Spiritual Life in Community

Praise of God

The vocation of the Visitation Sisters is to dedicate themselves to the Praise of God in the daily Eucharistic celebration, the Liturgy of the Hours, mental prayer, and spiritual reading; ever mindful of the needs of the Church and the world. Prayer is woven into the fabric of our life. This prayer requires silence, interior discipline, and openness to the Holy Spirit. In their daily life, the Sisters seek God, striving for closer union with Christ, who is the source of their union with one another.

Common Life

The Sisters are called by the Holy Spirit to be a real family. It is in the community, first and foremost, that we practice our unique charism which is “humility before God and great gentleness with our neighbor”. The Sisters strive to be of one mind and heart by sincerely loving one another, recognizing God in each person.

Work

Work is also an integral part of our monastic life. It is a way to follow Christ in His poverty, also being in solidarity with all workers. Work is necessary not only to provide livelihood for the community but also to contribute to a healthy balance of mind and body for our life of prayer and common sharing. All work, united to that of Christ, is sharing in the total work of creation and redemption.

Live Jesus

Our motto is “Live Jesus”. That is to let Jesus live in us, to be mindful of His presence, and to think and act as He would. It is an intimate union with our Spouse that grows ever closer each moment of the day, especially in times of silence. Although we enjoy each other’s company during recreation periods, silence is also a very important and necessary aspect of our life. It is not an empty silence, but an attentiveness to the presence of God by short prayers or even just a look of gratitude and love towards God. We do speak to each other in silence time when necessary for our work or when charity requires it, but in a low tone of voice so as not to disturb the recollection of the other sisters. This time of silence is what nourishes our prayer life and our apostolic fecundity depends on the quality of our prayer.

The rules, customs, and the structure of our life aim not only at each Sister’s spiritual growth but above all to a wholesome growth into a mature person. In this way, our “Yes!” to God can become a genuine gift of ourselves. Indeed this is an ongoing process where we come to acknowledge our own poverty and humbly look upon God’s abundant grace.