Xaverian Missionaries of Mary
The Xaverian Missionaries of Mary are a religious order of missionary sisters in the Roman Catholic Church . The Institute of Consecrated Life was founded in 1945 by Father Giacomo Spagnolo SX and the nun, Mother Celestina Bottego OSB, in Parma ( Italy ) and is the female branch of the Xaverian missionaries .
history
The female congregation developed from the religious order of the Xaverian missionaries founded by Guido Maria Conforti in 1895 . Her main focus is preaching the gospel , living in charity and proselytizing for non-Christians . In 1945 the establishment was completed in Parma. They direct their life and work according to the rules of St. Francisco de Xavier .
The founders of the order
The Spaniard Giacomo Spagnolo (1912–1978) entered the congregation of the Xaverian Missionaries in Parma in 1928. He was ordained a priest in 1934 and then studied missiology in Rome at the Pontifical Urban University . After completing his studies, he went to the seminary of the diocese of Parma , where he trained young seminarians to become missionary priests . At the same time he studied at the University of Parma and University of Bologna Engineering . In 1943 he became rector of the Parma seminary.
Since 1936 the nun mother Celestine Bottego (1895–1980) taught the English language in the mother house of the Xaverian missionaries in Parma . At the age of 15, she and her mother moved from Montana ( USA ) to Parma. She later studied in Parma and taught in Parma public schools for over 20 years. In 1922 she joined the Benedictine nuns as a Benedictine oblate and in 1935 she met the missionary priest and later rector Giacomo Spagnolo for the first time. With him she discovered another and deeper spirituality . From the common work in the mother house and with the future missionaries , the idea of founding a community of missionary sisters developed.
organization
The nuns do not wear religious habit , they live among the population. They take the religious vows of the evangelical councils and live a simple and sisterly life in small communities . The religious order has 244 members and is active in 39 institutions. It has offices in Germany , Italy, Brazil , Mexico , Sierra Leone , Cameroon , Chad , the Democratic Republic of the Congo , Japan and Thailand .