UNITED STATES, Joe Yank. In this 100th year of the Covenant of Love we can be assured our dear Mother is searching for souls to be drawn heavenwards to the Father. Our father and founder, her principle instrument in our Schoenstatt Family, has drawn all our hearts to her in the Shrine. “Give me souls…” he prayed daily drawing all our souls to his Mother and Queen. “Give me souls…” we can be assured he now prays that a great Covenant Culture will become the living, breathing life of the Church and world. Shall we pray with him? Give us souls … in the war torn Middle East; Give us souls … in the many areas of the world plagued with disease and pestilence; Give us souls … throughout the world where the human being is regarded as trash, discarded or used by others; Give us souls … in the slums and in the rich opulent suburbs; Give us souls … in our homes, in our schools, in our work place, etc., etc; Give us souls; keep all else for yourself. In a small gesture the author, member of the Federation of Families in USA, would like to offer a compilation of Father Kentenich`s little prayer into a chaplet to be prayed on the rosary beads in repetitive style, giving time for meditation upon the words and lifting the heart to heaven.
Introduction
Hail Mary,
for the sake of your purity
keep me pure in body and soul.
Open wide to me your heart
and the heart of your Son.
Implore for me deep self-knowledge
and the grace to persevere
and remain faithful until death.
Give me souls;
keep all else for yourself.
Amen.
(Heavenwards, American edition, p. 172)
This little prayer, a favorite of our Father and Founder, has found its way into the hearts of many of his children over the past 100 years. It is known that he wrote it in his youth and it is very clear that he thought it a very important prayer for our Schoenstatt Family. He said in 1945, “Actually it would be a good idea, and we would be wise to make that little prayer the subject of our meditation as often as possible.” Kentenich Reader 1 Meeting our Father – page 28
Father equated this prayer with our little consecration prayer, “My Queen, My Mother,” which has a history that predates the inception of our Schoenstatt Family. This prayer is truly unique to Schoenstatt, written by our founder himself. He said in 1947, “We have gotten into the habit of praying that prayer every day, ‘Hail Mary, as, you are so pure, keep me pure in body and soul …’ Let me tell you that it is a prayer that I personally composed when I was still very young. “ Ibid
In Milwaukee in 1963 during a Tertianship of young theologians to whom Father spoke he said, “I think I should indicate one or the other thing to supplement what has already been said. First of all, I forgot to mention the little prayer which is an essential part of our Sister’s daily order … It is a little prayer that is actually the heart and center of the whole of our lives, and it includes our whole calling, especially the virginal calling. It is not as though we have to do this [because I say so]. I think it is important to mention it, because we have to be precise and faithful in little things.” Kentenich Reader 1 Meeting our Father – page 30-31
As a gift to our dear MTA, our Father and Founder and the whole Schoenstatt Family for this Centennial Jubilee year I would like to offer a special chaplet I composed from this little prayer about 4 years ago. Let me clarify that I did this out of my own inspiration. I have had no locutions, or apparitions, no special or unusual spiritual insights that prompted me to do this. I simply put this little prayer into chaplet form for the ease of praying it repeatedly when driving to or from work, while walking, while in the Shrine or in the home shrine or any other place at any time. This is not meant to replace the prayer as it was originally written but to offer another form to perpetuate these precious words of our Father and Founder.
After the example of the “Chaplet of Divine Mercy” of St. Maria Faustina Kowalska, (but without the divine locutions she experienced in composing it) it occurred to me that it would be nice to have a little chaplet, a “Chaplet of Divine Purity,” in our day and age to combat the terrible reign of sin against our dear Immaculata and her Divine Son. Father’s prayer is truly the perfect weapon in this regard.
Quotes taken from: Kentenich Reader Volume 1 Meeting our Father, Chapter 2 – Pages 27-31
Download of the Purity Chaplet (pdf)
