Covenant Life Category

Schönstattkapelle in Katscher/
POLAND, Maria Fischer • This October marks 80 years since the first daughter shrine, the first faithful replica of the original shrine, was blessed. This Sunday, July 23, 2023, however, it will already be 90 years since the blessing of a chapel that looks confusingly like the Original Shrine. It stands in Kietrz, formerly Kascher, in Upper Silesia, and goes back to Blessed Father Richard Henkes of the Pallottine community. So discovered today, July 18, in an article in the news portal www.opole.gosc.pl. — The celebration of the 90th anniversaryRead More
URUGUAY, Alexandra Kempff / Maria Fischer • Jorge “Toto” Da Silveira, a well-known journalist from Uruguay, died Tuesday, July 4, in Montevideo at the age of 79. We found an interview conducted by Nicolás Lauber in Diario El País, Uruguay, in September 2022, and republished on July 4, 2023, in Diario de Carmelo, a town about 75 km north of Colonia del Sacramento. In this interview, Da Silveira talks about his attachment to the Schoenstatt Shrine of Nueva Helvecia, the first Daughter Shrine. -Jorge “Toto” Da Silveira, a well-known journalistRead More
50 años del Santuario de La Victoria
DOMINICAN REPUBLIC, Claudia Echenique, Maria Fischer • July 9, 2023 was the 50th anniversary of the blessing of the Schoenstatt Shrine in La Victoria, Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic. A day of great joy to celebrate all the gifts of the Shrine that give life and make graces flow from La Victoria. — Father José Luis Correa, the outgoing Schoenstatt Continental Coordinator for the Americas, also participated. “Archbishop Francisco Ozoria Acosta of Santo Domingo, the main celebrant, placed me next to him,” he said. “He placed the auxiliary bishop on theRead More
Ignacio Quintanilla Navarro (1960-2023)
SPAIN, 2nd Course of the Apostolic Family Federation in Spain • A cynical Spanish proverb says that “there is no such thing as a bad dead person.” It refers to the fact that when a person dies, all his faults are forgotten, and his virtues are exaggerated and sometimes invented. — For this reason, anyone reading this text without having known Ignacio Quintanilla may rightly think that it is a typical obituary. But it is not. We want to reflect, with absolute respect for the truth, what our friend andRead More
Casa del Niño viaje a Luján
ARGENTINA, Gabriela Sarquis • On the initiative of Father Francisco Bosch (Father Pancho), chaplain of the Casa del Niño, 50 children from the older groups went on a trip to Luján on Monday 19th June, accompanied by members of the Board of Directors, educators and volunteers of the Casa. — The bus ride was a celebration for them. For many of the children it was the first time they had ever travelled…. On arrival, they visited the Basilica of Our Mother and Patroness of Argentina and then went to Mass,Read More
Wolke on Zeugen
GERMANY, Maria Fischer • “Taking up your attachment to Schoenstatt, I would like to point out to you, united to Maria Rast, Schoenstatt witnesses of blood and faith from the time of National Socialism, who should be snatched from oblivion,” writes Prelate Dr. Helmut Moll, Cologne, precisely on the 95th anniversary of the priestly ordination of one of these witnesses of blood, martyrs: Fr. Franz Reinisch. — In his letter, to which he encloses extensive documentary material, Prelate Dr. Moll asks “to snatch these people from oblivion through lectures andRead More
Federazione, Italia
ITALY, Marie- Christine Jeannenot •  The weekend of June 17 and 18 was a time of great celebration for the Schoenstatt Apostolic Family Federation in Italy at the Cor Ecclesiae Shrine in Rome. —  Sunshine and joy dominated the meeting, the atmosphere was cheerful and like a Roman “dolce vita” in such a beautiful place as the Schoenstatt Shrine. Imagine this combination of beauty and the scent of spring, and of course the good Italian dinners after the Masses on March 17 and 18. The first course of the ItalianRead More
Santa Cruz do Sul
BRAZIL, Ruy Kaercher • On Sunday, June 18, a large number of faithful gathered in and around the shrine (or capela, chapel) of Santa Cruz do Sul for the Mass of renewal of the Covenant of Love and for a long-awaited moment: the enthronement and blessing of the statue of St. Michael by our ecclesial advisor, Fr. Leão Gomes da Silva. — Recall that the original shrine of Santa Cruz do Sul remained empty after the Sisters of Mary decided to abandon the shrine for which they were legally responsibleRead More
Una visita al Santuario de Nueva Helvecia
ARGENTINA, Juan Barbosa • When I took my first steps in Schoenstatt in 1986, I was told that there were many shrines like the one in Villa Warcalde, Córdoba (Shrine of Solidarity, inaugurated in 1968), but one was very special because it was the first. Through the initiative of the Sisters of Mary, the Shrine of Nueva Helvecia, Uruguay, has poured out its graces since 1943. A great love story with our Mother Thrice Admirable and so far from the Original Shrine! — As always…Mary surprises us at every moment!Read More
Alianza Federación
SPAIN, Laura Toves • On May 31, one of the important dates that we celebrate every year, Belén and Óscar sealed their Covenant of Love with the Blessed Mother.  — The day could not have been better, sunny and warm, after the heavy rains of the previous days. It was the perfect afternoon for a great event. They were surrounded by their brothers and sisters from the 6th course of the Apostolic Family Federation in Spain, the most recent course, and by a large delegation from the Family Federation. HowRead More