Abstract
The authors reflect on the anthropological notion of pilgrimage of the People of God and the place of ecclesial movements therein. While many movements are associated with a pilgrimage to a particular shrine, the very birth of the Schoenstatt Movement coincides with, and depends upon, the Schoenstatt Shrine. Founded in Germany at the outbreak of World War I, on October 18, 1914, by Father Joseph Kentenich (1885–1968), the international Apostolic Movement of Schoenstatt is animated by a threefold spirituality corresponding to the three graces received through pilgrimage to Schoenstatt’s shrine. This essay argues that the structural principles of formation inherent in every pilgrimage have found a unique pedagogical application in the Schoenstatt Shrine, where pilgrims encounter Our Lady—the Mother Thrice Admirable, Queen, and Victress of Schoenstatt—as Educatrix and archetype of each pilgrim. Fittingly, all centennial celebrations in Schoenstatt, Germany, in Rome, and at more than two hundred Schoenstatt shrines throughout the world take on the character of a pilgrimage to thank God for the stream of life and grace that originated from this shrine and that continues to flow as a blessing for the church and world of the third millennium.
Recommended Citation
Astell, Ann W. and Peters, Danielle M.
(2014)
"Schoenstatt’s Shrine for the Pilgrim People of God,"
Claritas: Journal of Dialogue and Culture: Vol. 3
:
No.
2,
Article 8.
Available at:
https://docs.lib.purdue.edu/claritas/vol3/iss2/8