USA

Mothers’ Federation in the USA

The Mothers’ Federation in the USA, Father Kentenich’s Exile Land, began in May 1987, in the State of Texas. We believe we have a special mission and task here in the land of our Founder’s exile. We wish to become Father’s joyful, credible witness, his letter of recommendation, by living and proclaiming his charism. It is our belief that our Mother Thrice Admirable entered into the USA as the great educator and wants to assist us in fulfilling our mission as Federation Mothers.

Our Father’s vision

From our Shrine, we want to accomplish what our Father and Founder saw in the Americans: “The more I get to know the Americans with their childlike hearts, simplicity, and open-mindedness, the more I am convinced that they are the material from which saints can be carved.” (J.K. February 1953).

With heaven’s grace and our apostolic work and with inner freedom for our personal sanctification, we pray we can accomplish our Father’s vision.

Fr. Dieter Hass and Sr. M. Corelia Bechold were given the task by the General Presidium to accompany the foundational work of our Mothers’ Federation. In 2009, Fr. Christian Christensen took over the foundational accompaniment with Sr. M. Corelia.

At present, there are six courses with final consecration and one group of mothers discerning this vocation.

“Transparency of Mary, our Mother”

In June of 2006, all courses worked together to search for a common ideal. On the Solemnity of the Most Holy Trinity, June 11, 2006, we found our Federation Ideal: “Transparency of Mary, our Mother”. It remains our daily spiritual commitment, to strive to reach it, until our last breath.

In 2011, Areas of the official community were established. In the USA, we have four areas, widely spaced with several dioceses.

The Constitution of the Mothers’ Federation of the USA slowly developed over time. In December 2014, as a Jubilee gift, we had our first and constitutive Chapter for the territory.

On December 12, 2014, the Chapter participants officially signed our Constitution, under the gaze of our Blessed Mother, our Federation Queen, in the Confidentia Shrine in Lamar, Texas. We celebrated as a community with hearts full of joy and gratitude in April of 2015! We had present in our minds and hearts the Mothers who had gone before us, and their commitment in laying the foundation for the Mothers’ Federation in the United States.

The conquest of a scepter for our Queen

For several years, we prepared ourselves, striving to conquer a scepter materially and spiritually, as a gift to our Federation Queen. On November 16, 2019, still in the 100-jubilee year of the Federation, with great joy, we presented it to her as Mothers’ Federation community. She is our beautiful Queen; she reigns with loyalty over us in the territory of the United States.

The Adoration Circle

In 2020, we formed an Adoration Circle within our community. A number of our mothers pray before the Blessed Sacrament and keep regular adoration, bringing to the Lord the many intentions of our community, our Schoenstatt family, and the needs of the world.

The International Congresses and our first International Leader

Since 2002, we had representation in all international congresses of our Mothers’ Federation. In 2022, we were blessed to be part of the first International Chapter in Germany, where we were constituted as one International Apostolic Federation of Schoenstatt Mothers. It is our great joy to have one of the members of our USA territory elected as our first International Leader, Mrs. Kathleen Colunga.

We are grateful to God for his guidance in the history of our territory!