Congregatio Servarum Spiritus Sancti de Adoratione Perpetua
(SSpSAP)

Our Charism
Phases of Formation

OUR CHARISM
Taken from Constitutions and Directory of the
Sister-Servants of the Holy Spirit of Perpetual Adoration
Congregatio Servarum Spiritus Sancti de Adoratione Perpetua (SSpSAP)

1. It is our constant endeavor to glorify the triune God by responding to his love and saving will, revealed to us through Jesus Christ, the Word made flesh, in whose Spirit we have access to the Father (cf Ep 2:18) and share in the divine life (cf Jn 10:10; 2 Pt 1:4).Attentive to the Holy Trinity’s gracious indwelling, we strive to penetrate more deeply into this unfathomable mystery and to live with fuller awareness in intimate union with the three divine Persons, in loving contemplation, humble adoration and joyful praise. To the best of our ability we foster in others understanding of and love for this central mystery of our faith.

2. We also endeavor to foster in others an understanding of the Holy Spirit’s workings in the plan of redemption and readiness to surrender wholeheartedly to the Spirit of holiness and love. With Mary, the Immaculate Spouse of the Holy Spirit and Mother of the Church, we perseveringly pray for a renewal of Pentecost in Christ’s Church.

3. The Eucharist is the heart of our personal and communal life. The more we ourselves draw life from this mystery and let it mold our community living, the more effective will be our contribution to the Church’s continual renewal and extension through the Holy Eucharist, so that it will become an efficacious sign and pledge of unity and peace among persons and nations.

4. We are aware of a special call to efficacious participation in the Church’s missionary work, in which we cooperate through prayer and sacrifice “for it is God who sends workers into his harvest when he is asked to do so, who opens the minds of non-Christians to hear the gospel, and who makes the word of salvation fruitful in their hearts” (AG 40). The closer our union with the triune God in loving contemplation, the more we are taken up into the dynamic of God’s love for all.

REALIZATION OF OUR
CONTEMPLATIVE-MISSIONARY SERVICE

5. We fulfill our vocation in a life which, under the Holy Spirit’s guidance, is completely oriented to contemplation through faith-filled immersion in the love of the triune God and in the mystery of salvation. By this way of life we witness to the basic truth that God is the true center of being and the goal of history and that he alone can satisfy the human heart (cf GS 41)

6. Our contemplative life draws its strength from the sacrament of the Eucharist. To the love which is bestowed on all in this mystery, and not requited by everyone, we respond with the service of perpetual adoration, which was introduced by our Founder as our special obligation, and approved as such by the Church.

7. In the choral Divine Office our solidarity with the whole Church and its activity is tellingly expressed. When we, who are deputed by the Church, worthily render this sublime song of praise, then our prayer is truly the voice of the bride addressing her bridegroom; it is the very prayer which Christ himself, together with his body, addresses to the Father.

8. We earnestly pray to the Lord to give his Church many good priests who, in the spirit of the eternal high Priest, will lead the People of God. Conscious of the responsibility and difficulties of their ministry, we implore the Holy Spirit to bestow on them the necessary graces to administer the divine mysteries faithfully and conscientiously. The sincerity and urgency of our prayer will be convincingly manifested in the living out of our total dedication.

9. Open to the intentions and concerns of the Church as well as to the needs of all, we intercede before God in their behalf. In the first place, we support the Church’s efforts to proclaim the good news of salvation to all peoples and to unite all in love and in the one faith. We perseveringly devote ourselves to prayer for the unity of all Christians in the one Church of Christ, for which the Lord so ardently prayed to the Father before his passion. Every distress and hardship in the world should find a vigorous response in our prayer.

10. According to our talents and abilities, and the needs of the community, we devote ourselves to work and to study in order to place ourselves effectively at the service of our mission. We remain conscious of our duty to provide for our daily support with diligence. The various kinds of work should at the same time afford us opportunities for developing our capabilities and personality (cf GS 67).
    In accord with the contemplative character of our vocation, we apply ourselves to study, especially of Holy Scripture, spirituality and liturgy. We endeavor to gain a more comprehensive knowledge and understanding of the mystery of salvation as it is revealed in Scripture and made vitally present in the liturgy. If feasible, we also engage in the apostolate of literary work.