Walking the Schoenstatt Marriage Camino

On a mild Saturday evening in 2018, at the South Texas Botanical Gardens and Nature Center, some eight couples (one celebrating an anniversary) gathered for a light dinner and the opportunity to explore their marriages more deeply through the unique lens of the Schoenstatt Marriage Camino. The only obstacles were a chance of thunderstorms, which never materialized, and some hungry mosquitoes that amounted to only a slight distraction. Otherwise, it was a beautiful, refreshing evening. 

The gardens were colorful and well kept. Periodically flocks of migrating birds flew overhead, and butterflies danced along a portion of the path. It was what life rarely is for the modern married-with-children couple–quiet and peaceful, which it was supposed to be to encourage reflection and discussion.

Abel and Donna Canales, a couple who participated in the 2018 Marriage Camino, said their experience attending was most fulfilling.

“We were able to share, meditate, and grow as a couple. The stations we visited provided us the opportunity to see God’s continued blessings in our marriage,” Donna Canales said. “The stations were not a coincidence but prompted by God’s revelation of what we needed to embrace in our marriage to grow in union with him. May God bless all marriages and those discerning married life.”

Initially developed by Schoenstatt couples in Hungary, the Marriage Camino consists of a series of 15 stations along a pathway that a couple walks together, alone with each other. Each station includes a general theme relating to some aspects of marriage, such as the romance of how the couple first met. Another station considered how things changed when children come along. Others addressed what to do when difficulties arise; prayer; readings; and a unique visual symbol that may help stir emotions and questions for discussion.

As a couple moves from station to station in no particular order, they have time to reflect upon and discuss these readings and questions or whatever else may need to address about their marriage. There are no leaders of the Marriage Camino. Each couple receives a short explanation and a book, and then they are sent off to choose for themselves which stations to visit and how long to stay at each station. The goal is not to complete all fifteen stations, or even a majority of those stations, but to visit and reflect on particular ones God may be calling the couple to explore.

Another couple who attended the Marriage Camino, Roger and Elisa Cavazos, agreed that their experience was fruitful and divine. “The Marriage Camino was God’s providence for us through the Blessed Mother. We loved it. Thank you to all the couples for their love and guidance,” Roger Cavazos said.

Rather than merely a one-time experience, the local Schoenstatt community. The local Schoenstatt Movement hopes to present the Marriage Camino regularly and has already prepared materials that are available for any parish or organization wanting to use them to conduct their own Marriage Camino. In this time of crisis and confusion for the family, married couples need tools like this to remain faithful to the ideal of a Catholic marriage.

The Schoenstatt Marriage Camino once again invites married and engaged couples to follow the pilgrim pathway of their marriage together through a series of stations in the prayerful setting of the South Texas Botanical Gardens, 8545 South Staples in Corpus Christi on Saturday, March 28 from 6-8 p.m. The event is free and includes a light meal. Childcare for children older than three years of age is also available. Donations are gratefully accepted. To register or for more information, call (361) 991-7653.