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About Us

Who We Are

We are a community of consecrated women committed to following Jesus more closely, fully, and forever. Relying on the “Divine Grace,” we seek to replicate in our lives the experience of the founding Spirit abundantly poured into the life of Mercedes de Jesús Molina, our Mother, Teacher, and Founder. We have a singular mission: “to continue in the world the saving action of Christ Jesus.” Const. #6.

Apostolic Tasks ⟶

What do we Marianitas do?

We respond communally to the daily call God makes to us through prayer and action, to make the Charism present: from merciful and passionate love for Christ, present in the suffering faces of today’s humanity, in various apostolic tasks, always in harmony with the new faces of orphanhood, especially with the most vulnerable.

Our Charism

“With passionate love, follow Jesus, the path of Calvary, and in fraternal communion, cooperate with Him in His salvific mission, with a radical preference for all afflicted hearts in the world.”

Apostolic Tasks ⟶

Our Spirituality

Christ-centered spirituality with an unmistakable hallmark: “Passionate love for Christ in the suffering Christs, in every place and time. The spirituality and charism of the Marianitas, centered on Jesus on the path to Calvary, is the spiritual legacy that Mother Mercedes envisioned for her congregation. It flows like a river of living water in the religious, their mission companions, and recipients. In relation to Mercedes, it is the concrete experience of her life configured with Christ the Redeemer, on the path to Calvary, and in apostolic projection to the many afflicted hearts in the world. The characteristics of the spirituality are: Passionate love for Jesus, Love in defense of life, Merciful love, Service to human pain out of love, Incarnate love for Mary the Mother of God, Trust in God the Father, Eucharistic experience, Discernment, and accompaniment.

Apostolic Tasks ⟶

Meaning of our logo

Purpose of the Community

“The purpose of this Congregation is not only to take care of one’s own salvation and sanctification with divine grace but also to seek the salvation and sanctification of others, particularly the Christian education of orphans, through active and contemplative life” (Original Constitutions No. 1).

Our Mission

The Santa Mariana de Jesús Institute, as a gift from God to the Church and the world, continues to cooperate in the saving action of Christ Jesus, serving everyone without distinction, with a preference for the most needy. Embracing the new faces of orphanhood as children of God, in the key of merciful love, and guided by the spirituality of following Jesus “on the way to Calvary,” a legacy of its Founder, Mercedes de Jesús Molina. The Santa Mariana de Jesús Institute declares the beginning of the jubilee year and prepares to celebrate with joy and gratitude, on April 14, 2023, the 150th anniversary of its foundation.

Our Vision

The Santa Mariana de Jesús Institute identifies with the passionate love for Jesus on the way to Calvary, living fraternal communion marked by tenderness, kindness, and firmness. It facilitates the full realization of consecrated women who summon new vocations to continue the saving action of Christ among the new faces of orphanhood.

Apostolic Tasks ⟶
Providing Food to Needy Families:

Santa Mariana de Jesús Paredes

We are inspired by

“Living with Passionate Love in Following Jesus”

“The profound and wonderful influence of Santa Marianita in Mercedes’ life becomes evident in the name she gives to the New Institute.

Marianita is the Patroness, and Mercedes de Jesús is the Founder of the First Ecuadorian Women’s Institute.”

SANTA MARIANA DE JESÚS: PATRONESS

FAMILY HOME:

She was born into a home, a source of holiness, known as the “House of Prayer.” In this school of Christian faith, grace, prayer, and rich humanism, she received the first proclamation of faith and learned to relate to the God of life.

ORPHANHOOD:

At an early age, she became an orphan, under the care of her older sister Doña Jerónima and her brother-in-law Captain Don Cosme de Caso.

EDUCATION:

She learned to read, write, sew, embroider, and cultivate the land from select teachers; she played every musical instrument.

FAMILY APOSTOLATE:

From a very young age, she worked tirelessly with love, joy, and enthusiasm for the poor both inside and outside the house. She turned her life into wholesome recreation with her nephews and friends.

IGNATIAN SPIRITUALITY:

She grew and was formed in the School of Ignatian Spirituality. She couldn’t conceive of herself other than “as a Jesuit, a daughter of the Company.”

SPIRITUALITY:

As she grew in age, she grew in love for God; her rich spirituality was immersed in the contemplation of the great mysteries of faith. Nourished by constant prayer, she reached a lofty mystical life.

Her familiarity with the Trinitarian God made her live the fruitful Christian spirituality, identifying with Jesus to passionately love his holy humanity. She had a special attraction to the Christ on the cross. The Eucharist was the sustenance of her life.

DEVOTION TO MARY

One of her first words was “Mary,” and on the knees of her beloved mother, she learned the Hail Mary of the Rosary. Her spirituality began to take shape under the protection of the Mother of God.

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Beata Mercedes de Jesús Molina

We are inspired by

“Living with Passionate Love in Following Jesus”

“The profound and wonderful influence of Santa Marianita in Mercedes’ life becomes evident in the name she gives to the New Institute.

Marianita is the Patroness, and Mercedes de Jesús is the Founder of the First Ecuadorian Women’s Institute.”

BLESSED MERCEDES DE JESÚS: FOUNDER

FAMILY HOME:

She was born into a Christian home, a source of holiness, a true “Sanctuary of life.” Under the care of her mother, who instilled in her the knowledge of the Catholic faith and shaped her feelings of true piety, she was encouraged to be firm in her purposes and loyal in her sentiments.

ORPHANHOOD:

Unfortunately, her father passed away when she was very young, and her mother when she was a teenager. She found protection in the home of her siblings Miguel and María.

EDUCATION:

There was no domestic task she did not learn: cooking, embroidery, reading, and writing; she played the piano, achieving exquisite taste and touch (B58).

FAMILY APOSTOLATE:

Her selfless, industrious, charitable, helpful, and affectionate life was an eloquent testimony for her family. In her nieces and nephews, she found docility to apply her pedagogical experiments.

IGNATIAN SPIRITUALITY:

She grew and was formed in the School of Ignatian Spirituality. She could not conceive of herself other than “as a Jesuit, a daughter of the Company.”

SPIRITUALITY:

She obeyed the voice of the spirit and turned her life around, lightly abandoning everything. Prayer was a condition for proclaiming the Gospel; she was God’s pilgrim, passionately in love with Jesus, embracing the Will of God, and always repeating: “I want what God wants.”

She felt a powerful impulse of grace, resolving from that moment not to love any object other than God. Her prayer was not confined to the narrow limits of herself. She found delight in the presence of the Most Holy and in the Eucharist. The mysteries of constant contemplation were: Jesus carrying the cross, on the way to Calvary, inviting her to follow Him, and the mystery of Bethlehem.

DEVOTION TO MARY

She loved the Blessed Virgin Mary with special tenderness; she always spoke of her during breaks, and her sorrows deeply moved her.

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