The Congregation carries out the charism handed down by its founder, Fr. Kłopotowski. The sisters care for their own sanctification and spread the Gospel through the printed word, the living word and the material and spiritual help given to people in need, especially the elderly and children. They open themselves to the current needs of the Church.
Religious books and magazines come out of the Loretto printing house in Warsaw, Pessano (near Milan), Baia Mare (Romania) and Braclaw (Ukraine). The publishing houses in Poland and Italy have their own recording studio which allows the visual and audio transmission of God’s truths.
The Loretto sisters conduct catechesis in schools and kindergartens. They undertake the education of neglected children and provide them with material help. Among many facilities, they run Father Igancy House in Warsaw. They serve the elderly in retirement homes both in Loretto (Poland) and in Bergamo (Italy). They also visit the sick in their homes. The sisters can be found working in the sacristy, the chancery or in various domestic ministries.
SPIRITUALITY
The Loretto sisters shape their spirituality on: the Gospel, the Rule of St. Benedict, their own Constitutions and the writings of Blessed Fr. Kłopotowski. The founder passed on to his spiritual daughters a love of the Eucharist and a special veneration for the Mother of God. Responding to the call of St. Benedict: “That in all things God may be glorified”, the sisters combine joyful devotion to God with conformity to Christ and His Mother and sacrificial service to the Church and to man.
They fill their daily life with contemplation and work. During the Eucharist they offer the sacrifice of their own lives in union with the Sacrifice of the Son of God and adore the Blessed Sacrament. In the name of the whole Church they adore God the Father with the Monastic Liturgy of the Hours. By reading and meditating on the Holy Scriptures, praying the Rosary and their own prayers, the sisters encounter the living God. Gazing at Mary as Mother of the Divine Word and their Mistress, they spread her devotion and learn evangelical attitudes from her.
Our Lady of Loretto is the primary Patroness of the congregation. Secondary Patrons are St. Joseph, Spouse of the Blessed Virgin Mary, St. Benedict of Nursia and St. Scholastica.
From the Constitutions of the Congregation (Art. 6)
The sisters in accordance with the will of Father Founder reveal to people the mysteries of the Incarnate Word and HisVirgin Mother. They undertake the following tasks:
- apostolate through the printed word and other means of social communication;
- teaching and educating children and young people;
- providing spiritual and material assistance to people in need;
- cooperation with the pastoral care of the local Church.
From the Acts of the Congregation (Art. 5)
The Sisters of Loretto strive to:
- make Jesus Christ known by their lives;
- disseminate good books and the Catholic press;
- use all means of social communication and forms of dialogue with contemporary man to teach him to live the Gospel;
- to pray for those involved in the transmission of information through the mass media;
- foster the moral attitudes of children and young people;
- provide spiritual and material help to people in need, especially the poor, the sick and the elderly.
