|
End of the Institute
Like every
institute of the consecrated life, we have a universal or common end – usually
called vocation – by which we seek to follow Christ more closely under the
action of the Holy Spirit. We want to dedicate ourselves totally to God as our
supreme love, so that, surrendering our entire being in a new and unique way to
His glory, for the edification of His Church and for the salvation of the world,
we may achieve the perfection of charity. By this charity, to which the
profession of the evangelical counsels of chastity, poverty and obedience leads,
we want to be united in a special way to the Church and her mystery.
There also exists a universal end proper to all institutes of religious life,
which is none other than the consecration of our entire person, manifesting the
admirable betrothal established by God in the Church, sign of heavenly life.
This consecration is manifested in forming a family, professing public vows, and
living a fraternal life in common. The public testimony that we ought to give
brings necessarily a separation from the world.
The Specific end
Finally, we want as a specific and singular end, to dedicate ourselves to
the evangelization of the culture, that is to say, to work in order “to
transform with the strength of the Gospel
-mankind’s criteria of judgment
-determining values,
-points of interest,
-lines of thought
-sources of inspiration and models of life,”
So that the “very power of the Gospel should permeate
-Thought patterns,
-standards of judgment,
-and norms of behavior”.
We cannot forget what the Second Vatican Council pointed out: “One of the
gravest errors of our time is the dichotomy between the faith which many profess
and the practice of their daily lives.” This is greatly due to the fact that the
world “in recent times has come to the point of separating and detaching itself
from the Christian foundations of its culture”, leading to the de-Christianization
of the culture.
Charisma
That is to say, it is the grace to know how to work, in the concrete, in order
to prolong Christ in families, in education, in the mass media, in the
intellectuals and in all other legitimate manifestations of human life.
It is the gift to make each man “like a new Incarnation of the Word”, by
being essentially missionaries and Marian.
For that, the mission, received from the founder and proposes for the Church in
order to be sanctioned, is to bring to fullness the effects of the Incarnation
of the Word, which “is the epitome and root of all good”, especially to the
vast world of the culture, i.e., the “manifestation of man as a person, as a
community, as a people, as a nation.”
Spirituality
We want to be
rooted in the holy mystery of the incarnation that is, “the first and
fundamental mystery of Jesus Christ”, actually present, and from there we move
forward enthusiastically to restore all things in Christ (Eph. 1:10). We want to
be another incarnation of the word, in order that the Word would be incarnated
in everything that is human.
Our religion, “is a doctrine, but over all is an event: the event of the
Incarnation, Jesus, God-Man who has recapitulated in himself the Universe (cf.
Eph. 1:10). “It is impossible to find something else similar to the Holy Trinity
and to the Incarnation.”
From the fact of the Incarnation we want to always draw new light and strength,
since Jesus Christ is the inexhaustible fount of To Be and Truth, Goodness and
Beauty, of Life and Love.
Why, “do we want to be rooted in the Incarnation”?
Because we desire to live intensely the virtue of the Transcendence, the Faith,
the Hope and the Charity to the end to be the salt…to be the light, in order not
to be the world.
Because we want to live intensely the virtues of emptying oneself, kenosis:
humility, justice, sacrifice, poverty, longsuffering, obedience, merciful love…
in one word to take up the cross (cf. Mtt. 16:24).
It is necessary to be in the world, and to assume in Christ all that is human,
alone, not assuming, that which is not assumable, like sin, error, lies, or evil.
Apostolate
In a special manner, we are seeking to dedicate ourselves to the preaching of
the word of God that is more sharp than a two edge sword (Heb 4:12) in all its
forms. In the realization of popular missions, spiritual exercises,
education and Christian formation of children and youth, and also works of
charity with the neediest (abandoned children, the handicapped, the sick, the
elderly) through the foundation of and work in little-homes for the poor. In the
study and in the teaching of the Holy scripture, the theology, the Holy Fathers,
the Liturgy, Catechesis, Ecumenism, inter-religious dialogue, etc.
Also, in the search and formation of suitable ministers of the Word; in the
publication of magazines, treatises, books, etc; and also by the oral and
written word we want to prolong the Word.
Life of Prayer
To obtain any
fruits and to persevere in the apostolic life we know that the most important
aspect of our religious life is prayer. That is why our daily prayer life
includes:
The Holy Mass
One hour of Eucharistic Adoration
The Divine Office in Community (Morning, Evening, and Night Prayer)
The Angelus
The Holy Rosary
Private and Devotional Prayer
Marian Slavery
We want to manifest our love and gratitude to the Blessed Virgin so as to attain
her indispensable help to prolong the incarnation in all things by making a
fourth vow – slavery to Mary according to Saint Louis-Marie Grignion de
Montfort. We do not want the spirit of our religious family to be any other than
the Holy Spirit, and if it degenerates and becomes another one, from now and in
any place we beg the Lord to erase our religious family from the face of the
Church.
To achieve this
position of maximum, total, and unrestricted docility to the Holy Spirit, the
Spirit of Christ, (cf. Rom 8, 9), we need the Holy Virgin Mary to be the model,
the guide, and the form of all our actions.
For by this means we can say with all the strength of the soul and of the heart
today and always, “Totus Tuus, Maria!” |