Entrusting the New Year to Mary! Public domain, wikicommons From all the Servidoras of our Province, we wish you a Happy New Year! The Church dedicates the first day of the year to Mary, Mother of God. By doing this, she indicates to us that Mary is the one who will lead us safely through the upcoming year. St. Bernard of Clairvaux, in a beautiful exhortation on the Names of…
Merry Christmas! The Nativity by Lorenzo Monaco, Metropolitan Museum of Art, NY A Christmas Prayer from St. Bernard of Clairvaux Let Your goodness Lord appear to us, that we, made in your image, conform ourselves to it. In our own strength we cannot imitate Your majesty, power, and wonder nor is it fitting for us to try. But Your mercy reaches from the heavens through the clouds to the earth…
In the month of December, 14 of our novices received the holy habit for the first time. This is an occasion of great joy for our province and for our congregation! On December 6, 10 novices received the habit at the National Basilica of the Immaculate Conception in Washington, DC. A week later, on December 14, four contemplative novices were also invested in our contemplative monastery in Brooklyn, New York.…
Giovanni Battista Tiepolo, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons “You are all beautiful, O Mary; in you there is no trace of original sin!” (from Morning Prayer for the Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception) Happy Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception from all the members of our province! Today is a special celebration for us – not only is the Immaculate Conception the patroness of the United States of America, she is…
“Praise be to God!”: First Vows, New Religious Names, Investiture of Cassock As a nation, we celebrate Thanksgiving in November, a time for every American heart to pause and remember to return thanks to our God for all the blessings He has bestowed on us. In the very heart of our nation’s capital towers the Washington Monument, an iconic symbol of the United States of America. How appropriate is the…
“To Adhere to the Word with all her Strength…” Final and Temporary Vows in our Province “When you shall see a soul leave all things to adhere to the Word with all her strength, live by Him, allow herself to be guided by Him, conceive what she should bring forth by Him; a soul, in short, who can say: for me to live is Christ, and to die is gain,…
On September 14 the Church celebrates the Feast of the Exultation of the Holy Cross. As we wear the Cross of Matará as part of our habit, this day is the proper and principal feast of our Institute. This year on the Feast of the Holy Cross, eight sisters of the Servants of the Lord and the Virgin of Matará professed their final vows in Washington, DC. Sister Mary New…
The Transfiguration of Jesus – Fra Angelico, c.1437-1446 The Transfiguration is the work of Evangelizing the Culture Our Directory of Spirituality states: “The miracle of the transfiguration, by which Christ showed His disciples the glory and beauty of His body, encourages us to tolerate difficulties by that brief contemplation of eternal joy… It also reminds us of the specific end of our small Religious Family: to evangelize the culture –…
“We commit all our strength to inculturate the Gospel, . . .to prolong the Incarnation to all men, in the whole of man, and in all the manifestations of man” (Constitutions, 5). Today, the Church celebrates the Solemnity of the Annunciation, the great mystery of the Incarnation of the Son of God. We also remember the fortieth anniversary of the foundation of our beloved Religious Family. Forty years ago, on the…
Celebration for the Feast of St. Joseph in Washington, DC Today, Solemnity of St. Joseph, we celebrate the 36th Anniversary of our congregation, Institute Servants of the Lord and the Virgin of Matará, female branch of the Religious Family of the Incarnate Word. On March 19, 1988 we were founded, taking St. Joseph as our special father and protector. We read from the foundational decree of that day: Our only…
Province of the Immaculate Conception | United States – Canada – Guyana – Suriname – Mexico
