The Ultimate
Aims of our Apostolic Action:
Salvation
of all Humanity:
The aims of the Congregation of the Sisters of the
Sacred Heart of Jesus are values that give meaning and motivation
to apostolic action. They impel us to action with a strong
vital thrust. These aims highlight the Charisma of the Institute
and constitute its proper character.
“God did not send his son into the world to judge the
world but that the world be saved through him” (Jn.
3:14). “It pleased God in his wisdom and goodness to
reveal himself in person and to manifest the mystery of his
will (Eph. 1:9) by means of this, men, through Christ, word
made flesh, have access to the Father in the Holy Spirit and
participate in the divine” (DV n.2).
The Charism:
Love and reparation are the main characteristics that distinguish
us as the Sisters of the Sacred Heart of Jesus. We have an
unconditional love for the Sacred Heart of Jesus, source of
immense mercy and goodness that urges all of us to consecrate
our lives entirely to God, to His Church and to our brethren.
Maria Schinina`, desiring to suffer with Christ, offered herself
to repair the offences that the Sacred Heart receives from
mankind. In imitation of Jesus Crucified, who offered himself
for the salvation of humanity, Blessed Maria Schinina` reached
to the total oblation of herself for the love of the Lord
and neighbor. She said, “The love of God is inseparable
from the love of neighbor; the more we love God; the more
we love our neighbor.” Helping those in need, taking
care of the sick in body and spirit and to preventing even
only one sin were her daily mission and commitment that all
us inherit with great joy today.
Like Maria Schinina,` by offering of our lives, we want to
cooperate with Jesus in the salvation of humanity. This brings
joy and consolation to the heart of Christ.
Following the ascetic footsteps of our Foundress, we live
out her charisma in the world through our work and prayer,
serving with humility and simplicity any kind of poor and
outcast.
We commit ourselves to the respect of human rights and the
elimination of social injustice; we strive to make known the
good message: “to heal the brokenhearted, to proclaim
liberty to the captives and release to the prisoners, to announce
a year of favor from the Lord” (Is. 61:1-2). We commit
“to make of Christ the Heart of the world and to bring
people to his Heart that says: “Come to me, all you
who labor and are burdened, I will refresh you; come and drink
from the fountain of my heart. Learn from me and you will
find rest for your soul.”
The Sisters of the Sacred Heart,
with the profession of the evangelical counsels follow Christ
more closely under the action of the Holy Spirit and are totally
dedicated to God who is supremely loved. By a new and special
title they are dedicated to the honor of God, the building
up of the Church and the salvation of the world.
“Jesus thirst is thirst for souls! Oh, how many souls
reach death’s door without having given a thought to
eternal life! We can help these souls through prayer and offering
to the good Lord our work, our sacrifices…Prayer soaked
and nourished by sacrifice attracts the effusion of the redemptive
graces. We have in our hands these keys so that we can open
Paradise to all souls (Blessed Maria Schinina`).
Therefore, the apostolic action of the Sisters
of the Sacred Heart aims toward the salvation of all humanity;
the universal salvation and sanctification that the Father
offers in Christ to all peoples of all times. The apostolic
action of the Sisters of the Sacred Heart aims toward helping
others to regain the friendship of God every time man looses
it again. It aims toward unity desired by Christ and for which
he prayed and gave his life (Jn. 17:20).
“A daughter of the Sacred Heart must not go to heaven
alone, but must be followed by a good number of souls who
have been directed towards good.”
The Extension of the Kingdom:
Christ says “Go throughout the world and preach the
Gospel to all creatures” (Mk. 16:15).
“It is necessary that all must be converted to Christ
as he is made known by the Church’s preaching. All must
be incorporated into him by baptism, and into the Church,
which is his body (AG. n. 7).
