|
|||||||
|
|
|
|||||
|
|
|||||||
| Home | About Us | Site Map | Work With Us | Contact us |
 | ||||||
Vocations HomepageWhat is a vocation? Discerning a vocation Prayers to know God's will Prayers for vocations 
   |
 Parish Visitors of Mary ImmaculateAbout the Parish Visitors | A Day With the Parish Visitors | Contact the Sisters The Parish Visitors of Mary Immaculate are a contemplative-missionary community of Sisters, fired with the love of God and sustained by a deep spirit of prayer, who go out in imitation of Mary's Visitation to bring the message and love of the Good Shepherd. In a person-to-person apostolate, the Parish Visitors of Mary Immaculate visit the homes in a parish, seeking especially the wayward, the spiritually neglected and neglectful, those not living their Catholic faith. Through spiritual counsel and instruction and social service assistance, the Sisters remind the person they meet of God's immense love for them. Through religious education, informally or in classes, they help persons to respond to that love with their whole heart.
The Parish Visitors of Mary Immaculate were founded in 1920 in New York City by Mother Mary Teresa Tallon. Their motherhouse, novitiate and infirmary are in Monroe, New York. Mission convents are located in Bronx, NY, Rome, NY, and Scranton, PA, and a mission/formation house in Nigeria (only sisters who volunteer for that mission are sent there). There are about 70 Sisters in the community, including over 15 in basic formation (before final vows).
The Sacred Heart of the Good Shepherdby Sister Dolores Marie, PVMIThe Parish Visitors of Mary Immaculate are called to imitate the Good Shepherd by seeking out Jesus' lost lambs and bringing them home to God.  The Sacred Heart of the Good Shepherd was a favorite theme in the conferences of our Foundress, Mother Mary Teresa Tallon. This may well be an expression unique to her, a fruit of her prayer and reflection and a unique heritage to the Parish Visitors of Mary Immaculate. It is a perfect expression for our contemplative missionary Community.
The Good Shepherd going out after His lost and straying sheep is a picture familiar to many Catholics. He goes into the thorns and thickets, up and down hills, in snow or in heart, unmindful of His scratches and tiredness. He thinks only of finding the lost; He is not satisfied until He brings the lost one home. This has been the inspiration over the years for all Parish Visitors of Mary Immaculate.  The Sisters walk in His footsteps, climbing stairs, knocking at doors, seeking and finding the lost and straying sheep, "bringing the message and love of the Good Shepherd" (PVMI Constitutions).
Yes, as Mother Mary Teresa tells us, the Good Shepherd has a heart of love for His sheep, a love even deeper than the love of a mother for a lost child, a Sacred Heart. His heart yearns for each and every one of His people, yearns for their love. He knocks at the doors of their hearts - another image dear to Parish Visitors - and longs to be admitted as their Lord, their Savior, their Friend. He longs for a loving relationship with them. He longs for His sheep and seeks them out in many ways, such as calling women as Parish Visitors to be "formed in the contemplative spirit and go out in search of the lost lambs and bring them back to the fold by means of Christian instruction" (PVMI Constitutions). Meanwhile, His Sacred Heart is saddened by lost sheep who persist in straying, saddened from knocking at the doors of hearts and getting no response. The world seems to have less and less love for Him. He is even more neglected and rejected than His people. He looks to us for love. "The world is so restless, it offers no place where He can repose. He expects to find a quiet spot in the heart of His spouse" (Mother Mary Teresa). He longs to "rest in their hearts" (PVMI Constitutions), the hearts of those vowed to Him. This is an essential part of our charism as Parish Visitors: to love and adore and console Him, Heart of Jesus in the Most Blessed Sacrament, "the Sacred Heart of the Good Shepherd in the Holy Eucharist" (Mother Mary Teresa). From the beginning of our community "the union of contemplation and missionary activity has been of the essence of the Parish Visitor vocation" (PVMI Constitutions). Contemplative-missionaries, contemplation and the lost and straying sheep, the Sacred Heart of the Good Shepherd! What a beautiful legacy Mother Mary Teresa has left us! May we, and many young women after us, be true always to her spirit and to the Sacred Heart of the Good Shepherd! Reprinted from The Parish Visitor, Summer 1995 About the Parish Visitors | A Day With the Parish Visitors | Contact the Sisters
More religious orders |
|||||
 |
|
Home | About us | Site Map | Work with us | Contact us
© 2001 by Catholic Youth Networking
Contact the webmaster
