Religious of the Virgin Mary
Religiosas de la Beata Virgen María | |
Abbreviation | RVM |
---|---|
Established | 1684 |
Type | Centralized Religious Institute of Consecrated Life of Pontifical Right for women |
Purpose | To seek the greater service and honor of God |
Headquarters | Motherhouse 214 N. Domingo St., Brgy. Kaunlaran, Cubao, Quezon City Philippines |
Coordinates | 14°37′1.46″N 121°2′30.19″E |
Members | 702 members as of 2020[1] |
Motto | Latin: Ad Jesum Cum Maria English: To Jesus with Mary |
Foundress | Venerable Mother Ignacia del Espíritu Santo Iuco, RVM |
Superior General | Very Rev. Mother Maria Rosabella R. Gallo, R.V.M. |
Countries served | |
Parent organization | Roman Catholic |
Website | RVM |
Remarks | Works include primary through tertiary education, spiritual retreats, direct service to the poor, and assistance at hospitals and various diocesan and parish works. |
Formerly called | Beaterio de la Compania de Jesus |
The Congregation of the Religious of the Virgin Mary (
In 2016 there were over 700 RVM sisters, mainly from the Philippines. They run a university and 58 other schools and have works in seven countries outside the Philippines. From the start they cultivated an apostolic,
History
The Congregation of the Religious of the Virgin Mary, the oldest and largest Filipina Catholic religious congregation, was the first all-Filipina religious congregation for women in the Philippines, founded in 1684 by Ignacia del Espíritu Santo.[2]
A congregation of a mixed life, it aims at personal sanctification and perfection mainly through offering Catholic education to youth and catechetical instruction in parishes, along with offering spiritual retreats for lay women, running dormitories, and caring for the sick in hospitals.
Spanish era
Ignacia del Espíritu Santo began her work in 1684, after discerning her vocation in a retreat administered by her
The house where the beatas lived was called House of Retreat because they also offered retreats and days of recollection for women. Ignacia's generosity and common sense-approach to things drew others to the congregation. In 1732,
Expansion
From 1748 to 1770 the beatas assisted the Jesuit Fathers in conducting spiritual retreats,[3] and extended their work to provinces in Luzon in groups of two or more as circumstances permitted, reanimating the faith of those who had fallen away from the sacraments.
The period between 1872 and 1900 saw the establishment of the first missions in the largely Muslim
While the
American period and World War II
On 21 June 1902, the apostolic administrator of the
With Efigenia as mother general in 1902, an era of expansion and progress began. She encouraged the sisters to pursue higher studies at the University of Santo Tomas in Manila to better prepare them for teaching. During her administration ten houses, schools, and dormitories were founded, along with others that were later closed. In 1938, Efigenia, at the age of eighty and five times elected to office, received permission from the Holy See to resign. On 10 July 1938 María Andrea Montejo was appointed by the Holy See to succeed her in governing the twenty-six houses the congregation had throughout the country. On 1 October 1939, with support from local church authorities, the congregation received leave from the Holy See to transfer its novitiate from Parañaque, Rizal (now Parañaque) to its present site at Quezon City.
Post-Independence
The Philippines regained full sovereignty from the United States on 4 July 1946, with the establishment of the
The post-war years saw expansion to the whole of the Philippine archipelago. In 1948 they opened a college on their school campus in Davao City, which has grown into the University of the Immaculate Conception.[5] In 1963 the congregation numbered 483 professed Sisters, 40 novices, and 9 postulants.
The golden jubilee of the Religious of the Virgin Mary in the United States was celebrated in the Cathedral of the Blessed Sacrament in Sacramento, California, on 18 July 2009. The Philippines jubilee celebration that year was held at Our Lady of the Assumption Chapel with Gabriel Villaruz Reyes, Bishop of Antipolo, presiding.
