspect of married life.
God gives himself to us in the sacrament of Marriage and in the Eucharist. Each station of this marital route focuses on an aspect of this connection. The God of life, who created us as male and female, wants us to experience affection and tenderness not only with our intellect, but with all our senses. We can experience God’s fire and the intimacy of love in marriage and in the mystery of the Eucharist. Just as the Church assures the presence of Jesus in the sacred Host, we are assured of his closeness in the domestic Church through the sacrament of Matrimony. This includes love and fidelity, the giving of life, time together, cross-bearing, care for sick and elderly relatives, …. As in the Holy Mass, we also experience “life’s mass”: Sursum corda, Credo, Adoratio, Communio, Confessio, Passio, Dominus vobiscum, Ite missa est. 
15 panels of the new marriage route illustrate this. In Óbudavár, the Hungarian Schoenstatt Center, there is already a second “marriage route”. The panels are located around the Shrine, each with an accompanying pew, facing in the direction of the Schoenstatt chapel, expressing the longing to grow in the love of Jesus on the path of marriage.
The missionary cross as symbol of the Eucharistic Congress
he central symbol of the Eucharistic Congress in Budapest is a bronze cross, more than three meters high, containing the relics of 16 Central European saints. It is called the Missionary Cross and has been touring Hungary for two years for the cause of Christian renewal. This cross was made in 2007 by goldsmith Csaba Ozsvári, a member of the Hungarian Schoenstatt Family Federation, who died unexpectedly in 2009 after a solemn mass in Óbudavár. Csaba had offered his life for the spiritual renewal of Hungary at the Mass before his death.
On July 4, 2021, a replica of this cross was erected in Óbudavar. The cross expresses for us that we want to be united with Jesus, with the Church, and with our spouse, and this often means carrying that cross. The missionary cross is a constant invitation to apostolic work and to our renewal in the Eucharist, because: “All my springs are in you”.
You can also read:
The Matrimonial Route: Our way to the Shrine