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MISSION OF THIS APOSTOLATE
In response to the request by the Congregation for the Clergy, we work in the Archdiocese of St. Louis to:
INFORM the laity and clergy about the call to spiritual maternity for the encouragement, strengthening and sanctification of our priests through Eucharistic Adoration and acts of reparation,
and
FORM WOMEN to assume and grow in the role of spiritual mothers for priests by
- conforming ourselves to the Blessed Virgin Mary,
- embracing the will of God in all circumstances,
- striving for holiness and self-offering, through prayer - especially in Holy Mass and Eucharistic Adoration - and through the offering of our praise and joys, daily duties and suffering, for the sake of priests.
BACKGROUND
This apostolate is consecrated to the Sacred Heart of Jesus, through the Immaculate Heart of Mary, for the glory of the Father and the salvation of the world.
The inspiration for this apostolate is the document, Eucharistic Adoration for the Sanctification of Priests and Spiritual Maternity (2007), which was published by the Vatican Congregation for the Clergy to encourage women to spiritually adopt priests.
In Spring 2013, the Lord brought together several women who desired to make this vision a reality in the Archdiocese of St. Louis. The occasion was a visit to the archdiocese of the relics of St. Mary Magdalene, the Apostle of the Apostles. That May - the month dedicated to the Blessed Virgin Mary - with the Archdiocesan Director of Vocations as our first spiritual advisor, a weekly Holy Hour for the sanctification priests was begun with just a handful of women. Meetings initially were held at the convent chapel of the Missionary Sisters of St. Peter Claver in Chesterfield, Missouri, and later moved to St. Clement of Rome parish in Des Peres, Missouri. In the Summer of 2014, this apostolate was placed under the guidance of the Archdiocesan Office of Laity and Family Life, which was later known as the Office of Marriage and Family Life.
Our women's weekly Holy Hour for Priests, held at St. Clement Parish in the Adoration Chapel, is followed by an hour of Formation on a variety of topics that help us grow in virtue, in dedication to God and as spiritual mothers.
Our Priest Adoption Program for St. Louis was launched on June 27, 2014 on the Solemnity of the Sacred Heart and the 12th annual World Day of Prayer for the Sanctification of Priests, with a Holy Hour for Priests, Mass and a formal commitment ceremony by women who chose to spiritually adopt an anonymous St. Louis priest. At that time, the Archdiocese of St. Louis had 352 priests. As of October 2021, 470 of our Spiritual Mothers had formally adopted a St. Louis priest through our program.
May Jesus Christ, our Eternal High Priest, be praised now and forever more!
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