Schoenstatt Movement - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

The Apostolic Movement of Schoenstatt (German

German language

German is a West Germanic language, related to and classified alongside English and Dutch. With an estimated 90 – 98 million native speakers, German is one of the world's major languages and is the most widely-spoken first language in the European Union....

Schönstatt-Bewegung) is a Roman Catholic Marian Movement founded in Germany in 1914 by Father Joseph Kentenich

Joseph Kentenich

Father Joseph Kentenich was a father of the Pallottines and founder of the Schoenstatt Movement...

. Fr. Kentenich saw the movement as being a means of spiritual renewal in the Catholic Church

Roman Catholic Church

The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the world's largest Christian church, with over a billion members. Led by the Pope, it defines its mission as spreading the gospel of Jesus Christ, administering the sacraments and exercising charity...

. The movement is named Schoenstatt (which means "beautiful place"), after a small village close to the town of Vallendar

Vallendar

Vallendar is a municipality in the district Mayen-Koblenz, in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. It is situated on the right bank of the Rhine, approx. 4 km north-east of Koblenz. Vallendar is the seat of the Verbandsgemeinde Vallendar. A city named "Vallendar" is included in the PC game Call of...

near Koblenz

Koblenz

Koblenz is a German city situated on both banks of the Rhine at its confluence with the Moselle, where the Deutsches Eck and its monument are situated.As Koblenz was one of the military posts established by Drusus about 8 BC, the...

in Germany

Germany

Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...

. Schoenstatt emphasizes a strong devotion to the Blessed Virgin Mary, upholding her as a perfect example of love and purity. Schoenstatt seeks to invite the Blessed Mother (and, hence, her divine Son, Jesus Christ), into the home by establishing a spiritual Covenant of Love with her. It encourages its members to have the faith and purity of children, and to think of Mary as their mother.

Quotes

Schoenstatt "wishes to be understood as a universal vision, comprising time and eternity, this world and the next, the economic, social, ethical, political and religious needs of all people, including the dispossessed, the millions of masses… It wants to help redeem the world not only from its earthly sufferings, but also from sin and from its alienation from God. It tries to do this under the guidance and in the school of Our Lady by applying the original principles of Christianity in a new way to restore the disturbed relationship between the individual person and society, the person and business, the person and technology, and the person and social advancement." ― Father Joseph Kentenich

"Hail Mary, for the sake of your purity, keep me pure in body and soul. Implore for me deep self knowledge and the grace to persevere and remain faithful until death. Give me souls, and keep all else for yourself.

Amen"

Today

The Schoenstatt Movement is today present in approximately 42 countries: Africa

Africa

Africa is the world's second largest and second most populous continent, after Asia. At about 30.2 million km² including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of the Earth's total surface area and 20.4% of the total land area...

(6), Asia

Asia

Asia is the world's largest and most populous continent, located primarily in the eastern and northern hemispheres. It covers 8.7% of the Earth's total surface area and with approximately 3.879 billion people, it hosts 60% of the world's current human population...

(5), Europe

Europe

Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...

(17), North America

North America

North America is a continent wholly within the Northern Hemisphere and almost wholly within the Western Hemisphere. It is also considered a northern subcontinent of the Americas...

(5), and South America

South America

South America is a continent situated in the Western Hemisphere, mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere. The continent is also considered a subcontinent of the Americas. It is bordered on the west by the Pacific Ocean and on the north and east...

(9). Groups within the movement include the Pilgrims' Movement, which are apostolic leagues without the obligation to live in community; apostolic federations (or unions), with a non-legal obligatory form of community; and secular institutes. Schoenstatt places a great emphasis on the family, and youth especially are an important part of the movement. There are hundreds of Schoenstatt youth groups throughout the world.

Focus

Central issues are the ideas based on that which Josef Kentenich founded the movement in 1914, including Christian personality development, orientation after ideals, and community.

A central point in the movement dynamics and faith is the devotion to the Shrine

Schoenstatt Shrine

The Schoenstatt Shrine is a fundamental part of the Apostolic movement founded by Josef Kentenich in Germany in 1914, a place where the Virgin Mary is invited for protection and influence....

, based on the first shrine in Schoenstatt where the movement started with a special devotion to Mary and of which there are 200 replicas of around the world.

