CHARISM: Remembrance of the Passion
What is a charism?
It is a free gift of the Holy Spirit for the sake of the whole Church; a particular way to conform our minds to the mind of Christ and to live intensely a particular aspect of His life. In this way, the religious gives witness to a particular aspect of Christ’s mystery.
To remember the Passion of Jesus Christ
As Passionists, we are called to keep alive the Memory of Christ’s Passion. We do not only recall it in our minds, but we render it present in our lives by living His self-emptying love in our daily lives for the salvation of souls. Passionists live intensely the Mystery of Redemption for the benefit of the whole Church and for all people.
"The Passion of Jesus Christ is the greatest and most overwhelming work of God's Love."
St. Paul of the Cross, Founder.
How do we live the Passionist Charism
Each Passionist Nuns monastery is a Calvary. We remain with Mary at the Foot of the Cross to compassionate our Divine Bridegroom by our lives of virtue in solitude, prayer, poverty, and penance. We surrender our lives to Jesus Crucified so that He can come and live His self-emptying love in us. “It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me” (Galatians 2:20). In this way, the redemptive love of Jesus Crucified continues to radiate from the heart of the Church.
"How pleasing to the Lord is the contemplative life...Jesus need souls for Himself in love and reparation."
Sr. Mary, CP, Co-Foundress
SOLITUDE
In solitude, we give ourselves to God alone. We do not seek to be alienated from the world, but to be more deeply united with it. In seeking God alone we find all others in the Heart of Christ. By giving witness to the reality of God’s existence and intimate presence, we are signs to those who suffer temptations against faith, hope, and love.
PRAYER
In the solitude and silence of the cloister, we seek God through constant prayer. At the heart of our prayer life is the word of God and the Eucharist, which contain all the fruits of the Passion to which we are vowed. Our hidden lives of love and prayer sustain the missionary activity of the Church and play a great role in evangelizing the world.
"I try to keep my soul, my heart, my thoughts, at the foot of the Tabernacle."
Mother Mary Hyacinth, CP, Foundress
"The conversion of souls is obtained by sacrifice...I offer myself as a victim of Thy Will for the salvation of souls."
Mother Mary Louise, CP, Co-Foundress
POVERTY
We share in the poverty of Christ. It is rooted in the remembrance of Christ Crucified, who emptied Himself and died naked on the cross. Through our self-emptying poverty and detachment from all that is not God, we center our lives on Christ Crucified and His love while enriching God’s people on earth.
PENANCE
We can become people of great prayer only by a life of penance. We live a life of conversion, cultivating a sense of sin in the presence of Christ Crucified, changing our minds, hearts, and will to be in harmony with Christ. It is also a great grace from God to love penance for the sake of filling up those things that are lacking in the sufferings of Christ’s Mystical Body, the Church. We manifest our spirit of penance by the loving acceptance of all the burdens and difficulties of community life. In our contemplative-penitential life, we mourn for the sufferings of Christ today because God is dead in the conscience of so many people.
"Remember that we ought to walk in the footsteps of Jesus crucified. God has suffered much for me; ought I not suffer something for Him?"
St. Paul of the Cross, Founder