17 June 2024 · 2024-06 newsletter
The wooden carved statues of Saints Peter and Paul are found to the left and right of the Shrine altar, just below the image of our Mother Thrice Admirable.
A reminder
They are a reminder to us that Schoenstatt is an apostolic movement, and we are all called to be apostolic and to serve the Church with our unique, individual gifts and talents as did St. Peter and St. Paul.
History of the statues
The statues were placed in the Original Shrine in 1935 for the 100th anniversary of the founding of St. Vincent Pallotti’s Catholic Apostolate. They also remind us that Mary is the Queen of Apostles and that the Shrine is a new Cenacle.
(Adapted from 200 questions: Fr. J. Niehaus)
St Paul
Fr. Kentenich, on his 73rd birthday, made the following reference to St. Paul in relation to his own mission:
“If we asked St. Paul what mission he had, he would tell us: I received the mission to proclaim the mystery of Christ to the world; Christ, the Redeemer, the Mediator, the Head of the Mystical Body. We immediately ask: What mission did I receive seventy-three years ago?”
Fr Kentenich
With one eye on St. Paul, I may say: It was and is my mission to proclaim the mystery of Mary to the world.
It is my task to proclaim the Blessed Mother, to make her known to our time as the permanent Helpmate of our Lord in the entire work of redemption … [to proclaim] the Blessed Mother – deeply united with our Lord, joined in two-in-oneness – with the specific mission which she has from her Schoenstatt Shrine for today.”
(J. Kentenich, Milwaukee, 16 November 1958)
Filed underNewsletter · Reflections