Fr. Stefan Strecker, ISch, has been appointed director of pilgrimages for the Original Shrine in Vallendar, Germany. At the same time, he will become rector of the Original Shrine, the Movement’s founding place. Read in the interview how he received this news, what opportunities he sees in this task, and what his vision is for the future.
Interview with the new director of Schoenstatt International Pilgrimages
Fr. Strecker, on August 15, you will be introduced together with Sr. M. Anika Lämmle from the Schoenstatt Pilgrimage Office in Vallendar. What was your first thought when you were invited to take on this task?
The first thing that came to mind was that I would be even more involved in the change we are currently experiencing as a Movement, especially in Schoenstatt, in Vallendar. Of course, this also causes some nervousness, as many things are changing. There are fewer and fewer of us available for local tasks. However, I am optimistic when I think of the willingness of many who want to get involved and help shape the atmosphere in the “Schoenstatt” place towards a new coexistence.
For years, you have accompanied couples and families to activities, weekend events, festivals, seminars, and educational trips. You are known as a “family moderator in body and soul.” Isn’t it difficult for you to say goodbye, or do you see possibilities to accompany families in other ways within the scope of your new responsibilities?
Saying goodbye is very difficult. Naturally, I hope that many of the couples and families I know will continue to visit Schoenstatt, perhaps for the Family Festival in 2027. However, I believe the nature of my relationship will change as well. I will be present in this place of grace simply on behalf of the many couples and families in our Family Work, carrying them in prayer to God and the Mother of God. That will be an important task for me.
You will not only be the director of pilgrimages but also the rector of the Original Shrine, a new role in Schoenstatt’s history, as one person will now perform both roles. What opportunities do you see in this?
Just as many things are currently changing in the Church and in our Schoenstatt Movement, I hope that we can redesign and experience new things together. Thank God, there is a whole host of priests and sisters, married couples, and single people for whom the place of grace is the “place of the heart” and who work together, either professionally or as volunteers. Perhaps it is precisely in the current changes that lies the opportunity for Schoenstatt to gain new momentum through the way we work together in the place of grace.
Personal experiences with the Original Shrine
It is said that you love the Original Shrine. How did this love come about, and what would you like to convey to pilgrims based on your experiences in this holy place?
I have had many personal experiences with the Original Shrine of Schoenstatt. After school, in 1985, I volunteered in the preparations and realization of the great commemorative year. I had the opportunity to do my novitiate in Schoenstatt. At that time, the Original Shrine was a very important place for me to experience. The events of the International Youth Festival around World Youth Day in Cologne in 2005 and the first years of the “Night of the Shrine” were decisive for me. This continued in 2014 in my work for Schoenstatt’s centenary.
At the three festivals of the Family Branch in 2018, 2021, and 2024, we had experiences in and with the Original Shrine in which it seemed to us that “heaven touched earth.” These were experiences that no one could plan or carry out. Every time I thought: “Yes, the Original Shrine is truly the place where the Mother of God acts as an educator and ‘attracts hearts,’ as we say in Schoenstatt.”
Yesterday, when I told my uncle, who is a priest and lives in a nursing home, about my new task, he said, “Yes, our whole family has received many gifts through the Original Shrine.” And we talked about the fact that my grandparents, in the early 1950s, sealed the Covenant of Love with the Mother of God in the Original Shrine.
Many associate pilgrimages with the rosary, the candlelight procession, confession, and emotional Masses. How would you like to organize the pilgrimage experience to the Chapel of Grace in Schoenstatt for people who are facing challenging life situations today?
I am always impressed by the number of people who visit this place of grace and the way they pray here. Many love the rosary and candlelight processions, who come to Mass and receive the sacrament of confession. In addition, I would like many groups and individuals to experience this place of grace in a way that moves them inwardly as they draw closer to Mary, the Mother of Jesus. We already have different ways of doing this, such as the jar containing contributions to the capital of grace in the original shrine. But I am eager to see how all this will develop, how the younger generations, who are looking for very different religious experiences, will express themselves in this place of grace, celebrate and pray in the chapel of grace, and want to experience it spiritually. I am looking forward to that moment and am very interested in participating.
Working for an international dream destination
Schoenstatt is an international place of pilgrimage. People from all over the world come here on pilgrimage. What “international experiences” do you bring with you? What can help you in your new role?
Already in the early years of my course with the Schoenstatt Fathers, I noticed the nostalgia my brothers from other countries and continents felt when they came to this place of grace. That always impressed me deeply. I experienced this enormous homesickness and the investment it entails, among other things, at the international celebrations in 2014. People do everything they can to visit the Original Shrine once in their lifetime. The taxi waits in front of the Original Shrine because someone is taking advantage of a layover at Frankfurt Airport to visit Schoenstatt. A young woman sells her car to pay for her trip to Schoenstatt, etc.
In recent years, due to the coronavirus pandemic, the Original Shrine has seen a whole new level of digital effectiveness. Countless people from many countries gather online daily in the Chapel of Grace. What power this place radiates to the whole world! And although I am not a language genius, I hope that here, in this place of grace, we will always find “the language” with which the Covenant of Love radiates and is understood throughout the world.
My vision for the Schoenstatt Shrine
Could you complete the following sentence:
My vision for the Schoenstatt Shrine is…
… that many people experience that God wants to touch them and that they can experience God in their lives, regardless of whether they live in Schoenstatt or through the Shrines in their countries, in their Home Shrines or in their personal Shrines in their hearts.
Thank you very much for taking the time for this interview. We wish you strength, sensitivity, and joy in your new task, and the certainty that the Mother of God places her great heart at your disposal so that you can welcome all pilgrims into it.
Heinrich Brehm conducted the interview.
Source: schoenstatt.de
