Walking hand in hand with Father

"Schoenstatt Summer" youth meet Mike and Marge Fenelon

La foto famosa: Mike Fenelon de la mano del Padre Kentenich The famous photo: Mike Fenelon at the hand of Father Kentenich Das berühmte Foto: Mike Fenelon an der Hand von Pater Kentenich
Mike y Marge Fenelon Mike y Marge Fenelon Mike y Marge Fenelon Fotos: Signorini © 2006

SCHOENSTATT, Francesca Signorini. Have you ever wondered who the child is in the photo of a little boy walking hand in hand with Father Kentenich? It has long been one of the most well known photos in the Schoenstatt Movement because it perfectly captures and symbolizes our Founder’s great and essential fatherhood. Over the years, many folk stories have emerged with respect to the identity of the boy. For instance, the German Girls’ Youth maintains that the child was a blind boy whom Father Kentenich was helping to walk. Argentina has long held that the boy, thanks to Father Kentenich’s guidance, discovered his vocation and became a priest.

However, the Schoenstatt youth can now confirm that these stories are not actually the case. We can be sure because we met the boy himself. The boy was actually Mike Fenelon, who is now married to Marge and is the father of two children, Sarah, age 27, and Steven, age 23.

The Fenelons were in Schoenstatt this summer to participate in the International Chapter of the Institute of Families. During the Covenant Mass on July 18^th, the youth who were preparing for the opening of "Schoenstatt Summer" discovered Mike’s identity. Immediately, they did everything possible to set up a meeting with the couple, and finally, on August 2^nd, the Fenelons had some free time. That night, everyone met in the Original Shrine for night prayer, and then they all went to the conference room in House Sonnenau for the meeting. About forty youth in all were present.

The Fenelons are from Milwaukee, Wisconsin, the city famous in Schoenstatt because it was the place where Father Kentenich spent his long exile from 1952 until 1965. Both Mike and Marge had the grace of knowing Father Kentenich as the spiritual father of their community and families during their childhood.

To begin the meeting, Mike explained the importance of this era in the history of the Schoenstatt Movement. Father Kentenich had always expressed his desire to dedicate himself to the family, but while he was in Schoenstatt in Germany, it was not possible due to his many responsibilities and commitments as the founder of a large and growing movement. In Milwaukee, however, due to the Holy See prohibiting him from dedicating himself to the growth of Schoenstatt, Father Kentenich suddenly found himself with a lot of time to dedicate himself to working with families.

In Wisconsin, it was a family of German origin who made the first contact with Father Kentenich and began meeting with him; however, the number of families grew rapidly as Father’s influence expanded. Thus, in 1955, Father and the families began regular couple’s meetings that focused on catechesis and spiritual growth. These meetings were simply called the "Monday Night Talks" because of the night on which they all met. Both Mike’s and Marge’s parents were a part of this group. Mike recalls that everyone was always particularly impressed by how attentive to and in tune with his audience Father was. For example, if younger couples participated, Father would immediately adapt the subject he was presenting to their needs, and he would approach it through speaking on the education of small children or marital intimacy. During Mike’s talk, he showed many early photographs of Father, the couples, and the "Monday Night Talks."

THE PHOTO

When he began to discuss the photo of himself with Father Kentenich, Mike shared that while he remembers the day very well, he does not remember very much about what Father Kentenich was telling him as they walked. He thinks Father was talking to him about the property they were on and the many trees that bordered the land, but cannot remember exactly. But Mike’s parents have been able to fill in at least some of the missing details from the day.

The photo was taken on a Saturday afternoon in 1963 when Father Kentenich was looking over a piece of land that was proposed as a site for an international retreat center. Apparently, Father Kentenich regularly inspected possible properties almost every Saturday afternoon. The families all knew about this part of Father’s schedule; thus, whenever they found out where Father was going to be on a certain Saturday, they would call and let each other know so that they could go out to the property with their families and be close to him.

On the Saturday the photo was taken, the land that Father was inspecting was very rough and irregular terrain. Father Kentenich was already seventy-eight years old; thus, he felt a bit unsure of his steps and wanted some support while he walked. He did not, however, want to lean on an adult, so he chose a boy, and that boy was Mike.

What is so interesting to realize is that the story of actual events completely changes the perspective for interpreting the photo. Generally, it is thought that the old priest is guiding the boy, but in reality, it was the child who had the task of steadying him.

With this in mind, Marge reflected on how much the Father needs from the children; he needs for us to be like children.