The apostolic action of the Sisters of the Sacred Heart of
Jesus aims to extend God’s salvific plan to all peoples;
to acknowledge Jesus Christ as the one sent by the Father,
to love him and to find in him the fullness of life. It aims
to convert the entire universe to Christ and accepts His Lordship
with a sincere heart; to collaborate so that God’s glory
may be manifested and a new heaven and a new earth will reign
in the eternal contemplation of Christ.
“The Sisters of the Sacred seek the perfection of charity
in the service of God’s kingdom.” We have consecrated
ourselves to the Eucharistic Heart of Jesus not only to love
him and adore him on his altars, not only for us to love him,
but to make him loved by others, and we cannot let him be
loved by others if first of all, we ourselves are not inflamed
with love” (Blessed Maria Schinina`).
If our heart is overflowing with divine love, it will not
only be easy but necessary to transmit and communicate this
love to our neighbor” (Blessed Maria Schinina`).
Humanity According to the Heart of God:
The apostolic action of the institute of the Sisters of Sacred
Heart aims toward promoting a new humanity, united in Christ
in whom everyone grows together and recognizes themselves
as children of one Father. It directs each Sister to open
oneself to others and in particular to the weakest and the
most in need. Our apostolic action aims to promote a new humanity
in communion with the Father in whom the Spirit dwells; a
new humanity in which the limits of each one are overcome
by gifts of the other. It aims to promote the knowledge of
having been called by Him to sustain and to encourage everyone’s
sanctity. “It is no longer I who lives, but Christ lives
in me” (Gal2:20)
“The apostolic action of the Sisters
of the Sacred Heart promotes the human person and must educate
everyone on the value of life in all its expressions.”“The
Institute lives in the Church in union with the salvific mission
of Christ and renders this mission present through her apostolic
activity…The Sisters will be of great service to the
Church, and the world will be led to believe in Christ as
the one sent by the Father to divinize humanity.”
Spirituality and Charisma:
Love and reparation to the Sacred Heart lived through the
preferential love and service to the poor is a necessary dimension
of our spirituality as consecrated persons. The members of
the Congregation, following the foundation’s charisma,
offer in tribute a special worship to the Divine Heart of
Jesus, aimed at making reparation for the hardness of human
heart through an individual and communal commitment; they
will consecrate to Him every activity, every expression of
interior and exterior life; the Sisters will seek to centre
their lives on a generous self donation in spirit of reparation
to the Sacred Heart, to take the divine Heart as a model of
every human and supernatural virtue, especially of meekness
and humility, and to make His holy will and desires the norm
of their own lives.
Through our charisma of “Love and Service to
the poor,” we offer all our being and all our
work as Christ did on the cross, in reparation for the offences
against the love of God not corresponded to. We commit ourselves
to liberation from injustice, hatred, poverty and all that
goes against human dignity. We offer ourselves as victim of
expiation in order that the Father’s design “to
make Christ the heart of the world” may be realized.
Prayer, Love and Generosity:
Blessed Maria Schinina` made herself poor to serve
the poor, certain to cure in them “the suffering members
of Jesus’ body.” She kindly welcomed whoever had
recourse to her, seeing in everyone the person of Jesus Christ.
She welcomed the poor and the rich, the gentleman and the
commoner. If she showed any preference, it was for the poor,
the afflicted and the sick.” A Sister of the Sacred
Heart of Jesus is aware that to serve the poor is to serve
Christ. She knew that in the poor there is a special presence
of Christ that enforces upon the Church a preferential option
for them.
A Sister of the Sacred must be attentive to God’s call
and to the signs of His presence in the needs of others by
compassion for the sufferings of others, according to the
example of the Good Samaritan. We seek the face of God in
prayer and in our encounter with the body of Christ. We recognize
Christ in the Eucharist and in His word. The Eucharist is
the source of our strength that gives us the courage to take
the risk to LOVE and be a sacrament of life to others.
Consecrated life reveals the depth of God’s love for
man…It is a life of self-giving love, of practical and
generous service” (Vita Consecrata n. 75).
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