In Dourdan-France, more than three centuries ago there was a great woman who managed to change the reality of ignorance, hunger, suffering and abandonment of the inhabitants of a small and forgotten French town called Sainville. Her name is Marie Poussepin. 

“The experience that God loves us in an absolutely free, personal and unique way, is done in us "vocation" of radical following of Jesus Christ" (Ratio, Pg. 35)

Province of Los Andes

• You are looking for Life that never disappoints, that you feel that Love calls you to give and to give you more...
• That you have asked yourself about the meaning of your life and God's plan for you ... We tell you: dare! and go for a walk ... Christ is the way, after his footprints see!

WE INVITE YOU TO FOLLOW CHRIST WITH US.
DARE! TAKE A STEP IN FAITH

Text: Srs. Rocío Cuéllar, Maribel Burgos and Natalia Huamán

The Dominican Community that Marie Poussepin wanted was to have charity as its soul

In the imitation of Christ, Marie Poussepin, in a tireless quest for God, touched by the misery, sickness and ignorance that she discovered in Sainville availed herself to serve others. Only one contemplative aim, love of God and love of others moved her to speak to God or of God with a charity full of mercy and compassion.

Province of Bogotá

Charity which is particularly attentive to the poorest through a creative charity which is not content with giving just necessary and indispensable relief, but finding ways to offer them work for their own subsistence. Charity which embraces the human being as a whole and wants to respond to its different hungers: hunger for bread and for knowledge, hunger for dignity and recognition, hunger for happiness, hunger for truth and hunger for God.

Since her youth, Marie Poussepin’s faith was anchored in an open, ecclesial and committed life. Being rooted in the local Church marked her life and all her works. The sisters were sent "for the service of the parish". Her sense of the Church and obedience allowed her to bear, without weakening, the trials that accompanied the growth of her Project. In order to give with such energy throughout her long life, Marie Poussepin applied herself to a true and solid devotion, "imitating the life that Our Lord led on earth”. It was He who was at the heart of her life, her prayer and her service to others, at the heart of her encounters with her sisters and with all those she met in one way or another. It was Our Lord, the Eucharistic bread, the bread of the World who nourished her and moved her to share it with others.

In confidence and joy, Marie Poussepin turned toward Mary, the Mother of Christ and our Mother. Marie Poussepin wished that the Community would honour and imitate Mary in the mystery of the Presentation, mystery of the call, and mystery of acceptance, faith in this God who “fills the starving with good things and sends the rich away empty”. When one has a broad mission and open heart, how can one alone respond to the cries that one hears, to the needs that one perceives? A few companions joined Marie Poussepin forming a small nucleus of the community of the Third Order of St. Dominic. The Dominican Community that Marie Poussepin wanted was to have charity as its soul. This love of God and neighbor was first of all expressed in the community where there was no distinction of persons and where neither country nor birth gave way for differences. This did not mean egalitarianism, but full acknowledgment of each one with her values, her possibilities and also her limitations. In this community, united in the name of Jesus Christ, the Word is welcomed, shared, studied and celebrated. The Eucharist and reconciliation are leaven for growth and unity. The Virgin Mary is an example calling us to a life of gift of self in faith and humility of heart.

Source: "Formation in the Congregation. Ratio Formationis"