Ladies of Schoenstatt  

The Secular Institute of Our Lady of Schoenstatt is one of the six institutes of consecrated life of the Schoenstatt Movement. The members, who are consecrated women, live in the midst of the world according to the evangelical counsels of poverty, obedience and chastity. Members work in different professional capacities in the world as well as within the Schoenstatt family.

After the Schoenstatt Sisters of Mary were founded in 1926, the desire to have a community of consecrated women working “in the world” arose. The first experience in this newly created form of life began in 1935 with Fr. Joseph Kentenich and Maria Eugenia Mahringer, with whom he started the community. In 1938 the first statutes were drafted, and the name "Our Lady of Schoenstatt" was given to this new community of women within Schoenstatt. The first Novitiate began in 1941, and in 1949 the community began construction of its mother house, House Regina in Schoenstatt, Germany.

The Church's recognition was granted to the community on May 31, 1972, and on September 15, 1977, it was recognized as a Secular Institute of Pontifical Right in accordance with Canons 710-730 of the 1983 CIC. The community has about 300 members, mainly in Europe and Latin America. The Ladies of Schoenstatt have served the women’s branches of the Schoenstatt Movement of Austin since 2007.

For more information on the Secular Institute of Our Lady of Schoenstatt, please visit: 

http://www.frauen-von-schoenstatt.de/

or email Rachel Gardner at rgardner@schoenstatt.us