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One Spiritual Family

Members in the narrower sense

We Sisters, Priests, Deacons, Fratres [candidates for ordination] and Brothers follow Jesus in virginal love, in loving obedience of faith and evangelical poverty. The evangelical counsels among which virginal love has primacy for us, are a path of self-denial but even more so a way to enter into the fulness of life in Christ: his love fills us, his will gives us freedom, he is the treasure of our lives.

Members in the wider sense

Bishops and diocesan priests, as well as deacons, families, unmarried persons, widows and widowers belong to us in a wider sense. They enter into a Holy Covenant with the Sacred Heart of Jesus according to their state of life. As The Work is called to reflect the Church as a Family of God, they belong irreplaceably to our community. They live in their own apartments and houses. As members both in the narrower or wider sense, we help each other to fulfill our duties in the Church and the world with faith, in the unity and diversity of the vocations that God gives to his Church.

Foreword

We wish to be a community of adoration and serve God in unity and mutual complementarity, in love and respect, a community which lives in the world but is not of the world (cf. John 17:16-19). The Work consists of a Priests’ Community and a community of consecrated women with their respective governance. Our community was recognised as a new form of consecrated life by Pope John Paul II.

God wants The Work to be a Family of God! Mother Julia

Priests and Deacons

As consecrated men with a priestly and diaconal mission, we wish to be servants of the Church, witnesses of the faith and spiritual fathers for the people.

The priest must be an apostle who transmits Jesus Christ to the world by means of his intimate union with him. Mother Julia

Brothers

We Brothers are men who follow the Lord in the three evangelical counsels, are available for various tasks and who sincerely live in brotherly love.

With dedication and sincere love, the Brothers contribute to the building up of our whole Spiritual Family, serving selflessly with their various gifts and talents. Mother Julia

Choir Robe

The white choir robe which we wear for festal liturgies is a visible sign that we have consecrated our lives completely to God. The Sisters wear a stylized crown of thorns on their heads, while the members of the Priests' Community wear it as an emblem on their choir robes. The veil and the ring remind the Sisters that they are brides of Christ. We do not wear a habit; however, we know interiorly that our whole life is consecrated to God.

Sisters

As persons who are called to the consecrated life, we wish to be brides of Christ, spiritual mothers, and to give witness to others of God’s love in various ministries.

I long only to love Jesus sincerely and completely and to strive to make others love Him. Mother Julia

Diocesan priests

As diocesan priests we meet regularly for prayer, for formation and for mutual support in brotherly fellowship.

It is very important that all priests, whether diocesan or religious, help one another always to be fellow workers in the truth. Vatican II, PO 8

Laity

We form a community of faith and prayer with the consecrated members. As members of The Work, we receive support and valuable suggestions on how to fulfill our mission in our families and in society.

God wants us to radiate the paschal joy, the hope and the charity of the Early Christians. Mother Julia

Other forms of association

Christians from all walks of life and from all sorts of backgrounds are spiritually united with us through the blessing of their homes and their consecration to the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus. They aim to live faith and love in the spirit of the early Christians and act as a leaven to permeate today’s world with the message of the Gospel. Many faithful throughout the world join the family of The Work every evening in a blessing. They receive this blessing through bishops and priests all over the world.

The evening blessing is a stream of grace gushing forth from the merciful and loving Heart of the Lord. Mother Julia