“We are missionaries, and a missionary’s vocation is to sacrifice herself for the glory of God and the salvation of immortal souls.”
Blessed Maria Helena Stollenwerk wrote these words in a letter to the sisters on 2 February 1896. More than a hundred years ago… Yet no one is surprised that they remain relevant. The essence of love will never pass away…
Today, the Missionary Congregation of the Servants of the Holy Spirit works in 46 countries on every continent. The first missionaries, sent out by the first superior, Mother Maria, left for Argentina in 1895, just six years after the Congregation’s foundation. The sisters soon began working in Togo, New Guinea, the United States, Brazil, China, Japan, Mozambique and the Philippines.
Together with the first missionaries of the Society of the Divine Word, the sisters endured the difficulties of the early years of missionary work and helped establish Christian communities. They laid the foundations for present-day pastoral ministry in many countries. From the beginning, their activities were as diverse as life itself. They included education at every level, from kindergarten to university; healthcare in clinics, hospitals and health centres in remote areas; teaching household skills; and childcare. Today, their work also includes serving communities without a priest, leading spiritual retreats, helping the poorest people, working in leprosy centres, caring for people with AIDS and drug dependencies, and serving in refugee camps.
The First and Second World Wars were times of trial for the Congregation. Missionaries were expelled from Africa, and many sisters died in New Guinea and Indonesia. In the 1950s, more than 200 missionaries were forced to leave China by the communist authorities. Let us pray through the intercession of Blessed Maria Helena for the grace to return to that suffering land.
In addition to the countries already mentioned, the Servants of the Holy Spirit live and work:
In Europe: besides the Netherlands, where the Mother House was built at the initiative of St Arnold Janssen, founder of the Society of the Divine Word and the two women’s congregations, the Missionary Sisters Servants of the Holy Spirit and the Holy Spirit Adoration Sisters, they serve in Italy, Austria, Germany, England, Ireland, Switzerland, Spain, Moldova, Poland, Portugal, russia, Romania, Hungary, Ukraine, Slovakia and Czechia.
In Africa: we have recently returned to Togo and Mozambique, and also work in Botswana, Ghana, Angola, Zambia, Ethiopia, Benin and South Africa.
In Latin America: we serve in Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Paraguay, Mexico, Ecuador and Cuba, as well as in the United States and small island countries such as Antigua, Barbuda and St Kitts.
In Asia: the sisters work in India, Indonesia, Timor, Japan, Korea, the Philippines and Taiwan.
In Oceania: Australia and Papua New Guinea.
Almost 3,500 Sister Servants of the Holy Spirit seek to help people, especially those who are poor and have not yet heard the Gospel, so that the Holy Triune God may be known and glorified…
Through obedience, we leave the Lord free to guide our lives.
Consecrated chastity, through which we are called to complete and boundless love, frees our hearts for the Lord’s work and his Kingdom.
Evangelical poverty makes us pilgrims seeking the one true Treasure…
“Every sister must be ready for the missionary work to which she is assigned, even when it requires leaving her homeland, native language and culture. Such readiness is a fundamental feature of our missionary vocation” (Constitutions, 104).
In Ukraine, we live and work in five communities: Kyiv, Boryspil, Kremenchuk, Khmelnytskyi and Verbovets in the Vinnytsia region. We care for children and young people, families and older people. Our sisters work with homeless people and children living on the streets. Mindful of our missionary vocation, we undertake a variety of tasks in parishes and at our convents.
Young women who have heard the invitation of the Lord of the harvest and wish to respond begin their journey of following him in candidacy and postulancy. They then enter a two-year novitiate in Boryspil. During this time, they discover the greatness and beauty of God’s love, for which they renounce the happiness of married family life, wealth and their own plans.
The novitiate ends with first religious profession, through which the sister commits her life to the Congregation for one year. Over the following six years, she renews her covenant with God, which the Church definitively confirms by accepting her perpetual vows. A ring bearing the symbol of the Holy Spirit is placed on her hand… From then on, she is wholly and permanently dedicated to missionary service, living out her vocation in her homeland or abroad.
Filled with love for Jesus, the sister is ready to go “to the other end of the world”. Yet for the same reason, she will also agree to remain in Ukraine, for everywhere she hears the plea, spoken aloud or within the heart: “Give me living water…”
Missionary Sisters Servants of the Holy Spirit
28 Horkoho Street
Boryspil 08300
Ukraine
(044) 22 77 395
ukr.prov.ssps@mail.ru
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