Our Lady of Fatima

"In answer to Our Lady's request at Fatima, we are greatly devoted to the recitation of the Holy Rosary (cf. Can. 663.4). We sit at the School of Mary as she teaches us in the Rosary to contemplate the beauty of the face of Christ, to experience the depths of His love, and to draw down the specific graces of each mystery here and now upon Christ's living members, most especially our Holy Father." ~ MSSR Constitutions, XV

​The Rosary forms the center of our  Marian living of the Christo-centric vowed life. For the Sisters in immediate formation, the communal meditation upon the Gospel through the eyes of and in the company of Our Lady falls directly in the middle of their daily labors. It provides the Sisters with an opportunity to glance back with grateful hearts to their quiet moments of mediation and union with Christ in the Mass and to ask through Mary's hands for the graces necessary for fidelity in the duties that will occupy them until gathering again in His Presence for the evening prayer of the Church. For the Sisters in the apostolate, the Rosary may form the common thread that runs throughout the day, tying the formal Hours of the Church together, enlivening the demands of the apostolate with Our Lady's gentle presence, and keeping the communication between the Sister and her Spouse open.

On this 100th anniversary of the apparitions of Our Lady at Fatima, we reflect gratefully on the her message, including her request for us to share in her Son's work of salvation, "Pray much and sacrifice yourselves for sinners." In Christ's suffering and passion, human suffering is infused with the light of grace and human sorrow becomes redemptive. All of our suffering now has the capacity to be co-redemptive in and through Christ. ​All of the little sufferings and inconveniences of our daily lives become opportunities, opportunities of grace for us and opportunities to console the Hearts of Jesus and Mary. Since sacrifices are the offering of something precious to God, our sacrifices are not limited to painful experiences or ordeals but may and should include all things. Everything, regardless of how small or delightful, may be offered as a loving sacrifice to God in reparation for the offenses against the most tender and loving Hearts of Jesus and Mary. In this way, in every moment of our day we can be responding to Mary's call for prayer and sacrifice for the salvation of the souls in our care.

"Even outside times of formal prayer we unite our hearts and minds with our Spouse, Jesus Christ. ​Through this contemplative union, and illumined by the light of the Holy Spirit, we seek to be more effective channels of His activity in the Church." ~ Constitutions