“The Congregation’s apostolate consists first of all in the witness of the consecrated life, which according to the foundresses’ intention is expressed by trust in the mercy of God, by prayer and penance and also by the ministry of deeds of mercy” (Constitutions, Art. 77).
“Prayer is the first and foremost duty of a consecrated person. It is to maintain the sisters in an ever deeper union with Christ, occupying the essential place and giving meaning to their entire life” (Constitutions, Art. 46).
Each sister devotes more than four hours a day to prayer. The centre of the Congregation’s life is daily Holy Mass, which is for the sisters both their source of sanctification and their apostolic work. In addition to the Eucharist, the Liturgy of the Hours, meditation on the word of God and adoration of the Blessed Sacrament, a special place is given to the devotion to The Divine Mercy, in the forms given by Saint Sister Faustina, and devotion to Mary, Mother of Mercy. The sisters embrace with prayer and penance the needs of the world, the Church, Poland, the Congregation and the people entrusted to them by Providence.
The task of interceding for God’s mercy for us and the whole world finds a special dimension in the contemplative convent of the Congregation in Świnice Warckie. The Lord Jesus said to Sister Faustina: “You shall reconcile Earth with Heaven; you shall mitigate God’s rightful anger, and beg forgiveness for the world. I entrust to your care two pearls that are precious to my Heart, that is the souls of priests and the souls of religious; you shall pray especially for them; their strength will come from your immolation. You shall unite your prayers, fasts, mortifications, works, and all your sufferings with My prayer, fasting, mortifications, work, and suffering; then they will be powerful in the eyes of My Father” (Diary, 531).
sr. M. Elisabeth Siepak ISMM
Translated by Orest Pawlak
