Our Spirituality
The sisters are given the particular task of honoring in a special manner the divine Blood of our Savior and making it fruitful.
CPS Charism
Our CPS Charism is one of the suffering and joy of the Paschal Mystery, of the cross and resurrection, of the precious blood of Jesus and his redeeming love, of the anguish of the world and the readiness for mission.
It is surrender to God’s design as a way of our being in the world. It gives shape to who we are and is the reason for what we do. It gives us our name. It is demanding!
The Paschal Mystery
The Paschal Mystery is the pattern of our lives. It is God’s redeeming plan for the world written into our personal histories and engraved into the history of our congregation. Paschal Mystery living is entering into a process of transformation. This is our challenge in today’s world!
Redeeming love demands of us a new way of being in the world and for the world. This is our name, and this is our mandate.
Joy, Gratitude, Compassion
We are called to live in community-for-mission, proclaiming the message of reconciliation, healing, and peace to the world. We minister, especially to the poor, to women and children, to the marginalized, and the vulnerable in society as we endeavor to respond to the “I thirst” of Christ in our world.
Precious Blood spirituality challenges us to become ambassadors of reconciliation, justice, and peace in the world, and to preserve the integrity of creation. As Eucharistic women, we witness to redeeming love in joy, gratitude, and compassion.
Abbot Francis Pfanner
Abbot Francis Pfanner, our Founder and the founder of Mariannhill Mission in South Africa, was an Austrian Trappist and a dynamic missionary (regarded by Thomas Merton as the greatest missionary of his time).
Always seeking God’s Will, he answered an unexpected and unprecedented missionary call in 1879. If no one wants to go, I will,’ was his reply to a bishop who pleaded for Trappists to help him evangelize the local people of South Africa. He soon realized that if he wanted to bring Christ to Africa, he would need the support of the local women; for their education and training, he needed the help of Sisters.
Five young German women responded to Abbot Francis’s plea for assistance in the mission. Their courageous spirit attracted other mission helpers, and our congregation was born (in Mariannhill, near Durban, South Africa, in 1885), and has now spread throughout the world, presently numbering over 900 sisters.
Mother Paula Emunds
Mother Paula Emunds, our Co-Foundress, shared the spirit, vision, and mission of Abbot Francis. From the moment of her call, Mother Paula began to absorb the spirit of Abbot Francis as he sought and surrendered to the will of God. She handed on this spirit in The Inner Spirit and Virtues of a Missionary Sister of the Precious Blood.
For Mother Paula, surrender was the total gift of self to God. Her surrender is portrayed in our virtue of Surrender to the Will of God. In a sense, this is our only CPS virtue. The other three virtues of our Inner Spirit (prayer, self-denial, generosity, and readiness for sacrifice) are ways in which we can live our own surrender.
Mother Paula’s heart-gift of surrender to God poured forth in a surrender to the needs of the world – a heart aflame for mission. This mandate echoes in her daughters today as she urges us to: ‘Dare the Utmost!’
CPS Culture
Our way of life as Missionary Sisters of the Precious Blood is rooted in the Triune God and sustained by our Essentials and Non-Negotiables.
We express it by living out the Principles, Devotions and Virtues as stated in the Inner Spirit.
The Inner Link
Mother Paula, speaks of our “Family Name” containing our mandate and the qualities/characteristics which binds us to each other as CPS- the inner link- echoing Rev 5:9 you bought us for God by your Blood from every tribe and language and people and nation
Our Inner Spirit
Mother Paula has given us a three-fold gift and task: Our Inner Spirit.
God is My Father
Ora et Labora
Unity is Strength
Devotions
- Devotion to the precious blood
- Union with the Divine Heart of Jesus, the Fountain of the Precious Blood.
- The blessed Mother of God as the Model of the Missionary Sister of the Precious Blood.
Four Virtues of a Missionary Sister of the Precious Blood
- Perfect Surrender to God’s Guidance.
- Incessant Worship of God.
- Persistent Self-Denial by Faithful in Little Things
- Generosity in Making Sacrifices.
The Five F’s as Desired by Father Founder are Evident in our Lives
(Const. 402 D1)
Fromm
Devout
Fleißig
Diligent
Friedvoll
Peaceful
Folgsam
Obedient
Freudig
Joyful
Essentials and Non-Negotiables
Our Prayers
Daily Prayer
O you Saints of God,
obtain for me the grace
which I ask through the
Precious Blood of Jesus Christ:
always to do the will of God
always to be united to God
to think of nothing but of God
to do everything for the love of God
to seek in all things the glory of God
to realize my own nothingness
to recognize ever better the will of God
and to preserve a spirit of recollection.
Amen.
Prayer for Perseverance
The blood will mark the houses where you are. Seeing the blood, I will pass over you. No destruction will come upon you.
Exodus 12:13
It is in Christ and through His blood that we have been redeemed and our sins forgiven, so immeasurably generous is God’s favor to us.
Ephesians 2:8
God, our Father, you gave your people water from the rock and manna from heaven. Strengthen us as you strengthened your people. Grant that the covenant sealed in the blood of Jesus may confer on us your help and your kingdom. This we ask in the name of Jesus Christ, your Son. Amen
Seven Offerings of the Precious Blood
Loving God, through the Life-giving Blood of Christ, have mercy on the concerns and needs of the Church and the entire world:
- or your greater honor and glory,
- or the spreading of your kingdom,
- and for the salvation of all.
Blessed and praised forevermore be Jesus Christ who has redeemed us with his Precious Blood
Loving God, through the Life-giving Blood of Christ, have mercy on the concerns and needs of the Church and the entire world, especially we pray:
- for the mission of the Church ,
- for Pope (N), bishops, priests, religious,
- and for all your people.
Blessed and praised forevermore be Jesus Christ who has redeemed us with his Precious Blood.
Loving God, through the Life-giving Blood of Christ, have mercy on the concerns and needs of the Church and the entire world, especially we pray:
- for the conversion of all people,
- for the loving acceptance and understanding of your Word,
- and for the unity of all Christians.
Blessed and praised forevermore be Jesus Christ who has redeemed us with his Precious Blood.
Loving God, through the Life-giving Blood of Christ, have mercy on the concerns and needs of the Church and the entire world, especially we pray:
- for all governments,
- or the practice of ethical and moral values,
- that the dignity and rights of all people be respected
- and for the preservation of all creation.
Blessed and praised forevermore be Jesus Christ who has redeemed us with his Precious Blood.
Loving God, through the Life-giving Blood of Christ, have mercy on the concerns and needs of the Church and the entire world, especially we pray:
- for the poor, sick, suffering and marginalized,
- for those who are persecuted for their faith,
- and for all who rely on our prayers
Blessed and praised forevermore be Jesus Christ who has redeemed us with his Precious Blood.
Loving God, through the Life-giving Blood of Christ, have mercy on the concerns and needs of the Church and the entire world, especially we pray:
- for our spiritual and temporal concerns,
- for those of our relatives, friends, associates and benefactors,
- and for peace, justice and reconciliation among all.
Blessed and praised forevermore be Jesus Christ who has redeemed us with his Precious Blood.
Loving God, through the Life-giving Blood of Christ, have mercy on the concerns and needs of the Church and the entire world, especially we pray:
- for those who are to die this day,
- for those who have gone before us,
- and for our final union with Christ in glory.
Blessed and praised forevermore be Jesus Christ who has redeemed us with his Precious Blood.