(Rorate congratulates this community on their auspicious beginnings with a Solemn High Mass, and asks its readers to help spread the word among young ladies who may be searching for a traditional religious order with an active apostolate. Please note that the community has a new mailing address.)
ON JUNE 9th, 2017, with the permission of the local Ordinary, His Excellency Bishop James Vann Johnston, Jr., a new semi-contemplative traditional community of religious sisters will begin ad experimentum in the Diocese of Kansas City-Saint Joseph. The beginning of the community and the entrance of the first two postulants will be celebrated with a Solemn High Mass in honor of Our Lady, Mother of Divine Grace, at Saint Mary’s Parish at Independence, MO, at 12:00 Noon.
The charism of the Filiae Laboris Mariae is to assist the Blessed Virgin Mary in her apostolic mission of bringing souls to Christ. Labor Mariae carries out its apostolic mission especially through prayer, above all liturgical prayer, and by making known the truth, goodness, and beauty of life in Jesus Christ in His Holy Church through works of the apostolate. The charism finds expression in three intimately connected ways or “labors,” because the sanctification of God’s people is Our Lady’s labor; it is her work, the work of the one who, clothed with the sun and crowned with twelve stars, still wails aloud as she labors to give birth (cf. Rev. 12:1-1). The threefold labor through which the members of Labor Mariae participate in Our Lady’s apostolic mission is:
1) The Sacred Liturgy: The Sisters normatively assist at the Holy Mass in the Extraordinary Form. In order to show more clearly the intrinsic relationship between the Holy Mass and the Divine Office, the Sisters are committed to praying all the hours of the traditional Roman Breviary. Lauds and Vespers are chanted in a public chapel or church so that all the faithful may participate.
2) The Spiritual Life: The Sisters of Labor Mariae are radically given to prayer, the interior life, and a healthy asceticism which exemplifies daily that God is chosen above all other things (cf. Mat. 6:33). The Sisters are committed to at least 1½ hours of common Eucharistic adoration every day. As daughters of Mary, they pray at least five decades of the Rosary daily. They also enter more deeply into Jesus’ Paschal Mystery, with Our Lady, through the praying of the Way of the Cross.
3) Making Known the Truth, Goodness, and Beauty of Life in Christ: The Sisters serve in practical ways in a parish setting by offering services in the sacristy, in the household, and in parish offices. They seek to draw souls to Christ through Mary through catechesis for all age groups, and through the apostolate of writing. In their catechesis, the Sisters place great emphasis on the sacred liturgy and the interior life of prayer.
Through their participation in the three Marian “labors” and through making evident the truth, the beauty, and the goodness of life in Christ in His Holy Church, the Sisters of Labor Mariae seek to participate in our Blessed Mother’s work of bringing Christ to life among God’s people, and to contribute to the edification of the priesthood, religious life, and family life.
Labor Mariae does not have a website. If you would like to contact Mother Maria Regina, please write to filiaelaborismariae@gmail.com, or
Mater Divinae Gratiae Convent
428 5th St NE
Minneapolis, MN 55413
Minneapolis, MN 55413
