Pastoral of Vocations

Marie Poussepin, a woman who, hearing the call of the Lord, responded to the needs of the time, leaves Dourdan, a small prosperous town where she was born, to go and live in the humble village of Sainville, in the heart of Beauce, periodically ravaged by war, famine, and epidemics, and where “ignorance was widespread, to say the least”. OV

Province of GuadalupeProvince of Guadalupe"We are called by the Lord to participate in his creative work, giving our contribution to the common good from the capacities we receive" (Christus Vivit, 253).

Follow me 

“Simon, son of John, Follow me...
When you were young... you went where you wanted.
But when you get old...
Someone else will take you where you do not want to go...
Follow me!” (Jn 21).
 

This Gospel reveals to us the root of all spirituality and returns to us in the simplicity of Christian identity. It teaches us that to be a disciple of Jesus is to follow Him, and that this is what the Christian life consists of. Jesus essentially calls everyone to follow Him and all of Christianity is built on our response to this call. (Mt 8:18-22; 9:9; 10:38; 19:21.28; Mk 1:17-18; 3:13-14; Lk 14:25-27; Jn 1:43; 8:12; 10:27; 21:15-22).

To be a Christian is to follow Christ out of love. It is Jesus who asks us if we love Him and we answer our yes to Him. He invites us to follow Him: “You follow me..." (John 21). That’s all. It's that simple. Ignorant, full of faults, Jesus will lead us to holiness, provided we begin by loving Him and have the courage to follow Him.

Following is at the root of all Christian calls. Without this:
 
  • There is no spirituality of the cross, because we would not hear the call to carry it.
  • There is no spirituality of prayer, because we would not be able to incorporate ourselves into the prayer of the One whom we follow.
  • There is no spirituality of poverty, because we would not live the detachment of those who are faithful in following an impoverished God.
  • There is no spirituality of commitment, because every commitment or dedication to the other is the fruit of fidelity to the path that Jesus followed.

Source: Segundo Galilea, "Pastoral Popular Religiosity"

Province of GuadalupeProvince of GuadalupeThe Dominican Sisters of Charity of the Presentation of the Blessed Virgin are women who, in obedience to God's call, have chosen to follow Christ in community life to know him, love him and announce him through "everything that charity inspires them ", "wherever the Church calls us and our brothers and sisters need us" (C 84).

We are women who, trusting in the Word of God, decide to surrender every other quest to the pursuit of God made flesh. That is why we struggle every day in the evangelical expression of "selling everything", in order to acquire that pearl and that hidden treasure that constitutes the following of Jesus (Mt. 13:44-46).

AND YOU, ARE YOU INTERESTED IN FOLLOWING CHRIST WITH US!

Text: Sr. Evelyn Guadalupe Cecilia Córdova Grande

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, become a vocation

Marie Poussepin, founder of the Congregation of Charity Dominican Sisters of the Presentation of the Blessed Virgin, was a woman who lived fully the will of God. She is the humble, pious and charitable woman, servant of the Lord, who unites in a single glance her love to God and to people. It is offered to us as a way to live the project of Jesus. Why:
 

“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 AndesProvince of Los Andes

The vocation as God's call is at the same time the election and gift that the Lord makes in a particular way to young people who generously want to live out their project of love in the world. Today as yesterday, many young women continue to find in Marie Poussepin a model of generous response to the invitation of Jesus Christ "COME AND FOLLOW ME". A young woman like you, can also discover that GOD SPEAKS to her in her personal life and in the reality that she lives today.
 
FOR YOU...
  • 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, the Dominican Sisters of the Presentation, as Marie Poussepin wanted, live in prayerful, fraternal and missionary communities. We go through the world -36 countries- announcing the gratuity of God's love through the service of Charity.
 

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 BogotáProvince 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"