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Rachael Miller Crigler, el dia de su Alianza de Amor,
con miembros de la “Misión Cenaculo“ de Chile: Laura Gaju, Rachael,
Paulina Garrido Langer, Maria Errazuriz Ovalle.
Rachael Miller Crigler on the day of her covenant with
members of Cenacle Mission from Chile: Laura Gaju, Rachael, Paulina
Garrido Langer, Maria Errazuriz Ovalle.
Rachael Miller Crigler am Tag ihres Liebesbündnisses
mit Mitgliedern der „Mission Coenaculum“ aus Chile: Laura Gaju,
Rachael, Paulina Garrido Langer, Maria Errazuriz Ovalle.
Fotos: Bushman/Madison Catholic Herald ©2006
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USA, Kathleen Bushman, Madison Catholic Herald Staff. The concept
of family is very strong in Schoenstatt. And one of the strongest ways
to be a family is to say "I love you." Essentially, that’s what making
a covenant with the Blessed Virgin Mary is. "Sometimes it’s difficult
to have a relationship with Jesus because he’s God," said Bernardita "Mena"
Edwards. "Sometimes it’s easier to get a relationship with a human being
like Mary, and she’ll lead us to Jesus." Edwards is one of several young
Chilean women who have come to Madison for half a year to work to spread
the Schoenstatt movement. Edwards, who first made her own Covenant of
Love as a junior in high school, was in the third group that came in 2004.
As a result of this Chilean Schoenstatt mission in Madison, eight young
women so far have made their covenant with the Mother Thrice Admirable,
as Mary is called in the Schoenstatt Movement, one of whom is now pursuing
a vocation as a Sister in an order. And many more have become aware of
the Schoenstatt movement and the importance of a relationship with Mary.
Movement to mission
Schoenstatt is a movement founded in 1914 by Fr. Joseph Kentenich that
seeks to bring about a spiritual renewal in the church through the Blessed
Mother. The movement is present in more than 90 countries, and there are
more than 190 "Schoenstatt Shrines" around the world, each a replica of
the original shrine erected in the movement’s home in Schoenstatt, Germany.
Tere Gueneau de Mussy, who was in the second group to visit Madison,
said that the idea for the Chilean mission started at World Youth Day
2002 in Toronto.
Before the event, the Schoenstatt Youth held their own reunion in Milwaukee,
where founder Father Kentenich had been exiled from Europe for 14 years.
In Milwaukee there was already a rotating group of young Chilean men,
and the idea was put forth to bring a similar group of young women to
work with St. Paul’s University Center at the University of Wisconsin-Madison
campus.
Up to that point, there was no Schoenstatt Youth group in Madison, though
there were other groups, or "branches," such as couples, women, and families,
as well as the religious women (Schoenstatt Sisters of Mary) located at
Schoenstatt Heights on the east side of Madison.
Building saints
After much prayer and conversation with the Schoenstatt Sisters in Milwaukee
and Madison, the first group arrived to evaluate the situation, get to
know the culture and people, and begin to make relationships. The following
groups built on that foundation.
"We were astonished — this was awesome," de Mussy said of the first impression
of the Catholic culture in Madison. "We didn’t understand what it meant
until we came. The people here — there is wood for building saints."
There were cultural differences to overcome — sometimes things as simple
as a greeting by a kiss on the cheek or hugs — but quickly the groups
developed friendships that provided a basis for spreading the love of
Mary.
One of the things they noticed was that, when far away from home for
many students, there was a loss of the sense of family.
But who takes care of you when you go home? Mom, said de Mussy. And with
Mary as your mother, you find a family. "Schoenstatt is that family around
that mother who brings us to Christ, her children," she said.
Mary as mother
Jeni Olson, currently a nursing student at Marquette University in Milwaukee,
met Tere at St. Paul’s and then lived in the same building as the Chilean
groups, building a relationship with them and being introduced to Schoenstatt.
Last December, she went to Chile to meet with many of her friends who
had returned to Chile, and while there decided to make her Covenant of
Love.
As a woman, she said, the covenant has brought her a greater understanding
of the gifts God gave to women. She will be continuing her formation in
the future and meeting with a Schoenstatt Sister in Milwaukee.
Katie Lease, a senior at UW-Madison who is active in leadership at St.
Paul’s, said that she was first drawn into Schoenstatt by the Marian devotion.
After learning from the Chileans about what Schoenstatt was, she made
her Covenant of Love in May 2005. "You’re putting your life, in a sense,
into the Virgin Mother’s hands," Lease said. "It’s a way to learn from
the Virgin Mother how to be closer to Christ."
Making a home
Lease said that without the Chileans, she may never have come to know
Schoenstatt. "When you’re in college," she said, "it’s so important to
have close people to understand what’s going on and what matters." That
fellowship is what Schoenstatt is about — building a family with Mary
as the mother.
Coming to Madison, Edwards said, "I found this huge community. And it
was great, because I felt like home. I could realize how great is the
Catholic Church because it feels like home."
Both Edwards and de Mussy said that the Chilean groups will not always
come to Madison, but they have begun to build a community here that can
keep the movement going. Said de Mussy, "How great a thing has Christ
done through us all."
© Madison Catholic Herald.
We thank for the permission granted by the editor to re-publish
this article at www.schoenstatt.de
The Catholic Herald's award-winning Web site is found at
www.madisoncatholicherald.org.
It is also featured on the Diocese of Madison's Web site at www.madisondiocese.org.
The paper works in conjunction with the diocesan Office of Communications
to provide information on the activities of diocesan offices, agencies,
and institutions.
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