History of the Schoenstatt Movement:
Father Joseph Kentenich is the founder of the Schoenstatt Movement (Schoenstatt, a German word for “beautiful place”) . Born on November 16, 1885, in Gymnich, Germany, in 1904 he entered the community of the Pallottine Fathers and was ordained a priest in 1910. Two years after his ordination, he was entrusted by his superiors with the position of Spiritual Director of the students of the Minor Seminary of the Pallottine Fathers. As an educator, he developed a fruitful work with them. From then on, he dedicated his whole life to the Schoenstatt Family.
On October 18, 1914, Father Joaeph Kentenich, along with a group of young men, sealed a pact or covenant of love with Mary, Asking her to establish herself spiritually in the little chapel that had been placed at her disposal and to convert this place into a place of pilgrimage and thus the Schoenstatt Movement began.
Father Joseph Kentenich died on September 15, 1968, leaving the movement as his legacy.
The Schoenstatt Movement strives to live the Gospel of Jesus Christ through the example and guidance of Blessed Virgin Mary. She is at the heart of the movement and is very active in the Schoenstatt shrines, a place, of grace and source of life for our spirituality and work. Schoenstatt is deeply Marian and has repeatedly experienced how this spiritual love opens new avenues to a vibrant relationship with Christ, to the Holy Spirit, to God the Father and to a renewal of love of neighbor and self.
As a renewal movement, it has a marked apostolic and lay character; its pedagogy and spirituality are particularly suitable for those who live in the world and must face an increasingly de-Christianized and materialistic environment.
The Schoenstatt Movement encompasses various communities that form the Schoenstatt “Family”. As a renewal movement, it has a marked apostolic and lay character; its pedagogy and spirituality are particularly suitable for those who live in the world and must face an increasingly de-Christianized and materialistic environment.
With many Schoenstatt Shrines around the world, including in the U.S., we have highlighted here. Others will follow.
Click here for the official Schoenstatt Movement website.