Fr. José María Iturrería, National Advisor of the Schoenstatt Rosary Campaign of the Pilgrim Mother of Schoenstatt in Argentina • On the occasion of the Year of Prayer in preparation for the Holy Year 2025, Fr. José María Iturrería, national advisor of the Schoenstatt Rosary Campaign in Argentina, invites all the missionaries to a series of workshops to deepen in prayer – but not to take refuge in something merely interior, but to be transformers of reality, strengthened in prayer. We share the letter of presentation because we think thatRead More
GERMANY, Renate Siebenkäs •  It is Covenant Day at Easter time, and it is Covenant Day in times of war and civil war. When has the reading from the Acts of the Apostles (Acts 8:26-40) had such a direct reference to the times: “An angel of the Lord said to Philip: Arise and go south on the road that leads from Jerusalem to Gaza”. Fr. Andreas Hornung picks this up at the Covenant celebration at the Marienberg, Bamberg, and it is very moving because it names concrete destinations in theRead More

Posted On April 24, 2024 In Covenant Life

Schierstein and the bombs

GERMANY, Cordula-Maria Weidtmann • “Mater perfectam habebit curam et victoriam!” – The Mother will take perfect care of everything and will be victorious! These words from Father Kentenich came to mind when I heard about the bomb found near the Kallebad on Wednesday, April 3, 2024, about 1 km as the crow flies from Wiesbasden-Schierstein. A 500 kg bomb, an unexploded bomb from the Second World War, had been discovered during construction work. This was successfully defused at around 2.30 pm after 10,000 people had been evacuated. It is unimaginableRead More
HUNGARY, Endrédy Orsolya Török (PM) • Recently we discovered a press release in a Hungarian newspaper, which we are very happy to publish in a slightly abbreviated form: On the anniversary of the blessing of the only Schoenstatt shrine in Hungary, more than 300 people gathered in Óbudavár near Lake Balaton on April 6 to give thanks. — The name and mission of the chapel were found in the fall of 2023 at a synodal meeting of the Schoenstatt Movement. Sr. Gertrud-Maria Erhard, Schoenstatt Sister of Mary, opened the meetingRead More
ARGENTINA, Press Office of the Archdiocese of La Plata • More than 50 priests participated with Archbishop Gabriel Mestre and Auxiliary Bishop Jorge E. González (Schoenstatt Federation of Priests) in the annual retreat for the clergy that took place from Monday, April 8th to Friday, April 12th at the National Shrine of Our Lady of Schoenstatt in Florencio Varela. — The Archbishop held the retreat under the motto “Bound by the Spirit with St. Paul” (cf. Acts 20:22). In a framework of prayer, devotion and liturgy, the clergy of LaRead More
UNITED STATES/SPAIN, Miguel Ángel Rubio • Last Easter I was in New York. One day, as I was walking along 41st Street near 5th Avenue, where the Public Library is located, I noticed that the floor was covered with metal plaques with quotes from famous people. One of them caught my eye with the following inscription: “The universe is made of stories, not atoms” (Muriel Rukeyser 1913-1980. “The Speed of Darkness”). The inscription stood on a background that resembled a molecular lattice in which the atoms were shaped like openRead More
BURUNDI, Fr. Herménégilde COYITUNGIYE • The Sunday of Mercy, April 7, 2024, was a day of great joy in the Schoenstatt Shrine for Peace and Reconciliation in Mont Sion Gikungu for the Schoenstatt Fathers, for the faithful who visit our Shrine, and also for those who are attached to the Shrine from our neighboring countries such as the Democratic Republic of Congo. — The Mass was scheduled for 10.00 a.m., but from 9.30 a.m. heavy rain set in, so that we could not enter the church in a long procession,Read More
CHILE, Jaime Valenzuela / Editorial Team •  In a column for schoenstatt.org in January 2024 (published in German, Spanish, and Portuguese), later republished in the Chilean magazine “Vinculo”, Rafael Mascayano shared a reflection under the title: “I would like my ashes to remain in Bellavista”…, and he asks almost at the end of his writing: “Is it too much to ask that for these 75 years of May 31st, the idea of the construction of a columbarium or memorial in Bellavista could be thought of, deliberated and put into action?Read More