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• • 19.1: Father Kentenich
  • 19.2: For me the Shrine is…

...then we will know what Schoenstatt is. Father Kentenich would say - even after decades -that he was molded in Schoenstatt and by whom. And he also wants it to be said today.

I am in Schoenstatt because…

I belong to the Schoenstatt Family because it seemed excellent to me to be able to fill the jar of our Shrine with what it demands, what it claims, or what makes daily life beautiful with the conviction and joy in that the Blessed Virgin needs these contributions. Yes, She definitely needs me to make - along with her Son - a better world…..more beautiful, more just, more peaceful, and happier. Everything becomes a gift. In this way, one lives simply, worry-free, and easily and this helps others in their lives. Mary, nothing without you, but nothing without me also.

I belong to the Schoenstatt Family because I want to be more human, authentically human, whole and healthy. My key phrase, what fascinates me in Schoenstatt is: everyday sanctity. To be faithful in the little things and to do everything with love…..to have great ideals and likewise to be small and be able to begin each day anew with a clear conscience. An enormous gratitude to Father Kentenich who has opened for me in Schoenstatt a new perspective to live intensely, to perceive those little things behind which I can discover how God loves me. I belong to the Schoenstatt Family because through our Founder, Father Kentenich, I experienced and learned to value myself in my Heart-Shrine and in this way treat myself consequently; to have the center of my being there; to be comfortable with myself and with God; to rest and to also be able to help others to become deeply rooted. My heart is your Shrine. A marvelous reality.

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What captured me about Schoenstatt and the reason I entered the Movement was Father Kentenich. I was fascinated by his person, his message, his testimony, his freedom, his paternity, his mission, his everything! But especially, freedom. That is what most attracted me about him and led me to an ever deeper commitment with Schoenstatt, at the ascetic and spiritual level. Without that, I would never have entered.

It was not the Shrine or the Blessed Mother who captured me initially as it is for many. Rather, evidently for me it was Father…..the human instrument who captured me. For that reason, the book which touched me most was "Testimonios" (Testimonies) by Father Esteban Uriburu. This book is about how many people who knew him show how he adapted and concerned himself for all those who approached him…..beyond who they were or what position they had in Schoenstatt…..from the most intelligent to the most humble…..all were his children. For me, this is precisely the characteristic trait of God the Father.

In school, in religion, I often faced this topic: the image of God which is precisely what Father Kentenich was, and I was often given penance for being "heretic" simply for saying that my father could not be kinder than God and that God loves us and forgives us always. When I heard speak of Father, for the first time I felt understood. For that reason, the topic about secondary causes was not only very simple for me to understand, but something totally real. But what is most important is that I felt that finally someone agreed with me! For the first time, someone said what I always experienced: God is Father! And later, when I came to know his meaning of freedom, he conquered me forever.

Monina Crivelli, Buenos Aires, Argentina

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I approached Schoenstatt because I had a spiritual void in my life, but now I belong to the Movement because I cannot image life without the Covenant of Love, without the shelter which the Blessed Mother gives me. The Covenant of Love is a central part of my life. In the "Nothing without You, nothing without us" I find abundant graces of the Blessed Virgin and I can contribute my little grain of sand for the creation of the new man whom Father Kentenich spoke of. I am a Schoenstatter because Schoenstatt is life and I love life.

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I belong to the Schoenstatt Movement because in Schoenstatt I found a new way toward the light. For me it is a way of integrating the Church in a living form through the Covenant of Love with the Virgin Mary. In Schoenstatt I found a great international family throughout the world and I have been impressed that in all the countries where I have been and where there were persons belonging to Schoenstatt, I found shelter and brotherliness in those friends I met and in those which I also made…..united in the same Covenant with Blessed Mother and God.

Cássio Leal, Sao Paulo, Brazil

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We are in Schoenstatt because we found there many committed persons.

We are in Schoenstatt because we love the Mother and Queen, Three Times Admirable of Schoenstatt.

We are in Schoenstatt because it gives us an answer for our entire family.

We are in Schoenstatt because here we have found a vision for our life.

Melanie and Ulrich Grauert, Ebikon, Switzerland, Directors of the International Kentenich Academy for guidelines in the area of Economics (IKAF)

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In the search for something or someone who could orientate me in life, I came to the Schoenstatt Movement where the Blessed Mother conquered me at first sight and through her pedagogy I learned to understand and love our Father and Founder ever more each day.

What I began one day because of curiosity and for cultivating my spiritual life, has become a true style of living in which Schoenstatt is part of my daily life. The Covenant of Love with the Blessed Mother is the greatest legacy which Father Kentenich left us. I can experience his paternity according to the measure in which I let myself be educated by him. Schoenstatt not only makes me a participant in his great legacy but also makes me responsible that more persons may encounter in Mary the sure way to God the Father, and in Father Kentenich they can experience a true transparency of God's Paternity.

Sandra Leticia Lezcano, Asunción, Paraguay

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I am in Schoenstatt because I found in its spirituality a good way to reach God with the Blessed Virgin at my side.

I am in Schoenstatt because I can live - while working with youths - in an impressively strong and open community.

I am in Schoenstatt because for me, Father Kentenich is an extraordinary man and what he has said is valid today. His declarations were ahead of his time!

I am in Schoenstatt because the Covenant of Love is a great support for those who have sealed it in the world. We are a vigorous Family!

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I am in Schoenstatt because - here - I am able to experience that faith makes me enthusiastic, fills my Spirit, and gives form to daily life and it is not something else to do when there is extra time because there are so many concrete and practical examples from Father Kentenich on how to live and shape one's faith. And because brilliant projects exist, for example, the missions. Here - almost everyone can find something which they can adapt to themselves. They simply find themselves faced with ideals which fit them appropriately, and there is also a great openness for experimentation and innovation. Here - it is easy to sense that the people are enthusiastic about God and this makes one feel good: if one is having a bad spell, then someone else comes along and enkindles the fire once again with his/her enthusiasm. In Schoenstatt there is nothing other than what is expressed in the saying: "The fire cannot be lit with an ice cube."

Bene, Germany, missions - to live the faith

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Schoenstatt gives us an integrated vision of our life! It helps us to form our natural life and likewise we are totally attached to God!

Mary, where would we be with you! Without your Covenant of Love with us, without the current of graces from our Home Shrine and from the Daughter Shrine here in Schoenstatt auf'm Berg!

And without Schoenstatt we would never have met or fallen in love. Schoenstatt is the origin and the content of our marriage, of our life.

Schoenstatt is for us a fascinating way, when one makes a commitment - with faith in Divine Providence - in the plans of God and the Blessed Virgin, one does not know exactly what awaits us. And this makes our life interesting, rich and worthy of being lived.

Schoenstatt and its Father: Father Kentenich has given us pedagogical methods which have filled us with joy upon discovering them and transmitting them to others. Schoenstatt, as an apostolic Movement, has motivated us. In Schoenstatt and for Schoenstatt.

Gertrud and Norbert Jehle, from Memholz, directors of the Academy for family Pedagogy

I Am in Schoenstatt Because…

Click on "add a comment" and tell us why you are in Schoenstatt…

Translation: Carlos Cantú, Schoenstatt Family Federation, La Feria, Texas USA 11302010