A Memorial
To our Deceased Sisters of Mary
“You will be a glorious crown in the hand of the Lord,
a royal diadem in the right hand of your God.” (Is 62:3)
Since the beginning of my life as a sister, the shining eyes of my elderly co-sisters and the exciting stories of their lives have fascinated me. They speak of a generation that grew up in a time of many exterior hardships, who found their great love and their life’s task in Schoenstatt and who, filled with faith, sacrificial spirit, and inner ardor, built up a world-wide Schoenstatt family from small, poor beginnings. Gratefully I experience every day the fidelity of the often long, eventful life of a sister who lives for Schoenstatt and its worldwide mission.
But time and again it is also deeply moving to witness the completion of such a very unique life. When one of our co-sisters dies, we experience over and over in an impressive way what our father and founder promised–that he would take the children of Schoenstatt over the threshold into eternity. Even with “stormy” characters – how much peace there is in the last moments of life! Everything that is difficult becomes fruitful, everything that has been lived through is rounded off, perfected and precious.
Our cemeteries hold these treasures and invite us ever anew to meet, to talk, to give thanks and to pray.
Unfortunately, our Cemetery at Liebfrauenhoehe, Germany cannot be made bigger. Therefore we had to disinter some of the oldest graves. But we wanted to keep the sisters and their names within our midst. For this reason, as of December 2021, we have a memorial in the center of our cemetery with these names. It is designed to mirror the Coronation Church, the landmark of Liebfrauenhöhe, and suggests the shape of a crown.
A crown is a sign of dignity and perfection
Every person is a unique, beloved child of God, a crown of his creation. The Blessed Virgin Mary—without sin and full of grace, the Mother of God—is the most precious crown of humanity. If, with the Blessed Mother, we journey to the eternal Father, then the word of the prophet applies to us: “You will be a glorious crown in the hand of the Lord, a royal diadem in the right hand of your God.” (Is 62:3)
The 12 panels point to the twelve Apostles who followed Christ. Their Center is Christ This discipleship continues throughout history unto the present, as the names of the sisters testify.
A sun of bright colored glass with a cross shines from the center. It points to the resurrection of Christ. He has redeemed us, he is the Light of the world. At Baptism Christ becomes the Sun of our personal life. Our life’s journey leads us home through light and darkness to him and to the Triune God where the Sun of Love never sets.
The sun disk is upheld by the crown of stars of the Mother of God, pointing to the covenant of love with her. (Rev 12:1)
We thank all of our co-sisters, who faithful to their vocation, have led people to God in the covenant of love with the Blessed Virgin Mary. They are precious in the hand of God and to our family. We do not want to forget them. We trust in their intercession before God on our behalf who are still on the way home to God.