18 February 2026 · 2026-02 newsletter
After years of discussion, it was decided at the National Conference last year that our national Shrine at Mulgoa should bear the name “Consors Patris” (in English: Helpmate of the Father). With this decision it was agreed that we share with our movement members the meaning and importance of naming a Shrine as well as the history of how the name chosen came about.
With this in mind, Michelle Davis, who has been a member of the Schoenstatt Singles Women’s League for many years, has prepared a video for the February Covenant Day. Since February the 18th is Ash Wednesday this year and the Covenant Zoom meeting will not take place this month, the following text is what Michelle has prepared. We hope that it will help your understanding of this important decision and also the beauty and fullness of the meaning of “Consors Patris”.
A name is the essence of a person – or place, names are used in the bible to highlight special places or happenings. Place names in the Bible are crucial because they aren’t just geography; they’re theological markers, embodying divine encounters, covenant promises, cultural identity, and key redemptive events, teaching lessons about God’s character (faithfulness, judgment, grace) and humanity’s spiritual journey, turning physical locations into vibrant symbols of God’s unfolding plan.
There are 3 core functions of a name:
Identification: Distinguishes you from others, serves as a primary label for recognition and interaction.
Self- concept: Forms part of your self-identity, how you understand yourself and your place in the World.
Belonging: Connections to family, community and Culture – often carrying ancestral stories or meanings.
These functions are the same for places – A label for recognition, Concept of the purpose of the place and it’s belonging to a community explaining the meaning or role.
Why am I sharing this with you. You may (or may not) be aware the Schoenstatt Shrine at Mulgoa is being named the CONSORS PATRIS SHRINE.
This decision was made at the National Conference last year and I would like to share a little of the reason for and meaning of naming the Shrine, and what the name means. Every Schoenstatt Shrine has a name and a Mission – which also brings with it an ideal. Consors Patris is Latin for the English Helpmate of the Father.
As you probably know Schoenstatt is a Marian and Apostolic Movement. At the centre of our spirituality is a covenant of love the members of Schoenstatt make with our Mother Thrice Admirable, Queen and Victress of Schoenstatt. The founder of the Schoenstatt Movement, Fr. Joseph Kentenich taught that Mary holds a unique position and role in God’s plan of redemption as the "permanent helpmate and associate of Christ in the entire work of salvation".
In her we see her:
Intimate Union with Christ: the "two-in-oneness" between Mary and Christ. Mary’s relationship with her Son is the core of her being, as is her love for Christ as his mother. But in a more profound way we see her Active Cooperation: Mary is not a passive figure who simply gave birth to Jesus and then faded away; she actively cooperates with God’s will at every stage of her life. Her "fiat" (her "yes" to God) at the Annunciation initiated the New Creation and made redemption possible through her giving birth to Jesus. Mary’s motherhood and discipleship did not end with Jesus’ Crucifixion but continues, for the faithful today as she guides and intercedes for us.
She leads us to her son as our Mother and educator. From our Schoenstatt Shrine we see it as her special mission to form us into “other Christs” to bring Christ into our modern world and times.
Model of Faith and Hope: Fr. Kentenich presented Mary as the ideal human person, the "Immaculata," who exemplifies complete obedience, faith, hope, and charity. She is the "Mother of Hope" who stood firmly at the foot of the cross, demonstrating unwavering trust in God’s plan.
For Fr. Kentenich, proclaiming Mary’s role as the permanent helpmate was his specific mission for the world. For us in Australia we have chosen to name our National Shrine Consors Patris, as it highlights Mary’s Role and Mission and has had a long history with the Australian Schoenstatt mission.
With a name comes an ideal and Mission – We discerned our shrines Mission in the early 1980’s as: One Heart in the Father for the Family of God.
What does this mean? It holds many meanings but the one I see is: we as a Schoenstatt Family with our Lady are one heart in God, striving like our Lady to do God’s will. Our Mission like our Lady’s is to bring Christ to the Church and our Modern World. In sharing in Mary’s mission, we to want to be a Consors to God our Father – a helpmate and associate in bringing Christ to our World and times. Or another way of seeing the name of the shrine and Mission of the shrine – is for us to strive to be helpmates of the father which means to say Yes like Mary, to align our lives with God’s plan, and to draw others into his family.
History of ‘Consors Patris’ in Australia:
In 1995 the Schoenstatt National Family recrowned the Mother Thrice Admirable in our National Shrine as Consors Patris.
