Covenant of Love

Today it seems that God has been declared to be nonexistent, or at least, widely ignored. The basis of Schoenstatt's spirituality is the essential message and experience: God lives! This conviction does not remain on a theoretical or poetical level, but is a part of life and determines a certain way of life. The active apostolate here and now can be understood as a response of love to that God of love, who works and is present in creation and in our personal lives.

This faith in the God of life does not reveal itself only on Sundays or Holy Days, but becomes a faith of the other six days also - a faith which penetrates every aspect of life. Such an Everyday Sanctity belongs to the centre of Schoenstatt's spirituality. Everyday Sanctity cannot limit itself to conduct our lives around that which is obligatory and that which is forbidden or almost forbidden, but encourages us to seek with an open heart God's will and His plan for us.

The Founder, Father Joseph Kentenich, lived the conviction that a genuine devotion to Mary always results in a living and active following of Christ. The beginning of Schoenstatt was a Covenant of Love with Mary. This consecration has become a way of life for the Schoenstatt of today. For every Christian this life of the Covenant begins at baptism, when a person is incorporated into the mystery of Christ - a Covenant which is everlasting. The Covenant of Love with our Lady of Schoenstatt is an original way of renewing, securing and applying that baptismal commitment - as the centre and driving force of Schoenstatt's spirituality. The bond with Mary, the model and Mother of the Church, leads to a practical faith with the living God, who is permanently active in the lives of each individual and in the history of the world.


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