Who We Are

We are a congregation of religious women established by Maria De Mattias to be a reconciling presence to the poor in our midst. We wish to minister Christ's presence in our world while we grow in our own relationship to God through prayer and community living. In the suffering, dying and rising of Jesus, we find a foundation for a variety of ministries. Adorers are found throughout the world responding to the needs for healthcare, education and community service. More than 300 Adorers live and minister in the United States.

Our Spirit and Charism

To be an Adorer of the Blood of Christ means to be wholly consecrated to the adoring and redeeming love of Jesus Christ, who shed his blood to free us from sin and reconcile us in love. Accordingly, our congregation itself must become "a living image of that divine charity with which this blood was shed, and of which it was and is sign, expression, measure and pledge."

Our Mission

Our corporate mission in the Church is to collaborate with Christ in his work of redemption. We accomplish this mission by witnessing to God's love and ministering that love to others, especially the poor, the oppressed, and the deprived. Through our varied ministries of evangelization and human development, our prayer, and our sharing in the cross of Christ, we participate day by day in the building up of the body of Christ, so that all creation can move toward "that beautiful order of things which the great Son of God came to establish in his blood." We serve in joy and simplicity, confident that the Spirit will sanctify us as we minister to others, identifying us more and more in likeness to Christ crucified and risen.

Where We Are

Adorers can be found in many places throughout the world. More specifically, we are in St. Louis Missouri; Columbia, Pennsylvania; Ruma, Illinois; Wichita, Kansas, Bolivia, Guatemala, Korea and in Rome.

Contact us:
U.S. Region Vocation Office
S. Jan Lane, ASC
1400 S. Sheridan ~ Wichita, Kansas 67217
1-877-ADORERS (236-7377)
Website: www.adorers.org

Our Vocation and Formation

A vocation is a gift from God. A vocation to the Clerics Regular Minor (Adorno Fathers and Brothers) is a particular call of God to place one's life at the service of the Church according to the Charism of our Founders. Membership in our community affords men the opportunity to serve God through parish work, missionary activities, retreat works and teaching. As a family, we strive to share with one another the joys and sorrows of everyday life. As a religious, the candidate may pursue the priestly life, brother or permanent deacon.

Formation

Formation with the Clerics Regular Minor begins with the period of postulancy. During this time, a candidate is helped to cultivate his baptismal grace, to discern more clearly and with greater certainty his own vocation, and to acquire the virtues and attitudes for following the call of the Lord.

The second period of formation in our Order is a year of novitiate. It is a period of grace and trial, during which the novices deepen more clearly their knowledge of their vocation in our Order, and experience its way of life. In the novitiate, the vows, the constitutions, the spirituality, the purpose and the history of the Clerics Regular Minor are well treated, so that the novices may know and live our Charism, which should be the soul of their religious life.

Upon completion of the novitiate, the candidate professes the religious vows of chastity, poverty, obedience and not seeking after Ecclesiastical honors. This simple or first profession of vows lasts three years. During this time, the professed religious deepens his spiritual life in the Order and also becomes involved in some apostolate in our parishes.

Solemn Profession of vows is the highest and most complete of consecration to God in the service of the Church, and of full aggregation in our religious family. It is a sign of the spousal love that indissolubly unites Christ to the Church, His spouse.

If you are interested in becoming an Adorno priest or brother, please fill out the printed form and send it via mail to the address given below. This, however, does not mean an automatic acceptance to our Order. This form will help us determine whether or not you will fit in the kind of ministry and Charism we have.

Vocation Director
Adorno Fathers
575 Darlington Avenue
Ramsey, New Jersey 07446, USA
Tel. (201) 327-7375
Email: vocations@adornofathers.org
Web site: http://adornofathers.org/index.php/vocations/

The Augustine of the Assumption (AA)/Assumptionists are an international congregation present in over 30 countries throughout the world, with the most recent foundation being established in 2006 in the Philippines, Vietnam, and Togo, and in Uganda in 2010. The congregation has long been involved in education, the press, ecumenism, pilgrimage, and the missions. In the 1870s, religious launched several magazines which have, over the years, expanded into one of the largest Catholic publishing houses in the world, Bayard Press, which publishes the award-winning daily French newspaper, La Croix, and more than 100 magazines in 15 languages (in English its best know publication is Catholic Digest). In 1873 these religious also began a series of large-scale pilgrimages both within France and to the Holy Land which developed into such a current endeavors as the popular national pilgrimage to Lourdes every year on the occasion of the feast of the Assumption, gathering thousands of pilgrims.

The congregation was founded in southern France by Emmanuel d'Alzon, the vicar general of the Diocese of Nimes, in Diocese of Nîmes, in the wake of the French Revolution which left the Church in a state of ruins. Fr. d'Alzon wanted us to address what he saw as the ills created by this revolution: ignorance of the faith, indifference to it, and outright unbelief. He felt that the best way to do this was through education in all its forms: formal education in schools, but also through the press, pilgrimages, preaching, the missions, youth ministry, etc. He saw society in which he lived as "sick" and wanted transform it, as he says, "penetrate it with a Christian idea."

As an Augustinian community we place a high priority on the common life: common prayer, the intellectual life, meals, recreation, apostolic activities, etc. Because of our modest size, many of our communities are international in character and religious are encouraged to study and work abroad.

You can find more info about us at two websites in English: www.assumptio.org and www.assumption.us, as well as two articles in Wikipedia (online): one on the Assumptionists and one on our founder, Emmanuel d'Alzon.

Fr. John L. Franck, A.A.
Vocation Director
Emmanuel House
512 Salisbury Street
Worcester, MA 01609
Email: jlfranck@aol.com or call 508-767-7517