Greetings from the Confidentia Shrine! 

Much too fast, the Christmas season came to a close and by now we are well into the new year 2023. Only ten days ago, we buried Pope emeritus Benedict XVI, a friend of Schoenstatt. His first encyclical letter Deus Caritas est encapsulates the heart of the Christian faith in a single phrase: “God is love, and he who abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him” (1 Jn 4:16). Being a Christian is essentially an encounter with a person who gives life a new direction. The late pontiff’s final words: “Jesus, I love you” attest to that. Our faith in Christ is not an “add-on” or an “extra”; it is the core of who we are as Christians.

As Schoenstatters we have made a covenant of love with the Blessed Mother who wants to put our hearts in order so that pure love can emanate from us. This love includes love for the cross. On January 20, we commemorate the second milestone of Schoenstatt’s history. This date is not just one among many other remembrance days in Schoenstatt’s rich history, but it is on the same level with October 18, 1914, the founding day, and with the other two milestones, May 31, 1949, and October 22, 1965.

For our father and founder, January 20, 1942, is the axis about which our whole Schoenstatt  history revolves. What happened before is verifiably directed to this day. What happened afterward wants to be seen as a consequence of this day. Therefore January 20, 1942, cannot be overestimated in its importance for Schoenstatt. Father Kentenich even compared this date to the events of “Holy Week”, that is, the celebration of the suffering and resurrection of Jesus whereby it is self-understood that this must be considered on an endlessly lower level. 

On January 20, 1942, the covenant of love matured to love for the cross. In this way, Schoenstatt is drawn into the great stream of going the way of the cross with Jesus. Father Kentenich’s total surrender to God’s will of January 20, 1942, to freely go to the Dachau concentration camp is ultimately a deed of freedom. Our father and founder staked his exterior freedom so that we would grow into the freedom of the children of God.

 May our Covenant Queen also implore this miracle of inner transformation for us! 

Sursum Corda!

Schoenstatt Sisters of Mary 

• In high school, there are plenty of people who are in need of a living Sursum corda. There’s this girl at school, and she doesn’t think she’s smart because she’s not “school smart”. She is talented in other ways; for example, she is a wonderful musician. Once I told her: “You’re not dumb, you’re just unconventionally smart.” Sometime later, she told me that touched her so much that she now has it on a sticky note on her bathroom mirror as a reminder. It really lifted up her heart! – S.V.
• My religion class in our homeschool co-op this year has helped me lift up my heart to God in a way I never thought was possible. – M.H.
• As the oldest of 8, you lift up a lot of hearts. Sometimes it’s pretty hard, but you have a constant opportunity to lift up others’ hearts. Constantly. – L.G.

“Our pilgrimage to the Holy Land led us to the Shepherds Field. What a beautiful surprise and greeting we got as we entered the cave. We were moved to tears when we were greeted by our MTA. A genuine sursum corda moment! Of course, we prayed for all intentions of our Schoenstatt Family, especially also for the canonization of our father and founder. It was also a special joy for us that the texts from Heavenwards accompanied us throughout our pilgrimage in Jordan and Israel.”

Advent Greetings from the Confidentia Shrine, 

The Old Testament knows a linguistic stylistic device called the prophetic perfect tense. It announces an event of the future but uses the past tense as if the event had already occurred. The idea behind this is: God has decided that something is going to happen, and if he has it decided, then it will occur as surely as if it had already happened.

Against this backdrop, our Advent longing is not the anticipation of an event that is expected, but our longing is that of an unshakeable faithful conviction in God’s faithfulness and love. Therefore, the Old Testament readings encourage us to ask ourselves what the deserts in our lives are, where we feel paralyzed, blind, deaf, or dumb, and where we feel imprisoned or exiled. These situations exist in our own lives: when we cannot cope with our limitations, when we suffer from our relationships, when we feel constricted, when nothing seems to work out and we feel as if we do not live up to our expectations. These situations also exist in our Church and our society. In all these situations we are promised that God will come as a Savior who will bring us his salvation. This is not only a promise, but also an assurance. 

As we begin the posadas today let us accompany Mary and Joseph on their way to Bethlehem let us remember: “all the disappointments connected with earthly things call out to us again and again: Rise higher! Sursum corda! God is the ultimate, God is eternal Love, the eternal, infinite Good, and Gift!” (J.K.)

United with you in our Schoenstatt Bethlehem,

Schoenstatt Sisters of Mary 

Greetings from the Confidentia Shrine!

Meanwhile, the leaders of the US Schoenstatt Movement have developed an umbrella statement that will guide us throughout the year. Starting with Advent, our focus will be Sursum Corda – Lift up your Hearts!  

We are familiar with the phrase from the Liturgy. In the Latin tradition, Sursum Corda is attributed to Hyppolytus of Rome (215). The expression was possibly taken from Lamentations 3:41.

The words Sursum corda are spoken by the priest shortly before the consecration, the climax of Holy Mass (delete comma) when heaven and earth meet so to speak. We are invited to lift our hearts to the Lord so that we are united as closely as possible to this mysterious event. 

When we pray “My Queen My Mother,” we surrender our love to God through Mary’s hands, letting her dispel what opposes God in us.

In turn, each one of us is called to become a living Sursum corda, lifting up those we serve, meet, encounter, and love.

Throughout this coming year, we will post special sursum corda days at the beginning of each month. With our greeting on each 15^th of the month, we will share some sursum corda moments of members of the Schoenstatt Family. So stay tuned. 

Wishing you a happy and blessed Thanksgiving! 

Schoenstatt Sisters of Mary   

In our Schoenstatt Shrine, I have always experienced the Blessed Mother as a living Sursum corda. She always invites me to lift up my heart to the Triune God. In her beautiful image, she points out to her Divine Son. I feel her eyes always looking at me, personally, with tender and merciful love. When I come to her with my misery, my sinfulness, and loaded with guilt, she assures me, the mercy and love of God are greater than my smallness and misery. In the Covenant of Love, she invites me to be more like her, to change my ways, to aspire for holiness every day, that is, doing what pleases God, to become a living Sursum corda for others in my surroundings.