Sister Irene said it took a few years for the order to get off the ground. They worked with now-retired cardinal from the Archdiocese of Cebu, Philippines, Ricardo J. Cardinal Vidal, to establish bylaws and achieve local approval. Members take vows of poverty, chastity, obedience, total surrender and endless sacrifice and were eventually given permission to wear habits to be recognized in the community as religious.
Sister Irene said a pink habit was selected because it is the “color of the joy, the love and compassion of God the Shepherd that we share with victims of prostitution. We are trying to share the love of Christ.”
Doing the work of God
When walking the streets, Sister Irene said they travel in pairs, not dressed in habits. One will go into a bar and offer love and a listening ear to the young women who may need someone to turn to, while the other acts as a lookout. If the nuns have befriended an underage girl who wants to escape, Sister Irene said prior arrangements are made with an orphanage where the child can receive a new home and education. Sponsors are sought to pay a bar fine of 800 pesos to remove a working prostitute from a bar.
While it sounds like risky business, Sister Irene said, “so far there has been no harm against us. We fight prostitution in a nonviolent way. We do it silently without them (the pimps) knowing.”
Sister Irene said the nuns support themselves and the Home of Love mainly through their bakery business and the sales of an original music CD “Forever Yours.” Rosaries, rosary bracelets and scapulars made by boarders also are sold as the nuns promote their mission worldwide. It takes an
average of 25,000-30,000 pesos a week to keep the shelter going.
Looking for sponsors
The order works tirelessly finding sponsors to send Filipino children to public school. Sister Irene said currently, they are helping educate more 800 students in elementary school and 275 in high school. It
costs $25 a month to educate each child.
Immaculate Mary Queen of Heaven Missionaries have big plans to expand their mission by building a large complex that can house up to 500 people. The center would allow women and children up to five years to rehabilitate their lives.
By 2012, the nuns hope to introduce vocational courses and high school courses – automotive mechanic courses for boys, and possibly sewing and culinary courses for young women – in conjunction with area schools and universities.
Sister Irene said she and others from her order are traveling in the U.S. because they plan to go global with membership. Currently, their ranks are all Filipino nuns.
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“It is very hard to take care of the victims of prostitution,” Sister Irene said. “It entails sacrifice. It reminds us that this is a our mission to God.”
For more information, visit www.mqhm.org
Printed with permission from the Clarion Herald, newspaper for the Archdiocese of New Orleans, La.