Schoenstaat
This resource I want to draw to attention is about a beautiful place with beautiful grounds where there is a small chapel that when visited together can set minds in turmoil at rest.
I used the term beautiful place because the resource I refer to which is nestled below the Campsie Hills in the Clachan of Campsie is known as Schoenstatt which is German for beautiful place.
I came across it in my mid 50s first as a participant in a peer ministry program call The Beginning Experience and then as a team member for a few years. The Beginning Experience is a peer grief resolution ministry and community centred around a sharing weekend for those who have experienced the loss of a loved one through bereavement or divorce. There is a connection in that grief accompanies any serious loss and loss of our health is serious.
I will write a bit more about my Beginning Experience learning in a future blog but more now about Schoenstatt to encourage those of all beliefs or none at all to visit.
It has a Catholic beginning in Germany and is looked after by the Sisters of Schoenstatt but please do not let the religious aspect put you off. I recall one summer evening chatting to another local visitor who confided to me that he wasn’t a Catholic but loved to walk around the grounds and drink in the beauty and peace of it all.
I used to take folk who had lost a loved one there to hear the silence that fills the small chapel and walk around the grounds. I paid it a visit about 4 weeks as I waited for my scan results and lit a few candles for those who had supported me since last July.
The Chapel is small and I remember it looking like a Great Dane dogs kennel from the car park higher up the Campsie Hills on the road to Fintry. It looks like this:
Here is one picture of the grounds that live up to the name.
And one of the interior of the chapel at Christmas.
Schoenstatt is a short walking distance from the Campsie Glen Square by this route
where there is the Glen Café Bistro that sells good quality drinks and food.
I strongly recommend visiting Schoenstaat as a wee day out just to take folk’s minds off their worries and concerns even if only for an hour or two.
You will find out more including how to get there by clicking on this link.
Schoenstatt Shrine | Schoenstatt Scotland
Please do not see this as a Catholic /religious only resource. It is a place where all the religious teachings of our youth can begin the walk on our own spiritual paths.
