Shrine

March 26, 2021 By Magdalena Rosario Lira

4th Anniversary of Schoenstatt Shrine in Costa Rica

Four years ago, on March 20, 2017, the Schoenstatt family in Costa Rica celebrated the gift of having the first Schoenstatt shrine in Central America. The Shrine is in the municipality of Santa Ana in San Jose. On that day, there was a great celebration with a mass presided by San Jose’s archbishop, Monsignor Jose Rafael Quiros while the Schoenstatt family rejoiced thanking God, the Blessed Mother and each person who made that possible

Lisandra Chaves Leiva, Communications Schoenstatt Costa Rica
26 March 2021

“The day the Shrine was blessed, there were Schoenstatt members from over twenty countries in America and Europe. The faith we have in Schoenstatt, in its mission at the service of the Church and the world, is supported by our faith in the extraordinary current of grace flowing from the Shrine. All of us, united as a family, experienced a sliver of heaven on earth”, said Catalina Cabezas, who, along with her husband, headed the project and are currently the coordinators for the Apostolic Federation of Families.

The Shrine’s blessing was a “blue flag” event, that is, it complied with all the requisites to be eco-friendly and in accordance with Laudato si. Everyone was wearing white and beige attires, just as they did when they sealed their covenants. Additionally, 250 MTA medals sculpted in agate, were received from Germany.

Dirk Sander, responsible for the shrine’s construction, remembers: “It was an honor, as if the Virgin was telling me “do this”, and I agreed immediately. It was a challenge because it was done in a short time (three months). With the Blessed Mother by our side, everything was perfect. We had the blueprints, the land. I had never built a shrine before, and the challenge was to interpret what is behind the design of a shrine which is a replica of the original shrine in Germany. This had to be better than any other project. The Blessed Mother was the designer and the one who guided us to do everything right”.

This year, due to the pandemic, the 4th anniversary celebration could not be as crowded or well attended, but the Schoenstatt family united in prayer and celebrated a mass in the Shrine following all the guidelines provided by the Health Department. Mass was presided by Monsignor Daniel Francisco Blanco, auxiliary bishop of the San Jose archdiocese, together with Father Jose Luis Correa Lira, national advisor for Schoenstatt in Costa Rica and Central America and continental coordinator for Schoenstatt in America. They were joined by a deacon and two seminarians.

“Mary is the path to reconciliation. She intercedes for us before her Son so we can be reconciled with the Lord. In the Blessed Mother, we can contemplate the loving and giving mother who has always been mindful of our difficulties. We see her promptly going to Isabel’s house. We see her concern for the newlyweds who ran out of wine. She is totally aware of what we need, of our lives, and guides us to her Son, to renew our hearts and continue on our way to the Father. She is a refuge for sinners, and we come to her as a mother and mediator who takes our hand and leads us to her Son. To celebrate the Blessed Mother’s maternity implies a commitment. We ask for strength to imitate her, especially by taking care of each other’s needs”, said Monsignor Daniel Blanco during his homily at the 4th-anniversary celebration.

As the mass ended, Monsignor Blanco said: “Thanks for the invitation to this 4th-anniversary celebration. We are grateful for everything that is being done from this Shrine. May this Shrine be a place of encounter, prayer, and blessing. It is a gift for the San Jose archdiocese and for all the Church”.

March 26, 2021 By Magdalena Rosario Lira

SALTT is transforming our lives

Hi friends,

I’m Danika Mariyana Richard, a member of the Schoenstatt youth and a member of SALTT (Schoenstatt Academy for life Transmission and Transformation).

The first time I met Schoenstatt was through the Providence Shrine, in Sion Centre, Kuttur. This daughter Shrine is near my home and being so close to our Mother in Heaven has led me to develop a very close relationship with Her and actively participate in the activities of the Schoenstatt youth.

All this was possible since my mother started working in this organization called SALTT 7 years ago.

What exactly is SALTT?

SALTT is the Schoenstatt Academy for life Transmission and Transformation. It is an art and music institute for young people. It seeks to provide skills to young people in various aspects of life and also to share the history of the Schoenstatt Movement.

SALTT also offers various camps and seminars to develop leadership skills and values in young people. By being part of this, I’ve had the chance to enhance my talents and ideals. Even during the pandemic, SALTT hosted several youth activities that were great experiences to get to know more about our MTA. I participated and gave a speech about Mary during May of last year. Link to the video:

At this time, I am preparing, together with other fifteen friends, to seal my Covenant of Love. We have had preparation meetings, and now we get together once a week to learn about the Schoenstatt Shrine and what it means to start a covenant life.

I take care of my own little jar where I keep my Capital of Grace, and I found a safe space to build a Home Shrine for the MTA.

