The Schoenstatt Sisters in WA have commenced a new initiative to mark the 100-year anniversary of the movement’s founding.
The Sisters aim to have friends of Schoenstatt walk 13,959km before the October 18 anniversary – the distance between the Mt Richon Shrine and the movement’s hometown in Germany.
Students of Ursula Frayne Catholic College were the first school to take part in the pilgrimage walk last week.
On February 27 about 100 high school students walked 2km each, carrying the Pilgrim Mother image with them.
Their contribution, combined with that of the primary school students at Ursula Frayne, took the total walked so far to more than 4,000km.
Organiser Sr Lisette Dreis said about 40 Catholic schools in Perth will walk the same journey in the coming months.
These schools also have a pane in a stained glass window Sr Lisette is putting together for the anniversary celebrations.
“We thought it would be nice if the schools were involved in the pilgrimage, to raise awareness of the Jubilee event,” she said.
The school students are also raising funds for their walks, which will go towards the Schoenstatt Sisters’ mission in typhoon-affected Tacloban in the Philippines.
While the money raised will be an added benefit of the walk, Sr Lisette said she was impressed with the Ursula Frayne students’ generosity and enthusiasm.
“The student leaders went to every class this week and invited the students to join or donate, the donations were really amazing,” she said. “I find young people get very enthusiastic about a project, and that’s really nice.”
Visitors to the Shrine in Mt Richon can also contribute to the 13,959km walk, by recording their individual efforts in a book Sr Lisette looks after.
The Schoenstatt Sisters established a mission in the Philippines in 1987, which is based in Cebu.
A shrine was built there over many years, and was opened and blessed in 2003.