Members of the Servants of the Pierced Hearts of Jesus and Mary provide music ministry during a eucharistic cenacle, a time of prayer and adoration. (Provided photo)

EDITOR’S NOTE: This is part of a continuing series featuring religious communities and other forms of consecrated life around the Diocese of Peoria in honor of the Year of Consecrated Life. The celebration will run through Feb. 2, 2016, the World Day of Consecrated Life.

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The Servants of the Pierced Hearts of Jesus and Mary have been present in the Diocese of Peoria since 2008. The eight Sisters ministering in central Illinois care for Nazareth House, the diocesan retreat center in Henry; serve at the St. John Paul II Catholic Newman Center at Illinois State University in Normal; teach at Peoria Notre Dame High School; and direct Catholic Charities of the Diocese of Peoria and respect life ministries.

The spiritual charism of the community is “to be a living image and presence of the Heart of Mary in the heart of the church and to place our Marian charism at the service of the Petrine principle.” According to Sister Ana Pia Cordua, SCTJM, local superior, there are four fundamental dimensions of that charism:

— Eucharistic: Total dedication of their lives in love to the eucharistic heart.
— Maria: Being a living image and presence of the heart of Mary.
— Charismatic: Actively receiving and communicating the gifts of the Holy Spirit.
— In the heart of the church: “Generously placing our feminine genius in loving communion and service of the Petrine principle.”

APOSTOLIC ARDOR
In addition to the vows of poverty, chastity and obedience, the Servants of the Pierced Hearts of Jesus and Mary make a vow of “total Marian availability.” That shows in the elements of the Sisters’ daily lives, which include “total consecration and identification with the heart of Mary.”

The Sisters also spend time in eucharistic adoration and contemplation, have a “ready openness” to the power of the Holy Spirit, and seek conversion “in the active exercise of virtue” and to live and do all things “in the spirit of prayer, of heroic love and of humble service to the fulfillment of duty.” Fraternal life with joy and simplicity of heart is another goal, as is having a “mature, generous, and responsible disposition to embrace every mission entrusted.”

Formation is designed to lead to “apostolic ardor — enflaming the world with the love of the Pierced Hearts.”

A core value for the community is support for the magisterium of the church and her treasures.

Based in Miami, Florida, the Servants of the Pierced Hearts of Jesus and Mary serve in three other dioceses, as well as Italy. The “Family of the Pierced Hearts” includes Sisters, priests, deacons, seminarians and lay faithful who walk “the path of love” of the charism and mission of the Sisters.

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A CLOSER LOOK

Servants of the Pierced Hearts of Jesus and Mary

FOUNDED: 1990 in the Archdiocese of Miami, Florida
FOUNDRESS/SUPERIOR GENERAL: Mother Adela Galindo, SCTJM
MEMBERS: 41, with eight serving in the Diocese of Peoria
CHARISM: To be a living image and presence of the Heart of Mary in the heart of the church and to place our Marian charism at the service of the Petrine principle.
APOSTOLATES: Retreats, parish missions, eucharistic cenacles, pilgrimages, teaching in Catholic schools, religious education, evangelization, pastoral assistance to parishes, radio programs and programs of faith formation on Catholic television, campus ministry, and pastoral care of persons who are sick, aging or dying.

“We are called to manifest the reign of love of the Pierced Hearts of Jesus and Mary as the building force for the construction of a new civilization.”
Mother Adela Galindo, SCTJM