Schoenstatt

The Servants of the Holy Eucharist and of the Blessed Virgin Mary are caretakers of two Schoenstatt Shrines in Hatillo, Puerto Rico: Magnificat, dedicated on February 2, 1984, is open to the public; Magnificat Patris is located within our contemplative enclosure as the heart of the Eucharistic-Marian environment which our Monastery strives to be.

“Our search for God is found in the pure waters of our spiritual fount: the Shrine of our Mother, Queen and Victress Thrice Admirable of Schoenstatt. The Shrine is a gift that She has given to us from the hands of Father Anibal Jose de Maria, founder of this Fraternity, and by his filial attachment to Father Joseph Kentenich, Founder of Schoenstatt.”

Schoenstatt is an international Movement, present in at least 32 countries on six continents. The Movement embraces people of all the states of Christian life.

Schoenstatt’s mission is to educate the new person in the new community. It was born from the living experience of Fr. Joseph Kentenich, who found in the Blessed Virgin Mary a great educator in the work of forming Christ in the men and women of our time.

On October 18, 1914, Fr. Kentenich proposed to the minor seminarians, of whom he was the spiritual director, that they transform the little chapel in the valley of Schoenstatt (Germany) into a Marian Shrine, a place of grace and of pilgrimage.

The young men accepted his proposal, and thus began the Schoenstatt Movement. The trials of the First World War were, in the designs of Divine Providence, the occasion for Schoenstatt’s expansion throughout Germany.

An missionary impulse which began in the 1930s and 1940s caused Schoenstatt to enter the international scene, and today there are 200 Schoenstatt shrines throughout the world, all exact replicas of the original Shrine.

As an evangelization initiative, the Schoenstatt Rosary Campaign is particularly important, bringing the Pilgrim MTA to countless homes, workplaces, hospitals, prisons…

The pillars of Schoenstatt spirituality are the Covenant of Love with the Mother Thrice Admirable (MTA), the consciousness of being instruments of Mary in freedom and docility, and the striving to become everyday saints. All of this is lived through a practical faith in Divine Providence.

This spirituality is not a mental construct, but rather it has grown from the life history of the concrete persons and communities which have formed part of Schoenstatt over the years. This life history has developed in a special way around four milestones.

1. October 18, 1914: The Founding of Schoenstatt – The Shrine as a place of grace
2. January 20, 1942: Fr. Kentenich decides for interior freedom over exterior freedom.
3. May 31, 1949: Schoenstatt offers its experience of organic living to the entire Church.
4. October 22, 1965: Our Lady shows herself victorious over the obstacles to her mission.

 

WORDS FROM FATHER KENTENICH

Hymn of the Instruments

Mother Thrice Admirable,
let us always be your instruments,
lovingly giving ourselves in your service
today and forever.
Use us as it pleases God,
entirely for your Schoenstatt world.

Take possession of our hearts and wills–
they are undividedly yours.
They will blindly follow
your every sign and word.
It is your instrument’s honor and glory
to belong entirely to you.

We are ready without reserve
to serve your Schoenstatt work.
Send us suffering, lead us in battle;
let us win the complete victory.
Give us light and strengthen our courage
against the guile and rage of the devil.

Let us reflect your image
and walk through life entirely like you:
strong and noble, simple and kind,
spreading love and peace and joy.
In us go through our times
and make them ready for Christ.

Whether we are threatened by the world or the devil
or caught in the swirl of the tempest,
you will victoriously overcome every need
and grant us your unlimited power.
Your heart, our gateway to heaven,
will always remain our safe harbor.

We will never perish
as long as we faithfully remain your instruments.
You will help us at all times
to effectively bring forth abundant fruit.
With our hand in yours let us joyfully enter
the eternal Schoenstatt Land. Amen.

 

Accept, O Lord

Accept, O Lord, through my Mother’s hands,
the entire gift of my royal freedom.
Accept my memory, my senses and my mind,
accept everything as a pledge of love.

Accept my whole heart and my whole will
so that my genuine love find satisfaction.
My greatest joy is to return to you
everything you have given me without reserve.

Use all of it in whichever way you please;
I only ask that you let me love you.
Help me to believe both far and near
that you love me as the cherished apple of your eye.

Grant me the graces that will powerfully carry me
to face the things I cannot dare on my own;
grant me a share in the fruitfulness
which your love bestows on your Bride.

Let me become fruitful for Schoenstatt
and let me like become a creative Yes
for everything you have planned in kindness
for the salvation of souls through Schoenstatt.

Then I am rich, abundantly rich;
no greater happiness could be mine.
There is nothing more I could desire:
I accept and love whatever you decide.

My Lord and my God, take everything that hinders me
and everything that diminishes my great love for you.
Give everything that increases my love for you
and take from me my very self if it disturbs this love. Amen.