As the Community of the Schoenstatt Fathers is a secular institute of active apostolic life, it requires a centre of contemplative life to complement it. It was the founder himself, Fr Joseph Kentenich, who recognised this reality in the history of the Church. Whilst he was in the Dachau concentration camp, he came into contact with monks from Mount Athos and realised the immense richness and benefit that the contemplative life brings to the Church. For our founder, everything that has proved fruitful in the Church over the centuries must have a place in the Schoenstatt Family. That is why he asks the Sisters of Mary, just as he does the Schoenstatt Fathers, to offer their members the opportunity to live in contemplative communities or even as hermits; whether for a period of time or for life.

Contemplative life amongst the Schoenstatt Fathers began in 1970 at the newly blessed Shrine on Mount Sion, the heart of the International Community. The so-called ‘Fathers of Adoration’ have, from the very beginning, been convinced that their mission is, above all, to support the apostolic work of the Schoenstatt Fathers and the Schoenstatt Family throughout the world. The expression that gives meaning to this responsibility is daily adoration in the Mount Sion Shrine. We can say that the Fathers of Adoration, through their presence and way of life, transform this place of grace into a ‘praying shrine’. Although their way of life is centred on this small place, they are at the same time open to, and in connection with, the reality of the Schoenstatt Family and the Church in the various countries.