W284 N404 Cherry Lane -
Waukesha, WI 53188
vocation@schsrsmary.org | (262) 522-4200
Our Apostolate
Just as Mary assisted Christ in establishing his kingdom, we, too, wish to help Christ build his realm everywhere through Schoenstatt. The request made by our late Holy Father, Pope John Paul II to all secular institutes is one that we strive to fulfill through all our apostolic endeavors:
“I would like to ask you to reflect on a resolution that is yours personally: to change the world from within. You are, in fact, integrated into the world completely, and not only in terms of your place in society; it is, above all, an essential inner attitude. You must therefore consider yourselves “part” of the world, pledged to sanctify it...” (John Paul II, 8-28-80, to Secular Institutes)
As Schoenstatt Sisters of Mary we were founded specifically to be the soul of the Schoenstatt Movement. We fulfill this mission in a variety of ways:
A number of our sisters work directly for the Schoenstatt Movement, either on a full-time or part-time basis. As educators within the branches for girls, women, and families, they conduct group meetings, retreats, days of reflection and pilgrimages, and help to train the leaders of the movement. A significant part of our apostolate also includes the staffing of our Schoenstatt Retreat Centers, which offer an atmosphere of silence, spiritual formation and prayer for our Schoenstatt communities and for other Catholic and non-Catholic religious functions.
Our sisters are also involved in a wide range of professions, both Church-related and secular - as our founder expressed it, “In all fields that correspond to the nature of woman.” Through our direct apostolic endeavors, but more importantly, through the apostolate of our life and being, we seek to bring the spirit of Schoenstatt, and thus the spirit of Christ and Mary, to all we may encounter in our working day. Those sisters who work within the community not only care for the practical details of our family life, but provide an atmosphere of home and prayer for our sisters and all who visit our houses. Our sick and elderly sisters, along with our adoration sisters, are the ‘lightening rods for grace’ for our community and the entire Schoenstatt work through their prayers and sacrifices. In this way all of our sisters, regardless of profession, age or condition, contribute to the new evangelization as images of Mary for the Church and world.
