The Blessed Sacrament Story

Schoenstatt is a movement within the Catholic Church. It began in 1914 and is now in over 80 countries around the world. It is named “Schoenstatt” after its place of origin near Koblenz, Germany; the word means “beautiful place”.
Its most distinctive feature is the Schoenstatt Shrine, a small chapel which holds about 30 people. The founding of the Shrine as a place of grace (October 18, 1914) is considered the founding of the movement. Today, there are over 200 replicas of the original shrine around the world. Madison has one of the ten US Schoenstatt Shrines. Click the image to learn more!

The Shrine is dedicated to Mary as Mother Thrice Admirable, or “MTA”. The founding generation of youth chose this picture and title in 1915. It reminds us that we look to Mary in our everyday lives. She leads us (1) to God, (2) to Christ, and (3) is our Mother.

Hence the use of “thrice” (=“three times”) admirable.

Schoenstatt's founder was Fr. Joseph Kentenich (1885-1968). In 1914, he was a young priest working with high school boys in Schoenstatt, Germany. The movement grew out of his work with youth and soon expanded to all walks of life. He led a long and fruitful life serving the Church.

The central part of our spirituality is the Covenant of Love with the MTA. This is the “Schoenstatt consecration” to Mary. In its spirit, it is very similar to the de Montfort consecration (“all in, with, through, and for Mary”), but with the additional unique features that it creates a local attachment to the Shrine, and the sense of belonging to a spiritual family, the Schoenstatt movement.

The Covenant of Love helps those living the Schoenstatt Spirituality to make their daily work and efforts count. This everyday sanctity is lived by offering challenges, difficulties and joys to Mary’s “capital of grace”, that is a treasury of grace for our self-sanctification and for her to help others in their personal striving or daily struggles. This is done with the conviction of being part of and responsible for the Kingdom of God here on earth.

The Schoenstatt family (as the movement is often called) has many branches, including branches for families, priests, men, women, etc. The Schoenstatt Fathers, the community that run Blessed Sacrament Parish belong to the Schoenstatt Family and have the mission to network the different branches within the national and international Schoenstatt Movement.

Taken from Schoenstatt Boys Leaders’ Manual, J. Niehaus. Waukesha, WI 2005, p. 4. (expanded upon by M. Niehaus)

Dominican Heritage

Our Dominican heritage makes Blessed Sacrament Parish unique.

For 102 years, we were staffed by Friars of the Province of St. Albert the Great of the Order of Preachers (O.P.) (commonly known as the Dominicans), but under the Diocese of Madison. The Dominican mission is preaching. Central to the Dominican charism are the four pillars: prayer, study, community, and ministry. Read below to learn more about the pillars.

As of July 2024, the Schoenstatt Fathers have staffed Blessed Sacrament. We are delighted to continue honoring our Dominican heritage while jumping into the Schoenstatt spirituality. Go to the first tab to learn more about the Schoenstatt spirituality.

Our History

Originally the parish was to be built near Commonwealth Avenue and Gregory Street when it was established in February 1922. Concerns over parish boundaries and the results of a parish census made it necessary to relocate and build our current campus. The current gym was originally used as the church and school (with the first Mass on April 20, 1924 and the first day of school on September 8, 1924). In 1935, the current church was dedicated and with a rapidly increasing school population, the school predominantly occupied the gym. A house for the sisters used to occupy the site of the current rectory. Where our parish center now stands was originally a house for the priests, before it was converted into a convent for the sisters in 1949. The parish erected the current school building in 1961 after which the old school was converted into the current gymnasium.

The interior of the church has changed over the years as well. First, the windows in the back of the sanctuary were exposed, then they were covered up. With the most recent renovation in 2003, the windows were once again exposed with the stained glass windows from the choir loft being moved to the sanctuary and beautiful new stained glass windows depicting four great Dominican saints (Dominic, Catherine of Siena, Rose of Lima, Martin de Porres) installed in the choir loft. The parish remodeled the current sanctuary as part of the Vision 2000 campaign. The late Bishop Robert Morlino dedicated the altar and ambo in December 2003. Statues have come and gone, color schemes and lighting have shifted. Yet through it all, parishioners have gone with the flow, adapting and supporting the projects as the needs of the parish changed. In the fall of 2023, we launched our capital campaign to rebuild, restore, and renew our parish campus for the next one hundred years of faithful worship, ministry, and education.

There has been an equal flux in terms of the Dominicans in the parish. Unlike diocesan parishes in which pastors could remain for 10, 20, 30, or even 40 years, pastors in the Dominican Order served between 3-6 years. Although being a parish associated with a religious order resulted in more frequent transfers of priests, Blessed Sacrament benefited from the Dominican charisms of preaching and liturgy, religious formation and outreach to the poor, and the innovative ideas of each new pastor. The parish also enjoyed and benefited from the presence of the Sinsinawa Dominican sisters, both in the school and on the staff in years past.

In June of 2024, the Dominicans of the Central Province of St. Albert the Great left after 102 years. In July 2024, the Schoenstatt Fathers stepped in as parish administrators. We are thankful to carry forward our Dominican heritage and charism as a Catholic Community--both in our parish and in our school. While we mourn the loss of the Dominican Order after so long, we are embracing our new Schoenstatt spirituality and blending it with our Dominican heritage.