Sister Poor of Jesus Christ

Sister Poor of Jesus Christ  –  Sister Antônia of the Paschal Lamb, P.J.C.                                                                           “Iesus Totus, Totus Iesu”  –  “Jesus All, All for Jesus”                                                                  “Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these                                                                           brothers and sisters of Mine, you did for Me.”  –   words of Jesus

Founders:  Father Gilson Sobreiro de Aráujo, O.M.I.                                                                                                   Sister Serva of the Hidden Wounds of Christ  ( Sônia de Chagas )

Place:  São Paulo, Brazil

Year:  2007 A.D.

Her Charism:  Impelled by the Holy Spirit to preserve and to fulfill the words of Jesus, this Sister goes out to the poorest of the poor wherever they may be.  Inside her exists a deep will and daring desire to seek Jesus completely and to belong completely to Jesus.  This summarizes her entire charism.  Bound to her vows of poverty, chastity, obedience and availability, she, like St. Paul, lives and proclaims the Gospel “sine glossa” (without gloss or deception but with genuine openness and zeal) so she can embody all of Jesus’ life in her own life.  She is attracted to Jesus Who stripped Himself of His divine condition and became a poor, humble servant and gift for all mankind.  This Sister wants to live as the Word-made-man – poor in Bethlehem, anonymous in Nazareth, a pilgrim on the dusty roads with no place to lay His Head, abandoned on Calvary, raised by the Father, and glorified with Him.  Like Jesus, she also withdraws in silence to pray long hours and to intercede for men with the Father.  In her radical life of prayer and radical service to people, she connects people with a compassionate God by becoming a sister with the poor.  Alleviating their suffering is a cornerstone of her ministry and the work of evangelization.  Dedicated to the poor, the outcasts, the dirty, the beaten, the homeless and addicted, this Sister works to combat poverty, human trafficking, prostitution, drugs, alcohol, violence, unemployment and to heal shattered families.  She also works with inmates, people on “Skid Row”, and those caught in the sex trade.  In the heart of this “Poor of Jesus Christ” there is the evangelical certainty that in the end, it is Jesus Himself Who she serves in the disfigured faces of the poor.  She is a woman – a wandering pilgrim – on the road in pursuit of the obedient, chaste, and merciful Jesus being made known to all.  This Sister is a devout lover of the Blessed Sacrament and, with an undivided heart, she gives unreservedly to her mission.  Like her patron, St. Michael the Archangel, she cries out against the wiles and temptations of the “evil one.”  With Our Lady, Poor Servant of the Annunciation, and Saints Francis and Clare, this dear Sister places herself in the service of the most abandoned with total surrender to God’s Divine Will.