ALBERTINE SISTER, SERVANT OF THE POOR

Albertine Sister, Servant of the Poor –  Sister Bernardine Maria of Our Savior, C.S.A.P.I.                                           Congregatio Sororum Albertinarum Pauperibus Inservientium                                                                                    “Let us be as good as bread.”

Founders:  Saint Albert Chmielowski with the help of the Blessed Virgin of Czestochowa                               Blessed Bernardyna Maria Jablonska

Place:  Kraków, Poland

Year:  1891 A.D.

Her Charism:  Imbued with a love for our suffering Savior, Ecce Homo, this Sister serves the most despised, rejected, and spat upon in society.  She is challenged to discover the divine image and likeness of Jesus in each person and to be a witness of Christ in mercy.  By becoming bread as Jesus became bread, and poor like Jesus became poor for our sake, she wants to wipe away every tear and console every soul with a kind word.  The suffering of others becomes her own.  She pours out her soul on the valleys of human misery and takes Jesus’ place in that valley of tears and becomes mercy and goodness incarnate.  With a childlike affection for Our Lady, this Sister loves, suffers and sacrifices, is hidden and forgotten, and faithfully follows Jesus from His Manger to His Cross.