The Sisters Servants of the Lord and the Virgin of Matará:
A flourishing youthful community

By NADIA POZO
CS&T Staff Writer

What is it about the Sisters Servants of the Lord and the Virgin of Matará that numerous young women from around the world are leaving everything behind to take on the blue-and-gray habit?
“I liked how they lived with true happiness,” said Mother Maria del Cenaculo, a native of Argentina and the Mother Superior of the Philadelphia house.
It was that joy, which Mother Maria del Cenaculo saw in the Sisters when they taught her in high school, that attracted her to the community.
She felt the calling to serve God, and when she realized it was as a religious, she knew she belonged with the Sisters Servants. She was drawn to their Eucharistic and Marian devotions and to their loyalty to the Holy Father.
She joined at the young age of 18 and now 12 years later she understands the Sisters’ deep sense of happiness because she feels it too.
“It’s what I hoped for and what I wanted it to be like. I’m very happy being a sister and doing what I do.”
Her great joy even transformed the hearts of her parents who opposed her decision.
“My dad told me never to ask him to come visit me at the convent, but later my parents changed their minds after they saw how happy I was. When problems would come, they’d ask me to pray. My dad told me that he had thought he’d lose me, but realizes now he has me closer than ever.”
The Sisters Servants of the Lord and the Virgin of Matará came to Philadelphia in 1996 at the request of Cardinal Anthony Bevilacqua, the former Archbishop of Philadelphia, to assist the Archdiocese with the Spanish-speaking Catholic Community.
Since then, the Hispanic community has become accustomed to seeing them at the Mission Santa Maria [see related stories on pages 18 and 19], and as visitors in their homes, parishes or at various celebrations.
At the mission, the sisters’ work includes faith-formation, as teachers of CCD classes and leading youth groups; making home visits inviting people to come to Mass and to take advantage of the services the mission has to offer, and even driving a yellow school bus for the children taking CCD lessons.
Their charism is to evangelize the culture and they take advantage of doing just that in whatever capacity they can.
It was this apostolic zeal that attracted Sister Stella Maris 11 years ago.
She had fought her vocation for several years because she couldn’t accept that she wasn’t called to be married.
“I felt called to marry. After reading St. Teresa of Avila’s biography, I couldn’t wait for that gentleman that would love me forever.”
She soon realized that gentleman was Jesus Christ and she couldn’t continue to ignore His call.
After accepting the fact that Christ was calling her to the religious life, she still took two more years before realizing that she was being led to the Sisters Servants. She heard about the community from a friend and felt joy in her heart.
“I was attracted to their charism to evangelize the culture, as the Holy Father calls for it. They had such a great love for the Holy Father. The priests loved the Church greatly and that was fundamental to me.”
Today she can’t believe her joy and gratitude for the life God has given her, she said.
The Sisters Servants are a young, vibrant community, with their average age between 23 and 40.
In fact, Sister Asunción, 40, is one of the first and oldest members of the congregation. She taught Mother María del Cenaculo in high school and played a key role in her entering the order.
For Sister Asunción, the congregation has been a true family for the past 16 years.
“The time has gone by so fast, but at the same time my first day was like I had always been here. What’s really important is that we’re like a family — the priests, sisters, seminarians — and we all help each other grow closer to Christ.”
To learn more about the Sisters Servants of the Lord and the Virgin of Matará, visit www.ive.org or www.servidoras.org

Contact Nadia Pozo at npozo@adphila.org or (215) 965-4614

Servants of the Lord and the Virgin of Matara

CHARISM: Our charism is the evangelization of the culture, desiring “to bring to fullness the effects of the Incarnation of the Word …,” especially to the vast world of culture, that is to say, to the “manifestation of man as an individual, as a community, as a people, as a nation” (Const. 32).
PREPARATION:
Candidacy: Six months to one year
Novitiate: One year
Temporary Profession: After novitiate for six years.
Final Vows: After six years.
BRIEF HISTORY: Female branch of Clerical Institute of the Incarnate Word. Founded in Argentina in 1988 by Argentine priest Father Carlos Miguel Buela, V.E. Spirituality is based on the Incarnation with deep vocation to the Virgin Mary. Missioned in Taiwan, Japan, Russia, Italy, Brazil, Peru, Chile, Ecuador, Papua-New Guinea, United States, Palestine, Ukraine, Egypt, Spain, Jordan, Albania.