Present day
By 2016 there were more than 700 RVM sisters worldwide[4] and they ran 58 schools including one in Islamabad, Pakistan, and four in Ghana, West Africa.[6] While involved mostly in education, they also had ten retreat houses,[7] fifteen dormitories,[8] and an outreach at times of catastrophes and to those in dire need.[9] The sisters were also involved in an array of special ministries in service to dioceses, campus ministries, hospitals, and others.[10] Their foreign presence included the United States, Canada, Indonesia, Ghana, Italy, Taiwan, Sweden and Pakistan.[11] In addition to convents in Italy, the sisters also minister to senior citizens with Alzheimer's disease in Taiwan.
Mother Ignacia's status
In 2007,
The servant of God, Ignacia del Espiritu Santo, Foundress of the Congregation of the Religious of the Virgin Mary, is found to possess in heroic degree the theological virtues of faith, hope and charity toward God and neighbor, as well as the cardinal virtues of prudence, justice, temperance and fortitude.
— Benedictus XVI, Papam Sanctitam Decretum Super Virtutibus, datum July 6, 2007[citation needed]
RVM motherhouse
The current motherhouse in
RVM seal
The official seal of the congregation is characteristically Marian, drawn from the image of the Woman of the Apocalypse. Encircled by rays which represent her far-reaching zeal and charity, the central device is the A and M monogram representing the words Auspice Maria ("under the guidance of Mary", also "Ave Maria"). Surrounding the Auspice Maria are twelve stars for the twelve privileges of Mary,[12] the Mother of God, through which people receive her maternal blessings. Rays emanate from the starry monogram in seven groups, representing the graces that come from Jesus with Mary and signifying the congregation's motto, "To Jesus with Mary".
Under the monogram is an open book bearing the
Below the Beaterio is a sprig of
Gallery
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RVM Motherhouse [1] & Generalate, 214 N. Domingo, 1111 Quezon City
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Motherhouse, Quezon City
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Our Lady of the Assumption Chapel, RVM Motherhouse
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Mother Ignacia Healing Center of the RVM, Bagombong, Caloocan
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The center is named after the RVM founder Ignacia del Espiritu Santo
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The center's Adoracion Chapel
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Interior of Our Lady of the Assumption Chapel
See also
- Chapel of San Lorenzo Ruiz, New York
- Pontificio Collegio Filippino
- Jerónima de la Asunción
- Three Fertility Saints of Obando, Bulacan, Philippines
- The First Filipina Nun
- Colegio de San Pascual Baylon
References
- ^ "Religious of the Virgin Mary (R.V.M.)".
- ^ Posion, Jandel. "Venerable Ignacia del Espiritu Santo", The Manila Times, August 12, 2012
- ^ a b c 5c938b23bfd0 Biography, Venerable Ignacia del Espiritu Santo
- ^ a b "700 RVM worldwide". Retrieved 25 April 2017.
- ^ "University of the Immaculate Conception - About UIC". www3.uic. edu.ph. Retrieved 2017-04-26.
- ^ "Educational Work | Religious of the Virgin Mary". www.rvmonline.net. Retrieved 2017-04-26.
- ^ "Retreat Movement | Religious of the Virgin Mary". www.rvmonline.net. Retrieved 2017-04-26.
- ^ "Dormitory Work | Religious of the Virgin Mary". www.rvmonline.net. Retrieved 2017-04-26.
- ^ "Social Ministry | Religious of the Virgin Mary". www.rvmonline.net. Retrieved 2017-04-26.
- ^ "Special Ministries". Religious of the Virgin Mary. Archived from the original on July 24, 2011. Retrieved 2017-04-26.
- ^ "Overseas Mission | Religious of the Virgin Mary". www.rvmonline.net. Retrieved 2017-04-26.
- ^ Michael Rohrmayer, Marianisches Wallfahrtsbuch, 1844, p. 45.
External links
- "Mother Ignacia Official Website". www.motherignacia.info. Retrieved 2017-04-26.