We heard last year from Sr. Elizabeth some of the History of Mary being Consors Patris (helpmate of the Father):
“After arriving in Australia in 1951 the Sisters in 1958, crowned the Blessed Mother as Consors Patris, or Helpmate of the Father. When the Shrine was built in 1968 that crowned picture was placed in the Shrine. Up until this point “Consors Patris” seemed to just be something the sisters strived for. In 1994 the crown was taken down, and the sisters took it to Germany and Rome to be present at the crowning in the Cor Ecclesiae Shrine in Rome. When it returned the sisters saw the opportunity to work with the Schoenstatt Family and prepare to re-crown Our Lady. Then everyone would feel that it is “their” crown, and Our Lady would be asked to be Queen, not only of our hearts but also of our mission in Australia. During the year 1994-1995 the crown travelled around Australia to all groups existing at the time. A question arose: What title do we give Our Lady. There were several suggestions – however very early on, when the crown was in Western Australia, one of the members asked what the original title was. “Consors Patris” was the answer, and the response was “then why do we change it?” and everyone agreed. The task was then to explain the meaning of Our lady’s title: Consors Patris – or in English, Helpmate of the Father. It is 30 years since this crowning and we have many new members, so that is why I repeat this history.”
In Schoenstatt we work with ideals and with ideals comes a task or a mission. As shared earlier the mission from the shrine is:
One heart in the Father for the Family of God.
When we look at Our Lady, we see that she is the unique daughter of God the Father. She was called to cooperate in the father’s plan for salvation. In Lumen Gentium, the Vatican 11 document on the Church, Chapter 8, which is dedicated to our Lady, we read: ‘Wishing in his supreme goodness and wisdom to effect the redemption of the world, “when the fullness of time came, God sent his Son, born of a woman… that we might receive the adoption of sons” (Gal. 4:4).5
It was God the Father whose plan it was to send Christ to redeem the world. The fulfillment of this plan was dependent on the response of Our Lady. Mary’s “Fiat” was therefore, a ‘yes’ to the plan of God the Father. By her becoming the mother of the Redeemer, she helped in the redemption of the world. She was indeed a ‘helpmate’ of the Father or Consors Patris.
She not only conceived and bore the Son, but she accompanied him during his whole life until Christ himself gave her to us, as his last will and testament: Behold you mother. This was obviously the will of his Father. Through Jesus’ life we see Mary as Christ’s permanent helpmate in the entire work of redemption, she is fulfilling the heavenly Father’s plan. She is Helpmate of the Father.
The title Consors Patris also belongs to Our Lady’s mission in the Schoenstatt Work. She accepted the invitation to come and dwell in the Shrine and there to distribute graces that will help all those who turn to her to find their way home to the heavenly Father. Fr. Kentenich was very clear that his task was to lead all those entrusted to him to Mary in the Covenant of Love. He often said that his task was accomplished once his children had entered into the covenant of Love because then Our Lady would take over and form and educate them. So, we can say that Our Lady helps our father to fulfil the mission given to him to help lead the people of God home to the Father because she has accepted the invitation to be active from the Shrine, to be the one who intercedes the graces needed by those who turn to her in the Shrine.
We can also say that we are called to be Consors of the Father when, by virtue of the Covenant of Love, we lead others to our Mother Thrice admirable, so that she may fulfil her task from the Shrine. If we say that we are Consors of the Father, we are essentially saying that by virtue of the Covenant of Love we are helping in the mission of Schoenstatt to lead the world home to God the Father.
When our Shrine was Blessed, Fr. Kentenich could not come in person, so he sent a letter. In it he wrote:
“our mission is a participation in the mission of our Mother Thrice Admirable, Queen and Victress of Schoenstatt. She is the official and permanent companion and helpmate of the Saviour in the entire work of redemption.”
These words highlighted to us, that we share in this mission and so it was fitting that in 1995, when the movement crowned the Blessed Mother in our National Shrine we used the title: “Consors Patris”, Helpmate of the Father. We see that as Consors Patris Queen, Our Lady wants to help us fulfil our mission to be “One heart in the Father for the Family of God. We have no doubt that Our Lady has made her abode in the Shrine to “educate the people and leaders of Australia and enable them to carry out the post-conciliar mission of the Church”, she is in fact “Consors Patris”. She will carry out this task in as far as she helps us to fulfil our mission to be “One Heart in the Father for the Family of God”.
5 Vatican Documents. LG. no. 52
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