The Schoenstatt Movement (German Schönstatt-Bewegung) was founded in Germany in 1914 by Father Joseph Kentenich who saw the movement as being a means of spiritual renewal in the Catholic Church. The movement is not named after the German words for "beautiful place" (even though this is the literal meaning of schoenstatt), but after a small village close to the town of Vallendar near Koblenz in Germany. Schoenstatt emphasizes a strong devotion to the Blessed Virgin Mary, upholding her as a perfect example of love and purity and seeks to invite the Blessed Mother (and, hence, her divine Son, Jesus Christ), into the home by establishing a spiritual Covenant of Love with her. It encourages its members to have the faith and purity of children, and to think of Mary as their mother.

Schoenstatt "wishes to be understood as a universal vision, comprising time and eternity, this world and the next, the economic, social, ethical, political and religious needs of all people, including the dispossessed, the millions of masses... It wants to help redeem the world not only from its earthly sufferings, but also from sin and from its alienation from God. It tries to do this under the guidance and in the school of Our Lady by applying the original principles of Christianity in a new way to restore the disturbed relationship between the individual person and society, the person and business, the person and technology, and the person and social advancement." - Father Joseph Kentenich

The Schoenstatt Movement is present today in many countries besides Germany. Many groups have been formed within the movement where people can join anything from loose groups with sparse meetings to religious orders. Counting everyone that belongs to any group of the Schoenstatt Movement, there are probably more than one million people involved today.Schoenstatt places a great emphasis on the family, and youth, especially, are animportant part ofthe movement.
There are hundreds of Schoenstatt youth groups throughout the world.

The first Schoenstatt Sister to come to Scotland was Sr Xavera in January 1962. Sr Xavera died in 2008 and is buried in the little cemetery in Schoenstatt.