Through SALTT I am now a part of the Schoenstatt youth and I thank Fr. Bibin Parambi (SALTT’s Director) and Fr. Sajan (Asst. Director) who are preparing us for the Covenant of Love through their meaningful classes. They have played a big part in developing our talents and organizing different youth activities. I am really blessed and happy for being a part of this and wish to continue doing so in the future.

May the Blessed Mother intercede for each one of us and bless us abundantly from heaven.

Danika Mariyana Richard

Schoenstatt Youth

SALTT Friend

February 12, 2021 By Sr. M. Cacilda Becker

Daring to yearn for greatness and working to achieve it

Sister Erika-Maria Bukovics, along with four other Sisters of Mary from the filiation house in Timisoara, the third largest city in Romania, speaks with us about the joys, needs, and projects of the small, but highly committed Schoenstatt Family in Romania

Interview by Claudia Brehm
28. Februar 2021

Sister Erika-Maria, what are your current thoughts, efforts, concerns, and joys in the movement?

In 2019 we opened our first filiation here in Romania at Timisoara. It’s a great joy for us to be able to keep on building the Schoenstatt Movement in Romania, as has been done before by the Sisters of Mary. Currently there are five sisters, four of them are Romanian and one is German. Our movement here in Romania is still a very small family; we have a Family branch, Schoenstatt youth, the Pilgrim MotherApostolate, seven Sisters of Mary -one is in Germany and two of them are in Austria- and approximately ten priests who have sealed their Covenant of Love. We hope to make the Schoenstatt Movement better known in Romania so that it can continue to grow in our country.

What activities do you perform?

At this time, most of it is online. We get together monthly on the 18th for the celebration of the Covenant Day, for youth and family events, and for the Pilgrim Mother meetings which are held at the chapel in our house. For the time being, those are virtual encounters.

Our ministry includes reaching out to people on the streets. We establish contact with the local parishes and priests. Three of our sisters work in the Timisoara diocese doing pastoral work and getting involved in local projects. Furthermore, we get involved, with Germany’s cooperation, in social projects among the people in our country.

Every big project starts with a wish and a dream. What are your hopes and dreams?

Our biggest hope is to build a Schoenstatt Shrine and a small Schoenstatt Center here in Romania. The Blessed Mother will let us know if this will remain as a dream or if it can become a reality. I read that “The future begins with you” in the song for the women and mother’s movement. I really liked that because we should not wait for others to shape the future while we just wait to see what happens. We should help to make our dreams come true ourselves. We must believe in the future of the Schoenstatt movement in Romania, even if it is still in its infancy. Even though we don’t have the land or the money for a Shrine and a Schoenstatt center, we firmly trust in the Virgin’s power. If the MTA wants to establish herself here in Romania, as in the Original Shrine, she will show us the way. I am truly convinced of this.

There are many challenges in your country which you must face with courage.

Yes, we do have many challenges here: unemployment, emigration, parents who have to live somewhere else to find work in order to sustain their families. This sometimes results in broken marriages. We also have to deal with the loss of faith. For our events, the diversity of languages is a big challenge. Even in Timisoara we have to deal with three languages: Rumanian, Hungarian and German. Having to take this into account at every event demands great effort.

But we are certain: it is precisely for these difficult times that we have Schoenstatt offering a home for everyone with stability for their faith and their families. Our founder, Father Joseph Kentenich, once said: “Without hardship, without sacrifice, without battles, nothing great will emerge from us. Great individuals always grow on the cross.” So, we keep taking courageous new steps in our country and we rejoice for each person who is called by the Blessed Mother to the movement.

In Germany we have always heard about Romanian hospitality. What is your experience?

Yes, it is a great joy for us to see that the people here are so open, hospitable and helpful. They enjoy helping with social projects. For example, I am always touched by the fact that poor families, young people, or the elderly, like to share what little they have with others. I was recently traveling on the tramway and started a conversation with a woman beggar. She said that she was glad she could help another woman who couldn’t go begging because she was too frail. She had received a blanket and gave it to the other woman because “she needed it more.” She trusted that someone else would give her a blanket, and so it was. When I asked her if she needed another one due to the very cold weather, she said “Not at this time since I already have one and that is enough.” These experiences really move me! Here, in this country, you can clearly see that there is solidarity amongst its people, concern for the wellbeing of others. There are exceptions, of course.

What has the pandemic brought in terms of challenges and opportunities to make new things out of old ones?

One of the greatest problems is that many people have lost their jobs because of the pandemic and this, of course, exacerbates poverty. Online schooling is a great challenge for many children, as well as for the teachers and parents; it requires a larger effort in the children’s upbringing. Nevertheless, there is also a positive effect. The students I’m responsible for have often expressed how nice it has been to spend more time with their parents at home or to do things as a family, like taking small trips, for example.

