Passion For Education
“The Church has always recognized that education is an essential dimension of her mission. Within the Church, however, consecrated persons have a specific duty. They are called to bring to bear on the world of education their radical witness to the values of the Kingdom, proposed to everyone in expectation of the definitive meeting with the Lord of history.”
To educate children and youth and to keep them from danger was the great passion of Blessed Elisabetta and the principal aim of the work to which she dedicated herself through many sacrifices. She established schools for girls and made sure that nothing was lacking to the students that would enable them to grow sound in spirit and body. The school, was for her, the most urgent apostolate and wanted schools in every village. At the foundation of their Christian formation she put catechism, spiritual exercise, religious conferences, recitation of the rosary, devotion to the Eucharist, the Sacred Heart, and the most holy Sorrowful Mother.
Faithful to the Charism of our Foundress and to the traditions of the Congregation, today we commit ourselves to educating students at all levels to discover God and the values of the spirit so that they may seek a vision of the world in accord with the gospel. We present Christ to our students as a model and example of life. The Constitutions of our Congregations states that, “The schools of the Sisters of Our Lady of Sorrows place Jesus at the center of their Christian, cultural, and human search for truth. They provide a complete intellectual formation of the students and the nurturing of virtues that will shape and accustom them to living the new life in Christ, and to work with him to build up the Kingdom of God.”
Your life-style should manifest the ideal you profess, presenting itself as an eloquent, even if often silent, preaching of the Gospel. When part of the founding charism, the witness of life and the works of the apostolate are equally necessary: both in fact reveal Christ and his saving action.
Saint John Paul II to the Sisters of our Lady of Sorrows |