Like the Apostles
The spirit of the Institute is essentially apostolic: We wish to follow Christ as the Apostles did, putting our lives at the service of the Gospel, ready to risk all for the Lord.
Like the Apostles, we are called to live with Jesus so we can be his witnesses; like them we combine contemplation with action to live the Mission entrusted to us: to proclaim the Good News of of the Gospel of Jesus, a message of love, peace and justice. Attentive to the hopes and desires of the peoples to whom we are sent and who welcome us, our mission is to work with them to bring about a concrete expression of the reign of God.
“You have been chosen by God to continue in your way the work Jesus Christ confided to His Apostles.
Is there any other task that could be more important?” Augustine Planque SMA
“With Mary, the Mother of Jesus”
Our motto comes from the Acts of the Apostles. Our Lady of Apostles is for us the ideal model of the strong, humble woman, ready to serve and full of hope. In the Cenacle, with the Twelve, she ponders the things of God but at the same time animates the missionary thrust which marks the beginning of the Church. In her we find the perfection of the integrated life which we desire to attain. “With Mary, the Mother of Jesus,(Acts 1:14) ” we wish to persevere in prayer and apostolic action, always attentive to the Spirit of Pentecost.
“All these with one accord devoted themselves to prayer,
together with the women and Mary the mother of Jesus, and with his brothers and sisters.” Acts. 1:14
Listening to the Holy Spirit
Father Planque placed our Institute at the heart of the nascent Church, in the Upper Room, a place of contemplation of the action of God and preparation for the coming of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost. Like the Apostles, with Mary we persevere in prayer and action, attentive to the inspirations of the Spirit. We are challenged through the Church and the cries of the world to move towards our brothers and sisters who ar ein most need, so we can bear witness to God’s love.
“Your heart is a Cenacle where the Holy Spirit can always find you.” Augustin Planque
With simplicity
We strive to live with a simplicity of attitude and behaviour which our Founder regarded as part of the essence of the spirit animating the Institute. For us, simplicity means choosing on every occasion an attitude of uprightness, of truth, of availability.
“I want nothing but simplicity in its widest apostolic sense.” Augustin Planque
Living the family spirit
Originating from different countries and called together to be united with Jesus for the same mission, we wish to be a sign of the love of God who desires to gather all humankind into peaceful communion, into one. A family spirit fosters this sense of unity among us. It helps us to build up our communities with kindness, sensitivity, love and affection. As members of an international Institute and aware of our different backgrounds, culture and way of life, we accept each other with respect and holding each other in high regard, so that we can witness to the fact that in Christ, communion in diversity is possible.
“The more united we are, the better we shall do God’s work.
May a family spirit of union and harmony reign among you.” Augustin Planque
Rooted in the Paschal Mystery
In accepting the deprivations and difficulties of each day, following Christ we enter into the Paschal Mystery of death and resurrection in solidarity with all those who are suffering.
“To suffer does not remove joy; to die does not take away life when one has in one’s heart He who is the principle of joy and life.”