Furthermore, during this time various virtual prayer groups have flourished that strengthen the bond with others and trust in God. The longing for community is growing strongly. One comes to appreciate more what was possible in previous times. In addition, several social projects to help people in need have emerged.

Tell me about an initiative…

At the end of November 2020, the Sisters of Mary launched a Christmas campaign in cooperation with Germany. We wanted to help the people of Romania with disinfectants and protective masks. It was a great joy for us to receive support from so many people. Thus, we were able to deliver the packages to children’s homes, homeless shelters, some social institutions, families, and single people. We are so grateful to our many and generous benefactors, both in Germany and Romania. This was a very special experience for us.

How do you envision the future?

We should not be afraid of the future, even if we are going through great hardships in our country. If we only believe that the good Lord holds each one of us in His hand and knows our future much better than we do, we can continue moving forward. Our task is only to walk with Him.

Thank you, Sister Erika-Maria, for your time. We are deeply grateful for having the opportunity to meet the Schoenstatt family in Romania. I am sure that some of our readers will keep you in their hearts and pray for you from now on, especially for the Romanian Schoenstatt family’s great desire to build a shrine. I will be delighted to take you, your sisters and our fellow Romanian brothers back to our Blessed Mother’s Original Shrine.

Translation: Maribel Acaron

February 1, 2021 By Sr. M. Cacilda Becker

Covenant Culture in COVID times

The great pandemic of the new coronavirus has made 2020 a historic year. It has been a year of numerous challenges that potentially attacked the macrocosms – the exterior world, the common environment – and the microcosms – the interior world, the individual.

Gabriel Afonso Dutra Kreling
1. February, 2021

I sealed my Covenant of Love in the Shrine of Londrina, in the state of Paraná, Brazil. My parents are part of a Schoenstatt couples group. My wife, Carina, and I live in Cascavel, Paraná, where I work as a doctor. This year, I have had the greatest professional challenge of my life: being a coordinator of the Covid-19 wing of the biggest public hospital of west Paraná, the University Hospital of Cascavel.

Fear, insecurity, despair, longing, anguish, uncertainty, and loneliness were some of the feelings I experienced. I was afraid of dying, of getting sick, afraid of bringing the sickness to the persons I love, afraid of not being able to save all the people that depend on my care and that of my team. They called us superheroes, but I never had the superpower of being immune to all these feelings; I am only someone who is able to care for persons who have been called to work.

The sodalist heroes gave me strength

To move forward, I could count on the unconditional support of my wife and my family, but without a doubt, the Covenant of Love played a fundamental role in it all. What comes to mind is the image of the founding generation, who at the beginning of their youth were called to war, giving a confident yes to their Mother, prepared for the future or not. I am sure that they also had fears, but the real presence of Mary made them continue. They did not have superpowers, but today they are considered our “Schoenstatt heroes.” This real presence of our Mater was one of the great motivations that sustained me all of these days.

Pray with trust

Many times, I did not have the depth needed for prayer. My thoughts were directed toward the patients, to my team, to the structural problems. I tried, but I could not. It was beyond my human capacity. The solution that I found was to stop before leaving for work, face the image of Mary and tell her: “I’m sorry, I can’t pray. Take care of everything. Cover me with your protecting mantle. Jesus, meek and humble of heart, make my heart like unto thine.” This was my daily prayer, the only way that I had of concentrating enough to pray for few moments. I would like to thank Fr. Vitor Possetti who was a great friend in leading my spiritual life.

Another way of feeling protected was to ask people to pray for me. I asked my parents and grandparents, my in-laws, my wife, my siblings. In the daily calls to my family, it was not strange to hear: “We are praying for you.” My response always was: “Thank you very much. I depend on you. Please keep praying.” That’s how I could, especially in my most fragile moments, feel the presence and care of Mary and of God, most merciful.

It is the will of God, be still

There are many situations that I could recount, but I would like to share one in particular. During Lent, I was on night watch in the intensive care unit (ICU), of a city hospital. There were no more beds for Covid-19 patients in this hospital and we had to use the beds of other patients. That same night, the ICU of the University Hospital was overcrowded and there was political pressure to have more beds, but we could not obtain from day to night. We did not have personnel or teams. At this moment, I went to the break room and cried. I sat on the bed and did not know what to do. The weight was heavy; the responsibility, enormous. I took deep breaths, turned off the light, put on my headphones, and listened to the song “Na Tua Misericórdia” (In Your Mercy). I stopped for four and a half minutes and let go of everything. I opened my eyes and the phrase of Father Kentenich came to me: “It is the will of God, be still.” I washed my face and returned to the floor. The next day, I found the motivation and sense to continue, trying to do everything as best as I could. I repeated this phrase many times breathing deeply to find strength to continue.

