The Missionary Sisters Servants of the Holy Spirit, also known as Holy Spirit Missionary Sisters, or simply Holy Spirit Sisters (SSpS Latin: Servae Spiritus Sancti) are an official "religious congregation" within the Catholic Church, with members (after some years) making a vowed commitment to the loving service of God and their sisters and brothers in need around the world. They are an international group of women numbering approximately 4,000 members in 38 countries around the world. The congregation was founded by Saint Arnold Janssen in 1889 in Steyl, Holland.. Arnold Janssen selected Maria Helena Stollenwerk (1852-1900) and Hendrina Stenmanns, called Mother Josepha (1852-1903) as first leaders in the young congregation and granted them the title of co-foundresses. Helena Stollenwerk became also the Co-Foundress of the Congregation Servants of the Holy Spirit of Perpetual Adoration.
This community of religious women is rooted in the Trinitarian spirituality:"Empowered by the Holy Spirit, they, in collaboration with dedicated laity and clergy, live and proclaim the Gospel of God’s love, justice, and peace. In dialogue with people of diverse cultures and traditions, they minister and journey together promoting human dignity and life-giving relationships."
The Holy Spirit Sisters share the love of God through a variety of ministries. They have a common call to mission, being ever ready to go wherever they are needed. They remain open to the Spirit in themselves and in other cultures and peoples. They live in community where they share its supports as well as challenges.
Read more about Missionary Sisters Servants Of The Holy Spirit: History, Mission and Ministry, Formation, Founder, Literature
Famous quotes containing the words missionary, sisters, servants, holy and/or spirit:
“The missionary is no longer a man, a conscience. He is a corpse, in the hands of a confraternity, without family, without love, without any of the sentiments that are dear to us.... Emasculated, in a sense, by his vow of chastity, he offers us the distressing spectacle of a man deformed and impotent or engaged in a stupid and useless struggle with the sacred needs of the flesh, a struggle which, seven times out of ten, leads him to sodomy, the gallows, or prison.”
—Paul Gauguin (1848–1903)
““Woe to my sister, false Helen!””
—Unknown. Binnorie; or, The Two Sisters (l. 55)
“We teachers can only help the work going on, as servants wait upon a master.”
—Maria Montessori (1870–1952)
“Real holy laughter in the river! They saw it all! the wild eyes!
the holy yells! They bade farewell! They jumped off the roof! to
solitude! waving! carrying flowers! Down to the river! into the street!”
—Allen Ginsberg (b. 1926)
“There is something very solemn in the thought of a great spirit like hers entering the spiritual world which she did not believe in. If we are right in our faith, what a blessed surprise for her!”
—Margaret Oliphant (1828–1897)