Our History
The Filiæ Laboris Mariæ was founded on the Feast of Our Lady, Mother of Divine Grace (June 9th) in 2017, at Saint Mary’s Parish in Independence, Missouri, in the Diocese of Kansas City-Saint Joseph. Our community is a semi-contemplative Marian community of women Religious, whose members live a rich liturgical and interior life and share those riches through some external apostolate, especially in the context of the parish.
Beginning as a community of three members, we have since grown to eighteen members, and are now seeking to establish a permanent motherhouse. Our current motherhouse, which includes the house of formation, is located in Redfield, Kansas.
It is the intention of our community that there will be foundations of daughters houses, typically located at or very near a parish.
Our Charism
We are first of all daughters of Mary. We live in company with Our Lady in a simple way, sharing our life with her, turning to her for counsel, and inviting her to form us as she formed her Son.
Following the woman represented in the Apocalypse, symbolizing Our Lady, Mother of Divine Grace, we assist her Son in the work of restoring supernatural life to souls. This is the inspiration for our way of life. We give ourselves to Our Lady to be her daughters, to assist her in her labors for souls, and thus to attain to union with the Most Blessed Trinity through charity. Our spirit is filial and, as daughters of Mary, we are confident in her.
As daughters of Mary, we are privileged to assist her in her work on behalf of souls. Our assistance is given in three main ways, which we refer to as our Three Labors: the Sacred Liturgy, the interior life and the apostolate.
Our Apostolate
In our work, we imitate the life of the Holy Family at Nazareth, which was apostolic, both in the prayer which spanned the breadth of the world’s needs, and in external service. Just as Our Lady taught the Child Jesus at the home of Nazareth, so our apostolic service flows from our life with Jesus and Mary, and often includes the teaching of the faith. As in Our Lady’s Visitation, we seek to carry Jesus to those to whom we are sent, be it our Sisters in the convent or those outside the convent.
Since our life is devoted first of all to the Sacred Liturgy and to the interior life, the time we are able to dedicate to apostolic service is limited and, for that reason, the Filiæ Laboris Mariæ are fittingly called “semi-contemplative.”
We are pleased to share with you our new website and contact information. Please help us spread the good news of the good work that Our Lady has begun in the Church for the salvation of souls.
Filiae Laboris Mariae, a Semi-Contemplative Community of Sisters in the Kansas City area
