By Andrew Winter
for the Register
The Cor Mariae (Heart of Mary) Schoenstatt Shrine near Crete is one of nine locations in the Diocese of Lincoln designated by Bishop Conley as special pilgrimage sites for the 2025 Jubilee Year. Pilgrims can obtain plenary indulgences by visiting the Schoenstatt Shrine and fulfilling the other requirements for an indulgence as stated by the Holy See.
At the end of 2024, Bishop Conley issued a decree denoting shrines throughout the diocese as special pilgrimage sites. He wrote: “The Jubilee Indulgence can be received by a pilgrimage or pious visit to any of the following sanctuaries within the Diocese of Lincoln.” The sites are Cor Mariae; St. Elizabeth Ann Seton Parish in North Platte; the Our Lady of Fatima Shrine in Arapahoe; St. Mary Parish in Orleans; Assumption Parish in Dwight; the Cathedral of the Risen Christ in Lincoln; the Pink Sisters; Chapel in Lincoln; St. Anthony Parish in Steinauer; and St. Benedict Parish in Nebraska City.
The Apostolic Penitentiary of the Holy See also issued a decree for the Jubilee Year, detailing the additional requirements for a pilgrim who desires to receive the indulgence:“[All] who are truly repentant and free from any affection for sin, who are moved by a spirit of charity and who, during the Holy Year, purified through the sacrament of penance and refreshed by Holy Communion, pray for the intentions of the Supreme Pontiff, will be able to obtain from the treasury of the Church a plenary indulgence, with remission and forgiveness of all their sins.” The indulgence gained by such a pilgrimage can also be offered for a soul in purgatory.
The Cor Mariae Schoenstatt Shrine is located at 340 Highway 103, Crete. It is one of more than 200 Schoenstatt shrines in 35 countries the world over. All Schoenstatt shrines are exact replicas of the original shrine in Schoenstatt, Germany, rebuilt in 1681 on a site where a convent had originally stood in 1143.
Schoenstatt as a movement was founded in 1914 by Father Joseph Kentenich. It is centered on devotion to the Blessed Virgin and the Covenant of Love with her.
Sister Marie Dey, ISSM, was instrumental in the founding of the Nebraskan Schoenstatt Movement in 1993. She gathered support among the families of the Lincoln Diocese and took a group on pilgrimage to the shrine in Sleepy Eye, Minn. In 1999, Bishop Fabian Bruskewitz gave a plot of land near Crete to Schoenstatt, on which to build a shrine. The chapel was completed in 2007.
“There was a couple who were good friends with Bishop Bruskewitz and they offered to pay for the entire building exteriorly and interiorly,” Sister Marie said. “So all of this is pure gift, and we are really blessed by that.”
Kevin Pynes of Lincoln, who belonged to a Marian boys’ group at Schoenstatt when he was a child, said: “Schoenstatt means ‘beautiful place,’ and it really is. There’s a real focus on beauty: how it affects your spiritual life.”
Since 2007, the shrine in Crete has stood as an oasis of peace open to all, a source of grace for the Diocese of Lincoln. Thomas Jacobs, a frequent visitor to the shrine, proposed to his fiancée before the Blessed Sacrament at Cor Mariae.
“It often feels like it’s just you and Mary and Jesus,” he said of visiting the shrine. “The building is so small it’s like nothing else exists, in a way. You can just go be free.”
Cor Mariae is open from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. every day during the summer.
