Our life of consecration
Baptized in Christ, inserted in the heart of the Church and partakers of her plan of salvation, and consecrated in a special way to charity by means of religious profession, we are sent to evangelize those in need and to reveal to them the provident love of the Father with our works of mercy.
We dedicate ourselves with a preferential love to persons less favored with the gift of intelligence, physical health, those in need of religious formation and those deprived of human support. We offer our lives to as many as Providence puts on our path. We feel the solicitous concern to be "sister and mother", to become one family with them. As instruments of Providence, we do not limit our energies but also extend them to provide assistance where serious circumstances of need arise.
Our prayer life
The center of our life of piety and unity is the Eucharist "the source and end of the entire Christian life", and because of this all of our spiritual exercises are prayed before the Blessed Sacrament. We feel a great commitment to always improve our personal and community prayer, maintaining our faith and reviving the spiritual traditions that characterize it. Daily, we pray the Liturgy of the Hours together and make our Meditation usually on the Word of God. The Eucharistic Liturgy is attended by all the Sisters and celebrated daily in all our chapels. We pray the Rosary and various litanies usually with the residents entrusted to our care. The Sisters are committed to a weekly personal Holy Hour and a community Eucharistic Holy Hour on the day dedicated to our Founder.
Meditation on the mystery of the passion and death of the Lord by means of the exercise of the Way of the Cross each day, and of the Holy Hour every Thursday is a repetition and continuation of our Eucharistic Liturgy for us. Enlightened by the Spirit we unite ourselves to Christ and make His intentions of adoration, thanksgiving, expiation and reparation our own. By means of this interior experience we discover the "wisdom of the Cross", and with our life and word we give witness to our wounded brothers and sisters of the Christian value of suffering accepted and offered with Christ.
Time for personal prayer is a part of each Sister's day. The Founder recommends that we "Be holily eager for the Word of God and the Eucharist". He exhorts us to "Give Bread and the Lord" to all, thus the focus of our personal prayer is greater union with Christ so as to be His presence in the world. In the original spirit of the Congregation we pledge ourselves to stimulate profound Eucharistic devotion among the persons whom Providence entrusts to us, and together celebrate joyfully the Lord who remains with us in the sign of His Resurrection.
Our community life
Our religious life, both personal and communitarian, is a life of consecration in constant renewal. We cultivate in our heart the longing for conversion, for growth in the perfection of charity and communion. The community becomes "a school of Love", where we learn to love God and our brothers and sisters in need of God's mercy. The spirit of Blessed Clare animates our community life. Her affection for her sisters was a sincere, spiritual love. In her sisters she saw the greatness of a vocation and the sublimity of their office. We strive in our communities to be faithful to:
- Sharing the Word of God
- Listening to the Word of God as personal and communitarian discernment
- Faithfulness to our common prayer life and the use of Lectio Divina
- Attentiveness to the positive aspects of our Sisters
- Participation in community projects to encourage greater maturity and co-responsibility
- Building a joyful atmosphere of oneness of mind and heart
- Recognition of authority as a role of service and animation of community
Our ministry
The Gospel story of the Good Samaritan seems to be the "icon" of Blessed Guanella's mission that reveals his great spirit, rich in mercy like that of Jesus. "Giving Bread and the Lord", as Guanella wanted, does not mean limiting ourselves to taking wounded persons on our shoulders; it means coming close to them, giving them support for their destiny as children of God. (P. Pasquali, SC)
The Sisters of the Immaculate Conception Province serve the Church and the people of God in:
- Health Care Facilities for Senior Citizens
- Assisted Living arrangements
- Low Income Housing for Seniors
- Soup Kitchen and food disbursement programs for the Homeless
- Residential Programs for the Mentally Challenged
- Day Programs for Mentally Challenged Adults
- Diocesan Youth Programs
- Diocesan Religious Education Programs
- Pastoral Ministry
- Situations of Need as Divine Providence presents
Contact information
For more information regarding the Religious Life among the Daughters of St. Mary of Providence please contact one of the following sisters:
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Canada: Sr. Beth Ann Dillon |
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Mexico: Sr. Anna Maria Billotta |
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Philippines: Sr. Barbara Moerman |
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United States: Sr. Rhonda Brown |
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