Pope Leo XIV Tells Perpetual Adoration Nuns that They “radiate throughout the world the beauty of the face of Christ in the Blessed Sacrament.”
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Pope Leo XIV met on Saturday, Sept. 5, with several members of the Perpetual Adorers of the Most Blessed Sacrament, also known as the Sacramentine Nuns.
Founded in Rome in 1807 by Blessed Maria Maddalena of the Incarnation, the contemplative nuns devote their lives to the adoration of the Blessed Sacrament day and night, and follow the rule of St. Augustine.
Those who met with the Pope form part of the Federation of the Holy Spirit, a group of around 30 convents, mostly in Mexico, which was founded 50 years ago and includes roughly half of the congregation’s convents spread across the globe.
FULL GREETINGS FROM HIS HOLINESS LEO XIV
TO THE PERPETUAL ADORERS OF THE BLESSED SACRAMENT
- FEDERATION OF THE HOLY SPIRIT
in the Vatican's Council Chamber on Saturday, September 5, 2026
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Dear Mother Alma Ruth of the Holy Spirit,
dear Perpetual Adorers of the Blessed Sacrament:
I am happy to meet you during these days of pilgrimage in Italy, following in the footsteps of Blessed Mary Magdalene of the Incarnation, on the fiftieth anniversary of the founding of the Federation of the Holy Spirit.
His presence is a luminous testimony to God's grace, which plants in the human heart the desire to seek and contemplate his face. It is the answer to a deep longing, beautifully expressed by the psalmist: “My heart knows that you said, ‘Seek my face.’ Your face, Lord, I will seek; do not hide it from me” ( Psalm 27:8-9).
This constant search for the face of God, which particularly characterizes monastic life, takes on a special nuance in the vocation you have received: it translates into a life dedicated entirely to the continuous and silent adoration of a God who became bread, and who invites us to unite with him in the sacrifice of the altar, to form one body. “As St. Augustine explains to the new Christians of his Church, the bread and wine on the altar are the sacrament of the unity of the faithful in Christ” (Encyclical Letter Magnifica Humanitas , 234). For this reason, “a Eucharistic spirituality is needed, that is, a spirituality of ecclesial unity in love” ( ibid .).
Dear sisters, by manifesting in the Church the specific charism you have received from your foundress, you are called to be weavers of communion with the threads of prayer and work, of Eucharistic adoration and fraternal sharing in the monastery. May this time of grace that you are experiencing as pilgrims in the Eternal City and in the places where the Order arose renew and strengthen you to continue radiating the beauty of the face of Christ in the Blessed Sacrament to the world.
May the testimony of Blessed Mary Magdalene of the Incarnation inspire them to continue living their consecration with renewed hope and desires for holiness, remembering that fidelity to the ancient and ever-new wisdom of the Gospel is the best path for those who, guided by the Holy Spirit, dedicate themselves to loving God and neighbor.
May the Lord bless you and Our Lady of Guadalupe protect you with her heavenly mantle. Thank you very much.
This constant search for the face of God, which particularly characterizes monastic life, takes on a special nuance in the vocation you have received: it translates into a life dedicated entirely to the continuous and silent adoration of a God who became bread, and who invites us to unite with him in the sacrifice of the altar, to form one body. “As St. Augustine explains to the new Christians of his Church, the bread and wine on the altar are the sacrament of the unity of the faithful in Christ” (Encyclical Letter Magnifica Humanitas , 234). For this reason, “a Eucharistic spirituality is needed, that is, a spirituality of ecclesial unity in love” ( ibid .).
Dear sisters, by manifesting in the Church the specific charism you have received from your foundress, you are called to be weavers of communion with the threads of prayer and work, of Eucharistic adoration and fraternal sharing in the monastery. May this time of grace that you are experiencing as pilgrims in the Eternal City and in the places where the Order arose renew and strengthen you to continue radiating the beauty of the face of Christ in the Blessed Sacrament to the world.
May the testimony of Blessed Mary Magdalene of the Incarnation inspire them to continue living their consecration with renewed hope and desires for holiness, remembering that fidelity to the ancient and ever-new wisdom of the Gospel is the best path for those who, guided by the Holy Spirit, dedicate themselves to loving God and neighbor.
May the Lord bless you and Our Lady of Guadalupe protect you with her heavenly mantle. Thank you very much.
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