A little chain or crown

Invitation to go to Oberhausen on April 12^th

Estatua de la Virgen de la capilla de casa The Statue of the Blessed Mother from the house chapel Die Statue aus der Hauskapelle des Waisenhauses
Capilla Chapel Kapelle Fotos: Archiv © 2007

Germany, Michael Schulte/mkf. Every month the Schoenstatt Family of Oberhausen celebrates a Covenant Holy Mass in Saint Vincent House in Oberhausen on the Mondays after the 18^th. This year, there will be an exception to this rule because April 12^th is a very important date. It is a date that recalls a crucial act for them and for the International Schoenstatt Family. The historic event of 1894 and its interpretation for the present time, is a continuous stimulus and a new motivation. Everyone is invited to remember this date of April 12^th.

It was in the Saint Vincent House, of Oberhausen, where the child, Joseph Kentenich, who was eight years old, consecrated himself to Mary – through the initiative of his Mother – on April 12, 1894. Those who initiated the "Oberhausen Afternoons" –writes Father Heister, the Diocesan Director of the Movement – want "to once again keep these footsteps in view and to explain them, so that with our amazement before this valuable seed of all the Schoenstatt Work, and its light, with Mary, ‘with hope and joy and confident in the victory we go with Mary into the newest times.’ We want to consider that the 120^th Anniversary of the event of Oberhausen will take place during the Schoenstatt Centennial in 2014, and they invite us to prepare ourselves".

The event of this day in the childhood of Father Kentenich was presented in the film "The Letter on the Altar", that made its debut in 1999; Katharina Kentenich took Joseph to the orphanage, he was not quite nine years old, and as she bid him farewell she entrusted him to the protection of the heavenly Mother. She placed a little chain, a remembrance of her first communion, around the neck of the statue of Mary as an expression of everything that was occurring in her heart at that time: love, worry, trust, detachment, giving of self. Later, Father Kentenich said that "the little first communion chain or crown" meant the same thing, that is to say, it is a symbol of the process of a radical giving of self. He said that he personally realized this act with an indescribable depth. It was a decisive moment of his life: this consecration to Mary stands out as an anticipation of the Covenant of Love of October 18^th. The statue of Mary before which this consecration was made is presently one the major attractions in the Father Kentenich House in Schoenstatt. Many people place their little first communion chains or rosaries, photos, or decorations on it. Some days ago a young Peruvian hung his wife’s rosary on the statue and left it there; she had recently died.

Father Heriberto King will speak about this event of April 12^th, 1894 during the "Afternoon of Oberhausen" next April 12^th. The encounter will begin at 5:00 p.m. After the greetings and a look at its history, Father King will speak about this subject. The afternoon will end with the con-celebration of the Holy Mass in the chapel of Saint Vincent House, with the musical accompaniment of the Choir of Federation Mothers.

Shortly before his recent death, Father Carlos Bausenhart had a preparatory encounter with the leaders of these encounters in Saint Vincent House of Oberhausen. It was very important for him to capture the atmosphere there and to take it to all of the Schoenstatt Family of the Diocese of Essen so that they could relate to the event of that time. "We should not keep the mission of Oberhausen only for ourselves. We should take to wide circles". That was his intention.

For information: Michael Schulte mm.schulte@arcor.de

Translation: Celina Garza, Harlingen, TX, USA