The mission led by Mary

With this great challenge, I could feel the Covenant of Love in a concrete way. In my spiritual smallness, I could live the “Nothing without you, nothing without us.” I offered my suffering, my work, my abilities and weaknesses, daily trying to do the ordinary extraordinarily well, with fear, sometimes like a child, looking at my Mother and being sure that she would do her part. Moreover, my personal ideal has never been so present in my thoughts. The daily experience of something so close to my personal ideal made me feel the fullness of something that I had not experienced so clearly: to live my personal ideal in the midst of suffering, in the midst of challenges. This made me encounter the meaning of my existence, of my life.

The example of the path of the Schoenstatt Movement and of our Mother, Queen and Victress, who has been present in the Shrine through the capital of grace, and who tied bonds that strengthened in the midst of two great wars, helped me to understand this period of my life as a calling, as a request of God. And like Mary, I had no other option but to give my “yes.” In the moments of suffering, I could imagine Mary at the foot of the cross: present, strong, mother and daughter at the same time, silent, contemplating the love and will of God for the life of her beloved Son.

I wrote this in past tense, but the pandemic continues. Let us take care of ourselves and of others. Social responsibility is an imperative of the current time. Let us educate ourselves for it. May Mary intercede for all the families who have lost their loved ones, for the souls of those who have passed, and for all those who in one way or another have suffered, suffer, or will suffer due to the pandemic.

Translation: Wayne Wang

December 12, 2020 By Luciana Loyola

A different and unexpected Kentenich year

Both certainty and uncertainty characterise the path we are now taking with our founder.

December 16, 2020 - Fr. Ludwig Güthlein

Dear members and friends of the Schoenstatt Movement:

Advent marks the beginning of the new Ecclesial Year. I would like to take this opportunity to review the challenge of recent months. The questions about Father Joseph Kentenich, our founder, are for us a profound turning point, which will mark both the coming year and the time to come.

More information

Since July, publications with accusations against Father Kentenich have determined public opinion. The media context generated is completely insufficient. I am glad that soon appropriate material can be published which will shed more light on the context of the various events according to our current state of knowledge. I thank all those who have worked and are working on this.

The fact that the accusations against Father Kentenich were presented under the emotional title of sexual abuse, awakens in the present time the spontaneous reaction – and also among us -: When something is affirmed, surely there is something more, and the future will confirm it. This makes us prudent. It is good that sensitivity to such issues has grown. In the present state of the investigations, it can be said with a realistic estimation, that the main accusation against Father Kentenich is not justified. It is positive that the historical commission of the Diocese of Trier will soon be established and that it can begin its work.

Relying on one’s own experience

In view of the abundance of material, clarification and historical review will take time. Each interior image we have of Father Kentenich today is a mosaic of many aspects and individual experiences. How decisive are the critical and contradictory pieces of the mosaic to our understanding of his life?

The current search and thorough examination is a great gain for all of us. The greater the historical distance from the founder of our movement, the more complete and differentiated the reports and testimonies must be in order to have an overview of his person.

And at the same time, with all the collection of historical knowledge and transmitted stories, the question also arises about the personal relationship with him: What does Father Kentenich mean to me? Here we move in the area of intuition and appreciation. What awakens distance from him and what justifies trust in him and his inspirations.More consciously than before, we are challenged to perceive and take seriously our own reactions to our founding father.

Dialogue

The experiences are personal. And they are clarified through the feedback and reactions of others. That’s why we need a dialogue – open and willing to learn – between all generations and communities in our movement. Everyone can contribute their questions, as well as their convictions and perspectives. Different approaches will be confronted. I hope, therefore, that we can find and create many such spaces for conversation. Initiating a dialogue and sustaining it later may not always be easy. I believe that we are facing a crucial learning stage for the future of Schoenstatt. It is precisely irritations that are important for a new decision and greater certainty.

Openness and trust

We travel this road trusting in the covenant of love with Mary. She carries the child God in her womb to give birth to him. In Mary it is already Christmas, while around her it is still a time of waiting, a time of hope and a time of longing. Certainty and uncertainty characterize Advent at the same time. Both also define the path we are now taking with our founder and the one we have to model.

Trust in the Blessed Virgin has already been shown many times and in many difficult circumstances. The history of our family testifies to this. Above all, the very life of our founder testifies to it. The more complicated and threatening a situation became, the more firmly and decisively he lived from trust in the covenant of love. He always encouraged us to live in this attitude.

The covenant with Mary is our foundation, upon which we can take all the steps that God shows us and asks of us in the coming year. In this time of Advent I wish you all a deep trust in Divine Providence.

With warm greetings,

Father Ludwig Güthlein