Walking the Schoenstatt Marriage Camino

Our experience on the path to a renewed appreciation for our marriage and each other

On a mild Saturday evening in September, 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 we faced this time 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, flocks of migrating birds periodically 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 Marriage Camino said their experience attending the Marriage Camino 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.” They 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 fifteen stations along a pathway that a couple walks together, alone with each other. Each station includes a general theme relating to some aspect of marriage: the romance of how the couple first met; how things changed when children come along; what to do when difficulties arise; a prayer; readings; a special visual symbol which 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, then 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 the particular ones God is calling you as a couple to explore.

Another couple who attended the Marriage Camino, Roger and Elisa Cavazos, said 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."

Rather than merely a one-time experience, the local Schoenstatt community, in cooperation with the Diocese of Corpus Christi Office of Laity, Family and Life, hopes to present the Marriage Camino on a regular basis. Also, the materials have already been prepared and are available for any parish or organization that would like 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 Catholic Marriage.