Community of Our Lady of the Path
The Community of Our Lady of the Path is a secular institute for working women, which means under canon law also an institute for the consecrated life of the Roman Catholic Church. The name is derived from an image of Mary in Rome . This image of grace was particularly venerated by the community's spiritual namesake, Ignatius von Loyola .
history
The Jesuit Carl Dinkhauser and Maria Elisabeth Strachotinsky founded a community of Christian life in Steyr ( Austria ) in 1936 . Together they worked out the statute , which was based on the spirituality of St. Ignatius of Loyola, the founder of the Jesuit order. The community was expanded under the direction of Maria Elisabeth Strachotinsky. In 1939 she was recognized as Pia Unio by Cardinal Theodor Innitzer , Archbishop of Vienna .
The first members were from Marian congregations and were unmarried working women. During the Second World War , the community had to work in secret. The reactivation of the community began shortly after the end of the war. In 1948 the community received papal recognition as a secular institute under episcopal law . This was the occasion to take the vows of poverty, celibacy and obedience for the first time . With the extended papal approbation to the institute of papal law, the community gained widespread approval from 1953 and expanded beyond several countries.
organization
The seat of the parent company and at the same time the headquarters of the community is Vienna . The community is divided into areas, each with a leader; these include Austria, Germany , the Czech Republic , Slovakia , Hungary , Belgium , Ireland , the United States , Jamaica , the Philippines , India and Japan . In the areas, the community maintains centers for retreats , reflection, for events, conferences, working groups and internal community care.
Life in the community
The members do not lead a common monastic life and have no common or social tasks. They strive to realize their work in the spirit of the Gospel and work for this in the local parishes .
See also
Individual evidence
- ↑ Catholic Church in Upper Austria - Secular Institutes ( PDF ( page no longer available , search in web archives ) Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. )
