, Feb 18, 2008 / 04:11 pm (CNA).- The sisters of the Cross of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, founded in Mexico in 1897, celebrated 100 years of uninterrupted Eucharistic adoration for the holiness of priests with a special Mass on February 14.  Archbishop Mauro Piacenza, secretary of the Congregation for the Clergy, presided at the Mass which was held at the contemplative order’s house in Rome.

Archbishop Piacenza highlighted the uniqueness of the charism of the order’s foundress, Concepcion Cabrera de Armida (1862-1937), a Mexican mother who also founded the priestly congregation “Missionaries of the Holy Spirit.”

Concepcion felt inspired through prayer to create a religious congregation dedicated to “paying homage to the priesthood of Christ” and to “consoling the intimate suffering of the Heart of Jesus through prayer.”

The charism of the sisters of the Cross of the Sacred Heart is to pray for the holiness of priests and for priestly vocations, a practice recently requested by the prefect for the Congregation for the Clergy, Cardinal Claudio Hummes,

The sisters carry on the tradition of spiritually “adopting” a specific group of priests for whom they not only pray before the Blessed Sacrament but also offer their daily activities and sacrifices.

Since the founding of communities in Rome and various places in Europe and America, the sisters have carried on Eucharistic adoration without interruption for 100 years.

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