PASSIONIST NUNS

Also known as Religious of the Passion of Jesus Christ (CP, Official Catholic Directory, #3170). A cloistered contemplative community of women founded by Saint paul of the cross. On May 3, 1771, the first superior, Mother Mary Crucified, born Faustina Constantini (1713–1787) and nine other women donned the Passionist habit, took the customary vows of poverty, chastity, obedience and enclosure as well as a fourth vow, also taken by their Passionist brothers, to promote devotion to the Passion of Christ. The nuns fulfill this unique vow through their lives of prayer and penance, as stipulated in the Rule written by Paul of the Cross in 1769 and approved by the Holy See on Sept. 30, 1770.

Mother Mary Crucified first met Paul of the Cross in 1738, when he preached a retreat for her cloistered Benedictine community. She remained in regular contact with him through the intervening years, while he worked to bring to fruition his dream of the Passionist Congregation for men and the cloistered community for women.

For over 100 years the nuns' only monastery was the original foundation in Corneto, Italy, but in 1872 a second foundation was established in Mamers, France. In 1910 the first monastery was established in the United States. Today, the Passionist nuns are present throughout the world.

Each monastery is autonomous and develops, within the contemplative lifestyle, its own means of financial support. All monasteries continue a close spiritual affiliation with the larger Congregation of the Passion.

Bibliography: p. f. spencer, cp, As a Seal Upon Your Heart: The Life of St. Paul of the Cross, Founder of the Passionists (Middlegreen, England 1994). r. mecurio, cp, The Passionists (Collegeville 1992). j. mead, St. Paul of the Cross (New Rochelle, NY 1983).

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