Holy Masses
...Toward 2014
Each Saturday, since December 2009, 2014 and all the pilgrims on their pilgrimage towards the Original Shrine, confindently expecting “Grace 2014, are remembered at the place where they will gather on October 18, 2014, physically or spiritually, to renew the Covenat of Love and be sent out as missionaries for the second century of Schoenstatt’s existence.On the road to October 18, 2014: Saturday after Saturday Holy Mass is celebrated in the Original Shrine for the intentions of the Jubilee 2014.
The Holy Masses are simple. The Holy Mass as the most precious gift and sacrament of unity with Christ and each other, celebrated at the most holy place for each Schoenstatt person in the world, and offered for the jubilee 2014 as a moment of profound and missionary renewal of Schoenstatt in the “Grace 2014” – this is of inestimable value and a guaranties that grace accompanies and transforms each human step of the pilgrimage.
“In covenant with…” 130 countries
Beginning in March 2010 and until end September 2012, each Mass was celebrated in covenant with one of the countries where Schoenstatt is present through the Covenant of Love. The list, which was set up in alphabetical order, contains more than one hundred and thirty countries. If what we are celebrating in 2014 is the Covenant of Love, then this is what determines the definition of the countries in which Schoenstatt is present: Schoenstatt is present where there is someone who has sealed the Covenant of Love.
"I congratulate those who have taken the initiative to celebrate the Holy Mass every Saturday in the Original Shrine praying for the nations where Schoenstatt is present. In a way, it is the realization of the Founding Father's ‘favorite idea' of October 18, 1914: that Schoenstatt be a place of pilgrimage and of blessing ‘beyond' the borders, for the entire world," wrote Father Javier Arteaga, Director of the Schoenstatt Movement in Argentina.
These Holy Masses in the Original Shrine for the intentions of the Centenary clearly demonstrate the pilgrimage of the Family to the Original Shrine on October 18, 2014 has already begun.
The Holy Masses “towards 2014”, in the Original Shrine took us from one country to another where there is a presence of the Covenant of Love. In the course of almost three years, all the countries that have the Covenant of Love were mentioned, whether they are countries with decades of Schoenstatt history or thousands of members, or countries where there is a single Pilgrim MTA with two or three people on fire with the flame of the Covenant of Love. New names appeared which show the daring and ingenuity of those who believe in the Blessed Mother’s universal service from the Shrines…The names sometimes surprised us, but they also made us feel the responsibility of Mary’s love for them.
In the course of these 130 Masses in covenant with a country, there have been some 20 priests concelebrating with crowds standing outside, with choir and symbols in abundance, and there have been little flocks gathering on snowy, windy, rainy days. Some countries celebrated “their” Mass celebrating simultaneously Holy Masses with hundreds of people gathered; some countries were remembered without anybody in the very country even noticing. Some of these Holy Masses created the awareness of Schoenstatt being present there, some led to Schoenstatt people there networking… and each Mass in covenant with a country has showered jubilee graces upon this country and the whole world.
“In Covenant with …” the apostolic projects in the fields of apostolate
From the beginning of October 2012, almost coinciding with the Universal Church`s Year of Faith at the service of New Evangelization, and the Year of the Missionary Current in preparation for our Jubilee, it is the apostolic projects` turn.
Each first Saturday of the month, the Holy Mass “towards 2014” is celebrated in covenant with a category of projects in specific areas - all schools, kindergartens, media, vocation support initiatives, Family Academies, Marriage Accompaniment, Marriage Preparation, Social Projects for Sick, for Handicapped, for Poor, for children, Political Initiatives, Business Leadership, Family Missions, Youth Missions, Prison Pastoral, pedagogical courses, … and with the Schoenstatt Pilgrim Mother Campaign and its modalities - Prison, Babies at risk of life, schools, … - as the special apostolic and missionary “arm” of Schoenstatt. Thus, each first Saturday of the month, a vast number of different projects is remembered, whether they are known or not … inviting us to get on fire with so many different and great projects, answering the needs of people and sharing the graces of the shrine.
On the other Saturdays, it is the turn of specific Projects from the five fields of apostolate discovered and defined in the Conference 2014, beginning with those already present in the “Virtual Tents of the Covenant Culture”. As more and more projects are presented there, and as many more will come into existence, the projects are drawn each three months, from 3 – 4 (depending on the number of Saturdays per month) of the apostolic fields.
It is a similar process as with the countries: In the course of the years until October 18, 2014, all the projects born from the Covenant of Love are mentioned, whether they are wide ranging projects with decades of missionary, social or pedagogical history with hundreds of collaborators, or projects with a very small task and with two or three people on fire with the flame of the Covenant of Love being our mission. New names will appear which show the daring and ingenuity of those who believe in the Blessed Mother’s universal service from the Shrines…The names sometimes surprise us, but they also make us feel the responsibility of Mary’s love and her missionary outreach for them.
List of Projects and Project Groups January-April 2013
List of Projects and Project Groups May-July 2013
“In Covenant with” the Schoenstatt Communities around the world
Starting on August 2013 we want to continue the Saturday tradition of celebrating Holy Mass for the intentions of 2014, now in Covenant with the different Schoenstatt Communities around the world.
- With the Institutes
- with the Federations
- with the Apostolic League
Our spiritual pilgrimage offers every branch an opportunity to grow as a family and community of the Movement, but at the same time it is an opportunity for the growth of the communities amongst each other .
“In the next one hundred years: or we walk together or we no longer walk at all! Either we are Family or we will be nothing! To divide ourselves is to divide Father! A “divided” founder will never be recognized nor canonized. To unite – not only in spirit, but also strengthening our federative structures – it is to return the living Father for the Church and the world of today! To fulfill the mission of Schoenstatt in the next one hundred years, we need “very few things” (like the apostles in the Gospel): the staff of the leading presence of our Father, the mantle of the Covenant of Love with our Mother in the Shrine, and the sandals of the radical missionary consciousness of our heroes. But all of this will only be possible if we do it as a Family, in community! (…) No one can fulfill the mission alone!” (Fr. Alexandre Awi de Melo, Conference 2014)
In covenant with… the pilgrims on their pilgrimage
The Holy Masses “towards 2014” in the course of time have gained a growing impact of covenant solidarity. From the very beginning, special intentions and needs from countries or communities were incorporated – the devastating earthquakes in Haiti and in Chile as well as blessings of shrines, priestly ordinations of Schoenstatt Fathers, jubilee celebrations. The pilgrimage of the worldwide Schoenstatt Family towards 2014, their apostolic projects and missionary initiatives, and all those who contribute with their work, prayer or offering to the 2014 preparations, are incorporated in each Mass as specific intention.
The international Pilgrimage Prayer is prayed in each Mass, along with the Renewal of the Covenant of Love – a condensed anticipation of all that 2014 means.
From June 2011, another moment was added: the prayer petitions, offerings, commitment, contributions sent with longing, confidence and love to the Original Shrine via Schoenstatt.org, are printed and placed on the altar during this Mass, and then placed in the jar. In this way, we literally each Saturday morning
We fill the jars with our gifts:
With our gratitude and repentance,
With our surrender and longing...
Breakfast
After the Holy Mass on the first Saturday of every month, a breakfast is served for everyone at the “Old House” opposite of the Original Shrine.
Live transmission
Once a month, usually on the first Saturday of the month, the Mass is transmitted directly via the Internet thanks to www.schoenstatt-tv.de. It is later also available as video-on-demand.