In order to help the Christians of the Eastern churches, who form part of the indivisible patrimony of the Universal Church, we also include an Eastern branch.  In this way we breathe, in the same way as the Church, with two lungs. 

“One cannot breathe as a Christian, to say it more, as a Catholic, with only one lung; one must have two lungs, that is to say, of the East and of the West.” (John Paul II, OR 08/06/1980)

When our mission in Ukraine opened in 1998, our General Superior recognized the importance of the black habit to conform to the culture, whose liturgy is that of the Greek-Byzantine Rite of the Catholic Church. Religious sisters of this rite traditionally wear black habits. Today in Ukraine and Siberia, our Eastern Rite sisters wear the black habit, which, except for the color, is the same as the blue and grey habit, including the Cross of Matará.