The Congregation was founded by the Venerable María Antonia París and Saint Antonio María Claret y Clará in Santiago de Cuba to evangelize through the Christian education of young people.
In April 1855, Pope Pius IX authorized the establishment of a monastery of religious women with solemn vows under the Rule of Saint Benedict, and on 27 August 1855 María Antonia París professed her vows into the hands of the Founder. Her first nine companions took their vows on 3 September of the same year. Five other autonomous monastic institutions arose during the founder’s lifetime, and many others after her death. The various leaders of these institutions met in 1895 and 1901, but it was not possible to give them the centralized government that Claret desired. Only in 1914 did the Claretian Filippo Moroto begin to prepare a plan of unification, and between 5 and 7 October 1919 the religious sisters held the general chapter that approved the union. On 24 August 1920, the Holy See approved the unification of the monasteries into a single apostolic Congregation of religious women with simple vows, and on 4 July 1922 it approved its constitutions. The Sisters of Mary Immaculate carry forward the inspiration of the Founders by creating a community at the service of the Church’s evangelizing mission. The sisters are called to be women who are “new in their deeds”, servants of the “Word”, open to everyone without distinction, in order to live and joyfully proclaim the Gospel. They live in missionary communities, building fraternity. They practise evangelical poverty, conforming their lives to Christ, poor and missionary, who commits himself to the poor and the excluded. In the mission shared with others, they seek to make the journey easier, discovering and affirming the best in each person and the richness of diversity. Mary Immaculate is their “sign”; she is a model of faith and of welcoming the Word of God. Her life impels them to fight for good and opens them to joy and hope.
Charism
Today their mission is to live and joyfully proclaim the Good News of Jesus, seeking the Kingdom of God and his justice in every form of evangelization, and to contribute to the renewal of the Church in fraternity and evangelical poverty. They give priority to proclaiming the Gospel among the neediest and the excluded, those who have lost their faith, and those who do not know Christ. They denounce situations of injustice and contribute to the search for alternatives, dialogue and discernment. They bring the words and gestures of Jesus into the hearts of men and women as a path to humanization and hope. Their way of life is rooted in the experience of God and in community. They ensure that their ongoing formation is attuned to the challenges of the times.
Missionary commitments
- School
- Social work
- Residences
- Mission ad gentes
- Migrants
- Youth groups
- Houses of spirituality
- Apostolate with consecrated people
- Pastoral ministry in parishes and dioceses
- Spiritual Exercises
- Media
- Written word
Missions
The Sisters of Mary Immaculate – Claretian Missionary Sisters have communities in Argentina, Bolivia, Cameroon, Colombia, South Korea, Cuba, Spain, the Philippines, Honduras, India, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, Mexico, Nigeria, Panama, Peru, Poland, D.R. Congo, the Dominican Republic, Sri Lanka, East Timor, the USA, Venezuela and Vietnam.
Contact Us
Generalate, Via Calandrelli, 12
00153 Rome – Italy