Mike again discussed how meaningful this photo is to the people of Schoenstatt by telling a story about Chile. When he visited one of the schools there, he found at the entrance a gigantic version of the photo of him with Father Kentenich. The symbolism it contains is of life-size importance to them! When Mike met with the Chilean schoolchildren, the teacher asked them: "Do you think this man is the boy in the photo?" They all quickly responded, "Noooo!" Then, Mike took off his glasses and posed like the profile in the photo. When asked the same question again, the children responded with a timid, "He could be."

THE HOME SHRINE AND THE "LIVING" SHRINE

Marge and Mike both stressed the unique nature of the time that Father Kentenich spent in Milwaukee. For them, he was simply their pastor—an exceptional one—but more than anything, their priest. They knew that people from all over the world came to see him, but they did not know anything about Schoenstatt. The families had a great deal of time to spend with him. They would invite him to their homes and he would go, generally after supper, and spend a couple of hours with them. He also would accept invitations for special occasions, such as a Crowning of the MTA or the consecration of a Living Shrine or a Home Shrine.

Mike shared that the "Living" Shrine can be one of the first steps for the evangelization of the family. Basically, Father Kentenich would invite each family member to choose the part of the Shrine they wanted to be and to live it as an ideal. For instance, in their families, Marge chose to be the tabernacle lamp, and Mike chose Michael the Archangel. Growing up, Marge’s sister chose the bell, while Mike and Marge’s daughter Sarah chose a candle. Often the relationship and connection between the chosen symbol and the person is very close. Thus, for example, the Fenelons clearly saw the light and illumination of the candle flame in their daughter’s character and personality; they also laughed and shared that Sarah likes candles very much and that a candle is always the right gift to give her.

The Fenelon’s son, Steven, wanted to be the archangel because, like all boys, he was fascinated with the spear. But since his father had already chosen the archangel, he chose Saint Paul, who also had a weapon, the sword. Through this choice, a connection was made between Steven, who carries the name of the martyr, and of his persecutor, Saul, who as we know was later converted and became Saint Paul.

Mike also shared a beautiful anecdote about his little brother, Bernard, who wanted to be Father Kentenich. When Bernard shared this with the Sisters of Mary, they insisted that this was not possible and that he had to choose another symbol. But Bernard was determined, and when it was his turn to share, he told Father Kentenich that he wanted to be him. Father Kentenich, enjoying this very much, explained that if that were the case, he would need to be the Father, symbolized in the Father eye. One night when Bernard brought Father Kentenich his hat, as he bid him farewell, Father Kentenich put the hat on Bernard’s head, which was captured in another beautiful picture. Thus, at least in some way, Bernard got to "be Father Kentenich."

Mike shared another story of a neighbor who had been an alcoholic for many years and was at the point of being abandoned by his wife and his children. One night he knocked on the door of the Fenelon’s house asking for help. He was determined to change his life, but how could he do it? He knelt with Mike in the Home shrine, and after they prayed together, he decided to go straight to the hospital for detoxification while Mike went to inform the family. From that moment on, the man’s situation began to improve and his family was restored. To this day, the neighbor always carries a unity cross in his pocket to acknowledge who helped him.

FATHER KENTENICH – A TRUE FATHER

The grace that the community of Milwaukee experienced in a special way was the grace of Father Kentenich’s fatherhood. He was always at their disposal, and they could knock on his door at any time. He was concerned about and compassionate towards the families, down even to the material sense. For example, during a time in which Marge’s father was unemployed, Father Kentenich would ask: "Do you have enough to eat? Do you have enough work?" He was also extremely generous, and he always had small gifts for the children.

Mike told particularly funny stories about things that would happen on Christmas Eve. First, all the families would gather in the Shrine to pray together, and then they would celebrate together afterwards in the Movement House. Many people would take Father Kentenich gifts, but he did not ever keep anything for himself. So it would happen that whenever he received a gift, he would simply give it to the person next to him. During the vigil of Christmas one Christmas Eve, Mike’s father was to Father Kentenich’s right during the gift exchange. Because of this, he returned home with a very beautiful leather Bible cover that was made in Italy! Thus, Father Kentenich’s fatherhood was expressed in every aspect of his being; it was his essence. Marge especially remembers his fatherly and welcoming hands, and she says his voice was like music.

Nowadays, Marge and Mike feel a great sense of obligation to share their very unique experience of Father Kentenich with others and to show what a great gift he gave to the Church through the Home Shrine, a simple but effective means of evangelization and transmission of the faith.

Original: Italian

Translation: Celina Garza, Harlingen, TX, USA / , Amy Peebles, Austin, USA