Every baptized Christian shares a call to life and love, to holiness and discipleship, to witness and service. How we respond to this call depends upon the gift or grace of the Holy Spirit that we have been given. This grace is refered to as a charism.
A Charism is given to individuals or groups so that they might serve and build up the Christian community and further the reign of God. (1 Cor. 12: 4-6)
The charism of each religious congregation is the way its members have chosen to live their Christian call. Charisms often have similar features; the way in which these features are emphasised makes each religious group unique.
The SSND charism was originally given to Blessed Theresa Gerhardinger, our foundress. Many women and men including family, friends and former members identify with this charism as well. They may choose to be associated with SSND in formal and informal ways.
Here is what we say about our Charism in our Constitution:
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Our charism, gift of the Spirit, was embodied in Blessed Mary Theresa of Jesus Gerhardinger, who, longing for the oneness of all in God, grounded the congregation in Eucharist, anchored it in poverty, and dedicated it to Mary.
A woman of faith, ever seeking God's will, she struggled for unity in our international community and responded to urgent needs,
preferring the poor and educating with a world vision.
In these gifts of the spirit of our foundress, Mother Theresa, we recognize the evolving charism of our congregation.
Our charism flows from our spiritual heritage, especially the gifts of:
- St. Augustine, who formed a community to be of one heart and one soul in God, seeing in the Trinity the basis, source and goal of all community;
- Blessed Alix Le Clerc and St. Peter Fournier, who gave a new direction to religious life, insisting that ministry be integral to the community they founded;
- Bishop Michael Wittman and Francis Sebastian Job, who held Christian education for girls as their special concern,
understanding what women must be if the human family were to improve;
- Mother Caroline Friess, who, through courageous leadership, adapted the congregation to life on another continent, perceptively reading the signs of the times, risking innovative response to the needs of the new world.
Our charism continues to develop in the living community, which, enriched by the past, enables the congregation to unfold in the present and be challenged by the future.
Through the power of the Spirit we carry out this mission particularly though our efforts toward unity, our community life, our ministry directed toward education, our common search for and doing of God's will.
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