100 YEARS
CENTENNIAL
"The Redeeming Spirit has made us missionaries"
100 years of a very much alive mission
We celebrate 100 years since the first missionary foundations of the Mercedarian Missionary Sisters of Berriz.
A history born of the redeeming Spirit, open to the world and called today to continue giving life.
100 years of a very much alive mission
"The Redeeming Spirit has made us missionaries"
100 years of a very much alive mission
We celebrate the transformation of the Mercedarian Monastery of Vera Cruz de Berriz, a cloistered convent hidden in the mountains of Vizcaya since 1541, into a Missionary Institute embodied today on the five continents.
That movement began gradually in the heart of Margarita María López de Maturana. Her desire to make Jesus known grew unt
We celebrate the transformation of the Mercedarian Monastery of Vera Cruz de Berriz, a cloistered convent hidden in the mountains of Vizcaya since 1541, into a Missionary Institute embodied today on the five continents.
That movement began gradually in the heart of Margarita María López de Maturana. Her desire to make Jesus known grew until it spread to the whole world. What began as an inner yearning gradually spread to the students, the community, and finally, an entire missionary family.
On September 19, 1926, the first six missionaries left Berriz for Wuhu, China. That first group definitively opened the gates of the cloister to live and express the universality of God's love.
"The Redeeming Spirit has made us missionaries"
"The Redeeming Spirit has made us missionaries"
"The Redeeming Spirit has made us missionaries"
Margarita María López de Maturana
This phrase from Margarita María is at the heart of what we celebrate. It speaks to us of an experience that remains alive: that of the redeeming Spirit who transforms, opens, sends, and sustains.
From that source we understand our history. From there we give thanks for the journey we have traveled. From
Margarita María López de Maturana
This phrase from Margarita María is at the heart of what we celebrate. It speaks to us of an experience that remains alive: that of the redeeming Spirit who transforms, opens, sends, and sustains.
From that source we understand our history. From there we give thanks for the journey we have traveled. From there we want to recreate our charism today. And from there we feel the call to share it with creativity, boldness, and passion.
From Berriz to the World... between 1926 and 1928
Wuhu (China)
Saipan (MICRONESIA)
Japan
From Berriz to the World... between 1926 and 1928
Pohnpei (MICRONESIA)
Then came many more presences: Mexico, the United States, Africa, South America, the Philippines, Central America… and new calls that have helped us to recreate the charism in each place and time.
CENTENNIAL
May this centenary help us to give thanks for the history we have received, to recreate God's gift within us, and to joyfully share the charism that continues to give life.
"The redeeming Spirit continues to impel us to cross borders to give life."
CENTENNIAL PRAYER
God, Father-Mother, in this time of grace, you call us to remember with gratitude the journey we have traveled for one hundred years. As we contemplate our history, we wish to illuminate the present and open ourselves with confidence to the future to continue crossing borders to give life. We give you thanks for the life of Margarita Maria and for the first foundations, the fruitful seed of our Institute. Thank you for so many sisters who, with such generosity and dedication, have made the mission possible throughout these years; for the paths traveled, the peoples encountered, the cultures embraced, and for the many responses of love that your Spirit has inspired.
We thank you for accompanying us on our journey and sustaining our faithfulness at every stage. United with the experience of Margarita Maria, we want to continue placing our steps where we fix our gaze: On Jesus Christ the Redeemer, who gave his life to give us life. Give us a contemplative heart, attentive to your presence and open to your word, that we may grow in intimacy with you, rekindling our passion for Jesus and his Kingdom. Renew in us the gift we have received and the grace of our beginnings, that we may know how to renew our charism with enthusiasm, with hope and audacity, responding to the challenges of our time with an evangelical, compassionate and liberating spirit
Lord, may your Spirit continue to guide our steps, impelling us to share life and hope with those most in need. Make us available to listen, accompany, and serve, to weave together justice and peace; to create spaces of welcome and care, especially for the most vulnerable persons. Strengthen our communion and missionary commitment, so that, recognizing our fragility, we may continue, as the MMB family, crossing borders to give life.