Apostolic Actions

The movement is involved in several apostolic

Apostolic

Apostolic may refer to:An Apostle meaning one sent on a mission*The Twelve Apostles of Jesus, or something related to them, such as the Church of the Holy Apostles...

actions, including missionary

Missionary

A missionary is a member of a religious group sent into an area to do evangelism or ministries of service, such as education, literacy, social justice, health care and economic development. The word "mission" originates from 1598 when the Jesuits sent members abroad, derived from the Latin...

work, charity

Charitable organization

A charitable organization is a type of non-profit organization . It differs from other types of NPOs in that it centers on philanthropic goals A charitable organization is a type of non-profit organization (NPO). It differs from other types of NPOs in that it centers on philanthropic goals A...

, education

Education

Education in its broadest, general sense is the means through which the aims and habits of a group of people lives on from one generation to the next. Generally, it occurs through any experience that has a formative effect on the way one thinks, feels, or acts...

and other projects.

Mother Thrice Admirable

The title Mater ter Admirabilis ("Mother Thrice Admirable" in Latin) is widely used to refer to the Blessed Virgin Mary within the Schoenstatt movement. It is due to Father Jakob Rem, SJ, at the Colloquium Marianum in Ingolstadt, April 6, 1604. It has been associated with specific pieces of Roman Catholic Marian art

Roman Catholic Marian art

The Blessed Virgin Mary has been one of the major subjects of Christian Art, Catholic Art and Western Art for many centuries. Literally hundreds of thousands of pieces of...

.

The spiritual center of the Marian colloquium of 1604 at Ingolstadt was a copy of the icon of Our Lady Salus Populi Romani

Salus Populi Romani

Salus Populi Romani -Protectress translates literally as "salvation or health" -is a title given in the 19th century to the Byzantine icon of the Madonna and Child, reputed to date to the Early Christian era, in the Borghese or Pauline Chapel of the Santa Maria Maggiore Basilica in Rome.It has...

, and father Rem desired to know which of the invocations from the litany of Loreto would please her most. He reported that after meditation, the title Mother Thrice Admirable was revealed to him.

The 1898 Refugium Peccatorum Madonna

Refugium Peccatorum Madonna

Refugium Peccatorum Madonna or the Refuge of Sinners Madonna is a painting by the Italian artist Luigi Crosio. It was painted in 1898.Crosio originally painted the Madonna for the Kuenzil Brothers in Switzerland. In 1964 the Swiss province of the Schoenstatt Sisters purchased the original painting...

‎ by the Italian artist Luigi Crosio

Luigi Crosio

Luigi Crosio was an Italian painter who lived and worked in Turin, Italy. He died in Turin and is recorded as having been born in Alba, but the town of Aqua a few miles north of Alba claims Crosio was born there....

was purchased by the Schoenstatt Sisters in Switzerland in 1964 and has since been called the Mother Thrice Admirable Madonna, a key symbol of the Schoenstatt movement.

Youth Festival

In the summer of 2005 about four thousand young people from all around the world; Germany, Poland, England, Italy, Uruguay, Argentine, Chile, Mexico, Puerto Rico, Costa Rica, Africa, United States, etc. gathered for almost a week around the Original Shrine in Schönstatt, Vallendar for the Schönstatt Youth Festival prior to the WJT (World Youth Day

World Youth Day

World Youth Day is a youth-oriented Catholic Church event. While the event itself celebrates the Catholic faith, the invitation to attend extends to all youth, regardless of religious convictions....

) in Cologne. This event ignited the youth around the world, bringing renewal and energy to continue in the mission set by the Blessed Mother to each and every one there.

Schoenstatt Summer

After the success of the Youth Festival the prior year, it became obvious that there should be something to bring together each year the youth of the world, around the Original Shrine. During the Summer of 2006 Volunteers from Germany, Mexico, United States, Poland, Puerto Rico, Chile, Argentina, Portugal and Kenya, worked together to create a month long program for young pilgrims from all over the world. This being the first of many Schoenstatt Summer's.
The Night of the Shrine was the conclusion of this month long program. At midnight on the 27th of August over 400 people gathered for Holy Mass around the Original Shrine. Together with them, the youth of the world in more than 90 Shrines spread around the 5 continents, celebrated at the same moment, exactly the same Holy Mass. Each Shrine celebrating also in their own special way according to the traditions of each country. This becoming the first World Youth Mass.

External links

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