Since arriving in Tain in October 2002 much time and effort has been spent simply trying to establish a routine. My own experience tells me it can take about three years to feel properly bedded into a new parish and community. One group that has been a great help has been the local Inverness Schoenstatt group. Many members are known to me for many years now. Shortly after landing in the Highlands I met up with Jean and Karl Storey at Muir of Ord where we discussed the possibility of having regular Schoenstatt meetings around the Inverness area.

The first couple of months we toured a few of the houses where Schoenstatt members lived and celebrated house masses but since the beginning of the 2003 we have followed the covenant evening plan that is being used at the Campsie Glen shrine where we are reflecting on the book ‘Everyday Sanctity’. It is not just myself who is preparing the talks, members of the group have also taken on the task of preparing the evenings. On one occasion due to a bad bout of the flu I couldn’t come and Rosa Finleyson and other members of the group stepped into the breach and held the talk that evening.

The April 2003 gathering was slightly different in that I invited the group out to Tain. One item I brought with me from Glasgow is the copy of the Dachau altar. The original altar was used by the Priests who were incarcerated in the concentration camp at Dachau during World War Two. One young deacon Karl Leisner was secretly ordained in Dachau during this time. Karl was a member of Schoenstatt both in seminary and in the camp. So for our local Schoenstatt group the mass we celebrated at this altar had a double significance. Many members of the Tain parish also joined us for that evening. It was a chance for them to find out what I was talking about when I hint that I am a member of Schoenstatt and meet the group from Inverness. Typically for the Highlands many of them knew each other from other occasions and functions. The parish laid on a excellent tea and eats afterwards which was a chance to chat and share with one another before returning home.

Fr Michael Savage

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