The Secular Institute of Schoenstatt Fathers was canonically erected in Germany on 18 July in the year 1965. It was granted the pontifical approbation on June 24, 1988 and its Constitutions were approved by the Holy See, on 22 February 1994. As a part of its expansion policy and in the interest of spreading the message of covenant culture, the Secular Institute of Schoenstatt Fathers began to spread its wings to India, recruit new members from India, and establish houses in different parts of South India. The Secular Institute of Schoenstatt Fathers registered a tremendous development with regard to the number of members who committed themselves to follow the path of consecrated life upholding the three Evangelical Counsels namely Chastity, Poverty and Obedience. Through the letter dated 17 June 2015, the General Council announced the erection of new Region called Mother Thrice Admirable Region. All the priests and the members of the Secular Institute of Schoenstatt Fathers who originated from Tamil Nadu became the part of Mother Thrice Admirable (MTA) Region.
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Fr. Dhanabal Raja ISch - President
+91 95438 02452, 97889 76132
dhanabalraja@yahoo.de -
Fr. Sunil Kumar ISch - Secretary
+91 94888 2680, 95856 64856
sunilcreative05@yahoo.com
Welcome to The Schoenstatt Fathers Mother Thrice Admirable (MTA) Region-India
Our Memoir
Vision
Forming the new man in the new community
Mission
As Marian educators, realize the three fold goal, through the covenant and the shrine for the renewal of Church and Society.
Identity
A Marian priest at home is the shrine, through the covenant of love, in the relationship with human and the divine, together with our Father and Founder.
Ongoing Projects
Schoenstatt Matriculation School
With the vision of “Forming a new man in the new community through holistic education and family environment” Schoenstatt fathers started a school “Sunrise Nursery and Primary School” in 2011 to provide proper education to the inmates of sunrise village. The main objective of this school is to educate our own sunrise village children who are very poor and abandoned in the society, as well as the children from the neighboring locality. Children from various walks of life: Tsunami affected children, orphans, semi orphans, child laborers, inmates of sunrise children village, Children of Srilankan refugee camp and other children from the neighboring villages are the beneficiaries from this school project.
At present there are 250 children and the school is housed in well maintained premises with spacious class rooms, well maintained library, and very good attractive play ground for the kids along with the garden. We have enough facilities to provide for the children to grow more in physical, mental, moral and cultural level through systematic co-curricular and extracurricular activities.
The new building is on its way for the completion. The existing school children and staff are looking forward to shift to the new premises.
Community life - Family of fathers around the Father
Our institute has a pronounced family character. It is oriented on the Christian family, ultimately on the inner Trinitarian family life and on the Nazareth family. This character leaves its mark on the community as a whole and in its parts. The whole community is a large family made up of smaller families. Our family's origin lies in the fatherhood of the living God who chose us in Christ Jesus to be his children, who unites us in the Holy Spirit, and who leads us as a Father and shepherd in a sacred history by our belonging to the family, our founder is given to us as a father and we receive the fatherhood of those who govern in the name of the institute. This belonging gives us a new title under which we can call Mary our Mother and Educator. As sons of this family we are brothers to one another. The Sion Shrine is our spiritual home and the place where true family spirit is educated. By building up our community as a family of God, we want to make an important contribution towards realizing the ideal of the new community in the natural family, in the Church, and in society.
The Priests of 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. 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.
The priests of Sion
The founder - Father Joseph Kentenich - gave the name to this place on the high ridge overlooking the Rhine Valley in 1966. Here he interpreted the significance and the task of both the community and the place. Hence, the community sees “Mount Sion” as a place, a legacy, and the founder’s entrustment of our mission. We want to live a vibrant relationship with God; so rooted we want to work for a world attached to God and, in him, able to find unity and harmony. Our vocation is to work totally for the inspiration, the organization, and the unity of the Schoenstatt Movement.
Become a Schoenstatt father
The complete formation of a Schoenstatt Fathers lasts for about 12 years. According to the recommendation of our Founder Fr Joseph Kentenich, the priestly ordination occurs from the age of 30 on. Our training includes three components: spiritual formation, academic study, and practical preparation for the priesthood. Over the decade of formation, these three components take place and alternate in a complementary way. The candidate will undergo
- Postulancy
- Philosophy (Madurai)
- Novitiate - a concentrated time of blessings and grace ( Bangalore)
- The contract - consecration in the course of study
- Pedagogical Internship and First Tertianship
- Practical Pastoral Training
- Second Tertianship
- Theology (Bangalore)