The Sisters of Life () is a

Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

religious institute for women that follows the Augustinian rule. It is both a contemplative and active religious community, working in

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for the promotion of

anti-abortion Anti-abortion movements, also self-styled as pro-life movements, are involved in the abortion debate advocating against the practice of abortion and its Abortion by country, legality. Many anti-abortion movements began as countermovements in r ...

causes. Its members use the post-nominal

abbreviation An abbreviation () is a shortened form of a word or phrase, by any method including shortening (linguistics), shortening, contraction (grammar), contraction, initialism (which includes acronym), or crasis. An abbreviation may be a shortened for ...

S.V.

Origins

The Sisters of Life were an order first conceived of by

Cardinal Cardinal or The Cardinal most commonly refers to * Cardinalidae, a family of North and South American birds **''Cardinalis'', genus of three species in the family Cardinalidae ***Northern cardinal, ''Cardinalis cardinalis'', the common cardinal of ...

John Joseph O'Connor of New York, on a visit to the remains of a Nazi concentration camp at Dachau,

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. There he placed his hands inside a crematoria oven, "felt the intermingled ashes of Jew and Christian, rabbi, priest and minister," and is recorded as proclaiming, "Good God, how could human beings do this to other human beings?" Several years later, he decided to begin a new religious community in the Church, one dedicated to the promotion of pro-life causes, specifically working for an end to abortion and euthanasia. He proclaimed his intentions in an article entitled "Help Wanted: Sisters of Life" written for the newspaper ''Catholic New York'', in which he asked for women of higher education to especially consider joining. Many women responded to the article, and on Foundation Day, June 1, 1991, eight women joined the order. For thirteen years they remained a public association of the lay faithful—a non-religious Catholic community—until March 25, 2004, when they were formally established as a religious institute of diocesan right by Edward Michael Egan, Cardinal and Archbishop Emeritus of New York. The first Superior General of the order was Mother Agnes Mary Donovan.

Vows and activities

Like all Catholic religious communities, the Sisters of Life take the three traditional religious vows of poverty, chastity and obedience. The Sisters of Life take an additional fourth vow to "protect and enhance the sacredness of human life." They spend 4 hours a day in common prayer before the Blessed Sacrament, including a daily Holy Hour consisting of the

Rosary The Rosary (; , in the sense of "crown of roses" or "garland of roses"), formally known as the Psalter of Jesus and Mary (Latin: Psalterium Jesu et Mariae), also known as the Dominican Rosary (as distinct from other forms of rosary such as the ...

, 45 minutes of meditation and

Vespers Vespers /ˈvɛspərz/ () is a Christian liturgy, liturgy of evening prayer, one of the canonical hours in Catholic (both Latin liturgical rites, Latin and Eastern Catholic liturgy, Eastern Catholic liturgical rites), Eastern Orthodox, Oriental O ...

. Their daily work includes their aid and support to pregnant women at Saint Peter's Church in Toronto, Canada, and Holy Respite in New York. They run retreats entitled "Enter Canaan" to aid women who have had abortions in finding emotional and spiritual peace. At the request of Cardinal Edward Michael Egan, the Sisters of Life began directing the New York Archdiocesan Family Life/Respect Life Office, which organizes

initiatives in the archdiocese. They house the Dr. Joseph Stanton Human Life Issues Library, an archive of legal, medical and catechetical

literature, in their New York convent.

Visitation Mission

The Visitation Mission, considered the order's primary work, serves women experiencing

unintended pregnancy Unintended pregnancies are pregnancies that are mistimed or unwanted at the time of conception, also known as unplanned pregnancies. Sexual activity without the use of effective contraception through choice or coercion is the predominant caus ...

, and seeks to provide them with both "emotional and practical resources" to give birth. While half of those counseled by the Visitation Mission remain at home, others are placed in private homes or maternity facilities run by other religious orders, or with the Sisters of Life themselves, in the Convent of the Sacred Heart in

Hell's Kitchen, Manhattan Hell's Kitchen, also known as Clinton, or Midtown West on real estate listings, is a neighborhood on the West Side of Midtown Manhattan in New York City, New York. It is considered to be bordered by 34th Street (or 41st Street) to the south, ...

, where women can stay "as long as six months prior to giving birth and up to a year afterward." The Sisters of Life rely on donations of food, diapers, strollers and money to run their Visitation Mission, and serve over 1,000 women a year in person, over phone and by email.

Villa Maria Guadalupe

The Sisters of Life run a retreat house in

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, called Villa Maria Guadalupe. Formerly operated by the Bernardine Franciscan Sisters, the property was purchased by the

Knights of Columbus The Knights of Columbus (K of C) is a global Catholic Church, Catholic Fraternal and service organizations, fraternal service order founded by Michael J. McGivney, Blessed Michael J. McGivney. Membership is limited to practicing Catholic men. ...

for the Sisters of Life, with the hope that the sisters' ministry would "help people from around the world to deepen their spiritual life and commitment to live the challenge of being a people for life."

Convents

The Sisters of Life have two convents in

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and several convents in New York: St. Paul the Apostle Convent, Sacred Heart of Jesus Convent, St. Barnabas Convent and St. Frances de Chantal Convent, where 130 sisters live in community.

References

{{Catholicism Christian organizations established in 1991 Catholic female orders and societies Roman Catholic Archdiocese of New York Independent Augustinian communities Anti-abortion organizations in the United States 1991 establishments in New York (state) Catholic Church and abortion