Schoenstatt Shrine

My sister invited me to daily Mass at her parish, St. Vincent Pallotti in Milwaukee, to pray for my dad on the 8th anniversary of his death on July 1st.  Daily Mass at St. Vincent is quite early at 6:25 am, so after Mass I found myself with a little extra time on my hands before I had to leave for work.  I decided to spend that time in prayer in the little Schoenstatt Shrine that is directly behind the church.

The Schoenstatt Shrine is charming but even more so were the hospitable sisters that I found praying their morning prayers when I arrived.  How quickly they had arrived at the chapel following Mass!  I joined them in their prayers whenever I could, such as praying the Angelus, and when they were through they invited me to sign their visitor book, thanked me for praying with them and were very gracious when I asked about taking a few pictures.

This wasn't my first time praying at the Schoenstatt Shrine; I've gone there for adoration from time to time, but this visit moved me in a special way, perhaps because of the kindness that the sisters showed me, or maybe it was because my dad was praying for me as my sister and I were praying for him, and I could feel his love more deeply than ever that morning.

The original Schoenstatt Shrine is in Germany, home of the lay movement's founder, Fr. Kenneth Kentenich, and there are 180 replica shrines throughout the world, including four in Wisconsin. Mass is offered at the Milwaukee Schoenstatt Shrine, 5310 W. Wisconsin Avenue, on Wednesdays at 7:30 pm, and Eucharistic Adoration is held from 9 am-2 pm Monday through Saturday.  To learn more about Schoenstatt visit this link.

Schoenstatt Prayer of Good Intention

All I experience today,

What I say and what I dare,

All my thoughts and all my actions,

What I love and what I merit,

All that I direct and conquer

All my joys and all my sorrows,

All that I am and have,

I give to you as a gift of love.

Use it so the holy stream of grace

Flows richly from this shrine

To win hearts for Schoenstatt

Lead there all those whom you have chosen

That the work we offer to the triune God

May be fruitful.  Amen.

I was impressed that the stained glass window portrays an image of the chapel

Our Mother Thrice Admirable is the centerpiece of every Schoenstatt Chapel-this year Schoenstatt is celebrating it's 100th anniversary so the banner across the altar and the candle in the center are in honor of that joyous occasion