Priests of the Covenant of Love
The spiritual tradition of consecration to Mary and the practice of the Covenant of Love are the basis of our spirituality. In our personal life as priests, the bond with Mary is a major help for being in touch with the reality of life and cultivating a culture of heart to heart attachments. While being close to Her, our openness to the Trinitarian God grows.
Experience says that the quest for communion among priests receives a positive influx of mutual spiritual connectedness from the loving closeness to Mary. This was already a reality within the young church in the first period after the Ascension of Christ, while remaining in the Cenacle, unanimously united with Mary in prayer. From Her we learn ever anew to open our lifes for God’s Spirit and to venture onto new ways, trusting His strength and grace.
Furthermore, we can expect from the intercession of Mary a constant help for our pastoral commitment. Nobody has a greater interest than Her that Jesus’ message reaches the hearts of men. She is the Mother of the Church. So it is good and useful if we teach people to live in union with Her – in a Covenant of Love. We trust that the Church, moulded by Marian love, will grow as a family characterized by fraternal bonds and able to be the soul of a new world culture.
In the Covenant of Love with Mary, our Mother Thrice Admirable of Schoenstatt, we take on our responsibility for the life in Her Schoenstatt Shrines all over the world, and in a special way for the source of life of the whole Schoenstatt Movement, which we call the Original Shrine.